Curators Set for Sharjah Biennial 16

Sharjah Art Foundation announced the five curators for Sharjah Biennial 16, opening in February 2025: Natasha Ginwala (Artistic Director of COLOMBOSCOPE, Colombo, and Associate Curator at Large at Gropius Bau, Berlin), Amal Khalaf (Director of Programmes at Cubitt, London, and Civic Curator at the Serpentine Galleries, London), Zeynep Öz (independent curator, Istanbul and New York), Alia Swastika (Director of the Biennale Jogja Foundation, Yogyakarta) and Megan Tamati-Quennell (New Zealand–based curator of modern and contemporary Māori and Indigenous art). The curators are organising distinct but interconnected projects, together representing a diverse and global range of perspectives across the spectrum of contemporary art.

‘The Sharjah Biennial embraces an expansive and decentralised approach, an ethos that is echoed by the five unique perspectives we are bringing together for the 16th edition,’ said Hoor Al Qasimi, President and Director of Sharjah Art Foundation. ‘Each of these leading curators has worked relentlessly to advance scholarship and practice in their local contexts as well as internationally. Sharjah Biennial 16 will offer the opportunity to witness their ideas in conversation, culminating in a truly polyphonic examination of contemporary art and cultural practice.’

Ginwala, Khalaf, Öz, Swastika and Tamati-Quennell are developing projects in dialogue with each other and with the Biennial’s 30-year history as a platform for artistic experimentation and discourse around critical topics in contemporary art. Each curator is inviting a selection of artists across a variety of backgrounds and disciplines, highlighting both leading and emerging talents in visual art, performance, music and publication. Continuing the Foundation’s engagement with the many communities throughout Sharjah, the Biennial will again activate venues across the emirate.

Sharjah Biennial 16 runs from February through June 2025. Additional details will be announced in the coming months.