This autumn, Sharjah Art Museum presents key pieces from the permanent collection of the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts.
The horseshoe-shaped, dynamic brushstrokes of I Am You by Jordanian painter and art historian Wijdan are at once abstract and spiritual. The 2008 work is an ode to the Sufi interpretation of Islam and pays tribute to the beauty of Arabic calligraphy as an art form.
Read MoreSharjah has long straddled the divide between ancient and contemporary. The emirate has led the charge in embracing its deep-rooted history while at the same time hosting a plethora of heavyweight cultural events in art, literature, music, and more. Tanweer Festival, which makes its much-anticipated debut this November, continues this rich tradition. The festival is a showcase of world music, art, and culinary journeys aimed at fostering cultural understanding and global harmony.
Read MoreAlthough Lamya Gargash often turns her lens to forgotten spaces, vacant rooms or objects, it is the trace of human presence that she seeks to capture. In the rapidly modernising UAE, change is a subject that continually draws attention, but in Gargash’s work there is also a kind of stillness. A viewer can sense traces of the people that once inhabited the space, or the forces of nature that are taking over. It is a documentation of transition.
Read MoreFor the past nine years, over the course of a week in early November, Dubai Design District [d3] transforms into a hub of creativity. True to its name, the district is the location for Dubai Design Week, a festival that provides a platform for both emerging and established designers, architects, educators, companies, and all creative practitioners. In addition to attracting industry professionals, it is also something that engages the public with large-scale outdoor installations, exhibitions and public interventions – and it's free to attend, which means it’s something everyone can enjoy.
Read MoreWhen technology asks us to consider our reflection for the better. A review of The Digital Awakening.
Read More"This is a radical jump from the doomerism that persistently infiltrates public opinion about the rise of AI, where fear-based thinking sees machine intelligence an extinction risk. And it offers hope."
When an all-male cast of 13 virtuoso dancers from Algeria and Morocco took to the stage atThe Arts Center in New York University Abu Dhabi, audiences were thrilled by the stunning display of contemporary dance that combined capoeira, martial arts and urban-style street dance with powerful imagery evocative of orientalist paintings and the stone filigree of Islamic architecture.
Read MoreThe Taskhent Qur’an – also known as the Samarkand Kufic Qur’an is one of the oldest surviving Qur’an manuscripts in existence. The large lettering, where only a few words populate an entire page, is written in an early version of the kufic script and dates back to the eighth century. About one third of the original manuscript is housed in the Hast-Imam Library in Tashkent, Uzbekistan but one page, in immaculate condition is currently on show at the Museum of Islamic Civilisation in Sharjah. It is a key part of Sacred Words, Timeless Calligraphy: Highlights of Exceptional Calligraphy from the Hamid Jafar Qur’an Collection displaying some of the world’s finest examples of Qur’an manuscripts and Islamic calligraphy owned by Hamid Jafar. Jafar is the founder and chairman of Sharjah-based Crescent Group of companies and he began collecting the rare manuscripts more than 40 years ago.
Read MoreFewer than a thousand people have been to the blackness of outer space. But some 20,000 were able to walk through the Xposure International Photography Festival in February, where photographs of space exploration were spotlighted in the near darkness of galleries set up as mock moonscapes—featuring boulders and suspended meteors.
Read MoreServing as a makeshift shade from the pervasive sunshine on Sharjah’s east coast, Ibrahim Mahama’s installation on the outer flank of Kalba Ice Factory had visitors squinting upward. A Tale of Time and Purple Republic (2023) is a convergence of several elements of the Ghanaian artist’s practice pulled together over much of the last decade. It consists of an 80 x 9 meter swathe of dark grey cloth, upon which traditional handwoven smock fabrics were sewn, the entire piece was then threaded through an enormous, purpose-built metal loom. Despite its almost overwhelming size, the artwork gave off a gentle presence as it caught the breeze coming from the nearby mangroves.
Read MoreOne of the most prolific artists in the UAE, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim crafts his work in the mountains of Sharjah’s Khorfakkan and represents his nation at the 2022 Venice Biennale.
Read MorePatricia Millns is an artistic institution in the UAE. At Maraya Art Centre, in October 2022, she will have her her first solo exhibition in a decade.
Read MoreTHE ARTIST WHO INSPIRED PICASSO By Anna Seaman This year marks the tenth anniversary of Lasting Impressions, an annual event...
Read MoreBETWEEN MEMORY AND REALITY Hrair Sarkissian: The Other Side of Silence explores the myriad ways in which contested histories are...
Read MoreNARRATIVES FROM THE PAST Thirty new acquisitions go on show at Barjeel Art Foundation’s rotating five-year exhibition. By Anna Seaman...
Read MoreThe Sonic Image Lawrence Abu Hamdan is labelled a sound artist, but more fitting would be an aural investigator. He...
Read MoreUsing thread to weave messages In a new exhibition, artist Cristiana de Marchi explores issues related to identity, geographical borders...
Read MorePerformance art born from lockdown In a new body of work, Ammar Al Attar explores the monotonous labour of daily...
Read MoreThe fifth edition of Sharjah’s Xposure International Photography Festival showed the power of photography to make real and lasting change and the impact of a story well told.
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