SHARJAH, 28th September, 2026 (WAM) -- Sharjah Art Foundation has announced the opening programme for the 17th edition of Sharjah Biennial, which will run from 21st January to 13th June 2027 across 11 venues in the emirate, alongside the dates for the 18th edition of March Meeting, scheduled from 19th to 21st March 2027.
Curated by Angela Harutyunyan and Paula Nascimento under the theme “What remains, sits restive”, Sharjah Biennial 17 will bring together 109 participants.
Its opening-week programme, running from 21st to 24th January, will take place across Sharjah, Al Dhaid, Kalba and Khorfakkan and feature exhibition tours, performances, artistic and cultural activities, and film screenings.
Highlights include an intervention by Ângela Ferreira in a 1970s cinema, exploring the movement of architecture across different postcolonial geographies and histories, and a performance by Cynthia Zaven reviving a tradition of sea songs historically performed by women in the Arabian Gulf.
Christian Salablanca Díaz will present an installation comprising sound-generating sculptures, while Jessica Ekomane and Ntshepe Tsekere Bopape will stage sonic performances in different landscapes across Sharjah.
The opening week will conclude with Present Uneven, a film programme curated by Angela Harutyunyan and Tevž Logar featuring video works examining how past aspirations and political imaginaries persist, transform and resurface in contemporary contexts.
In Sharjah, the Biennial will take place at Arts Square, Calligraphy Square, Al Mureijah Square, Photography Gallery, The Flying Saucer and Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation.
Al Dhaid venues include Al Dhaid Art Centre, Arts Palace and Farm, while Kalba Ice Factory will host activities in Kalba. Khorfakkan Hall and Khorfakkan Cinema will host the programme in Khorfakkan.
March Meeting 2027 will feature discussion sessions expanding on the Biennial’s curatorial concept and artistic inquiries, alongside commissioned performances by participating artists.
Victor Gama will present a solo multimedia performance exploring the legacy of Augusto Zita N’Gonguenho through handwritten material, southern African polyrhythms, electronic music and contemporary composition.
Wendy Morris will present a procession towards the breakwater at dusk accompanied by a lament to the Arabian Gulf, while Hassan Khan will perform recent songs and hip-hop tracks responding to contemporary transformations and turbulence.
Evening tours of the Biennial will be organised throughout the three-day March Meeting, alongside a free bus tour to the central and eastern regions on 18th March.
Sharjah Biennial 17 explores the continuing impact of unresolved histories and past projects of modernity on the present through artistic approaches examining intersections between time, place and memory.
Harutyunyan’s section brings together 55 participants to examine the afterlives of socialist modernity, modernisation and anti-colonial struggles, while Nascimento’s section features 54 participants using infrastructure as a method to explore place, memory, cultural silencing and oppression.