Vantage Point Sharjah 11 spotlights early-career photographers from Africa and Asia

Overview

Vantage Point Sharjah (VPS), an annual photography exhibition by Sharjah Art Foundation, returns for its 11th edition. Featuring four artists and one collective whose work challenges established notions of photographic practices, the exhibition will run from 14 October 2023 to 14 January 2024 at Old Al Diwan Al Amiri in Al Hamriyah, Sharjah.

This year, VPS identifies and supports early-career photographers who were born in Africa and Asia, who are currently based there, or who are part of the diaspora.

Chosen through an international open call that received more than 350 applications, the selected artists embody diverse approaches but share overlapping tendencies—the pursuit of contemporary image-making techniques, the recontextualisation of found or inherited images and engagement with the visual afterlives of colonialist legacies.

Oumaima Abaraghe (b. 1999, Casablanca) uses collage techniques and digital manipulation to reconstruct Morocco’s fragmentary colonial archive, signalling its inherent fallibility. Yashna Kaul (b. 1995, New Delhi) unearths the secrets embedded in her family’s photo album and reveals how the framing of a moment can shape personal histories and collective memory. Through emotive storytelling, Mohamed Mahdy (b. 1996, Giza) documents the displacement of the fishing community of El Maks, Alexandria, and captures the generational impact of urban redevelopment policies. Questioning the aspirations of nation-state imagery, Postbox Ghana [Nana Ofosu Adjei (b. 1993, Accra), Courage Dzidula Kpodo (b. 1999, Kumasi) and Manuela Nebuloni (b. 1986, Milan)] resituate popular postcard images of post-independence Ghana within the country’s contemporary urban landscape. Clea Rekhou (b. 1988, Paris) contrasts a series of soft-lit, intimate family portraits with narratives of generational violence, suggesting the complexity of human relationships.

Works by these emerging artists will be displayed in two exhibition modes: independent presentations of the artists’ individual practices and a communal storytelling space that interweaves their combined practices.

VPS 11 introduces a one-on-one professional mentoring programme. Participating artists will be paired with cultural practitioners or industry professionals of their choice so that they can improve their skills and take advantage of a unique learning experience led by experts in the field.

Introduced in 2013 to cultivate public engagement with photography as an artistic medium, VPS has evolved into a dynamic platform that embraces multiple approaches to photography, from photojournalism and photo essays to experimental work in both analogue and digital forms.

Visiting the exhibition
14 October 2023–14 January 2024, Old Al Diwan Al Amiri, Al Hamriyah, Sharjah
9:00 am–9:00 pm, Saturday to Thursday | 4:00 pm–9:00 pm, Friday
Free admission. Advance registration is required at sharjahart.org.

About Sharjah Art Foundation

Sharjah Art Foundation is an advocate, catalyst and producer of contemporary art within the Emirate of Sharjah and the surrounding region, in dialogue with the international arts community. Under the leadership of founder Hoor Al Qasimi, a curator and artist, the Foundation advances an experimental and wide-ranging programmatic model that supports the production and presentation of contemporary art, preserves and celebrates the distinct culture of the region and encourages a shared understanding of the transformational role of art. The Foundation’s core initiatives include the long-running Sharjah Biennial, featuring contemporary artists from around the world; the annual March Meeting, a convening of international arts professionals and artists; grants and residencies for artists, curators and cultural producers; ambitious and experimental commissions and a range of travelling exhibitions and scholarly publications.

Established in 2009 to expand programmes beyond the Sharjah Biennial, which launched in 1993, the Foundation is a critical resource for artists and cultural organisations in the Gulf and a conduit for local, regional and international developments in contemporary art. The Foundation’s deep commitment to developing and sustaining the cultural life and heritage of Sharjah is reflected through year-round exhibitions, performances, screenings and educational programmes in the city of Sharjah and across the Emirate, often hosted in historic buildings that have been repurposed as cultural and community centres. A growing collection reflects the Foundation’s support of contemporary artists in the realisation of new work and its recognition of the contributions made by pioneering modern artists from the region and around the world.

Sharjah Art Foundation is a legally independent public body established by Emiri Decree and supported by government funding, grants from national and international nonprofits and cultural organisations, corporate sponsors and individual patrons. All exhibitions are free and open to the public.

Media Contacts

Alyazeyah Al Marri
alyazeyah@sharjahart.org
+971(0)65444113