March Meeting 2021: ‘Unravelling the Present’ Programme Announced

March Meeting 2021 visual. Image adapted from Mohammed Kazem’s Autobiography 4 (1997). Courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation.

Sharjah Art Foundation
http://www.sharjahart.org

Taking place from 12 to 21 March, the annual gathering, titled Unravelling the Present this year, features an extensive programme of online talks, panels and presentations as well as on-site performances at the Foundation’s venues.

Bringing together former Sharjah Biennial curators, artistic directors, artists, art historians and critics to examine the past 30 years of the Biennial and the future of the biennial model, MM 2021 sets the stage for Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present, which was conceived by the late Okwui Enwezor (1963–2019) and is curated by Sharjah Art Foundation Director Hoor Al Qasimi in conjunction with the Sharjah Biennial 15 (SB15) Working Group and Advisory Committee and opens in spring 2022.

The online talks programme features more than 50 speakers and participants and includes roundtables examining the evolution of the Sharjah Biennial; keynotes on a number of contemporary issues such as decolonising the architecture exhibition and restitution in the art industry; panels surveying the state of cultural practice that address artmaking as civic engagement, curating in times of crisis and the biennials’ relationship to the notion of nation-state in an era of globalisation; and focused presentations by MM open call participants that expand on the subject of biennials.

In addition to the expansive offerings that kick off SB15, the MM 2021 programme features on location performances by Tarek Atoui and collaborating artists-in-residence from his ongoing exhibition Cycles in 11 and an online roundtable with artist Rayyane Tabet.

March Meeting is open to all and free to attend.

View the full programme here and register here.