One of its most anticipated events, Sharjah Biennial, has announced the dates and theme for its 17th edition. For its 2027 edition, Sharjah Art Foundation will bring together 109 local and international artists across sites in Sharjah from 21 January to 13 June, 2027.
First founded in 1993 and held every two years, the Biennial has become a key platform for artists, curators and cultural practitioners from across the region and beyond.
Titled What remains, sits restive, next year’s Biennial centres on histories that never fully resolved, or were never fully realised, political projects, cultural narratives and systems that persist in altered forms. Over six months, these ideas unfold through installations, film, performance and research-led works that reflect on memory, infrastructure and the systems that organise everyday life.
The programme is shaped by two curators working under the same theme. Angela Harutyunyan, a Berlin-based art historian, focuses on the legacy of socialist modernity, particularly from outside dominant narratives, bringing together 55 artists whose work explores its ongoing contradictions.
Paula Nascimento, an architect and curator based in Luanda, approaches the theme through infrastructure, working with a further 54 artists to examine how space, place and memory intersect across both visible and invisible systems.
As with previous editions, the Biennial unfolds across multiple locations, from courtyards and galleries to public spaces in Sharjah City, Al Dhaid, Khorfakkan and Kalba, encouraging visitors to move between historic sites and experience the work in different contexts.
Ultimately, What remains, sits restive looks at how past political and cultural histories continue to shape the present, particularly through questions of time, memory and space. Artists such as Anri Sala, Grada Kilomba and Nolan Oswald Dennis are among those contributing to the programme.
Find out more: sharjahart.org
Tamara is a Dubai-based freelance writer specialising in food, travel, culture and lifestyle stories from the Middle East and beyond.
