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Fast forward on the Persian gulf: the youthful director of the Sixth Sharjah International Biennial, Sheikha Hoor Al-Qasimi, expanded the event's scope to include cutting-edge art from over 24 countries - Report From The U.A.E

Art in America, Nov, 2003 by Grady T. Turner

Many visitors attending the opening of the Sixth Sharjah International Biennial in early April agreed: this was not your typical vernissage. For starters, no one was able to partake of the wine generally ubiquitous at such events. The most conservative of the seven sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates, Sharjah conforms to Sharia, the strict Islamic code governing most aspects of daily life. Wine is accordingly proscribed. More disconcerting than the absence of wineglasses was the presence of armed militia. As the biennial began in this Persian Gulf city roughly 400 miles south of Iraq, American-led forces were just entering Baghdad. Security was a reasonable concern at this very public gathering, sponsored by the royal family.

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If it all seemed a bit surreal, those at the launch knew that few things about this biennial conformed to normal expectations. True, the exhibition had all the earmarks of other international events, presenting the work of 117 artists from over two dozen nations installed in the gracious Sharjah Art Museum and the city's expansive new Expo Centre. But the biennial's scale and ambition were themselves departures from expectations. The five previous biennials had been far more local in scope, featuring painting and sculpture created by artists from the area. Regional artists were well represented in this greatly expanded installment, but their work was displayed among a broad range of pieces by foreign artists using diverse mediums. Video was heavily emphasized; indeed, this was touted as the first exhibition to bring new media to the Persian Gulf.

Perhaps the most significant transformation happened behind the scenes, as the biennial was given over to a new director, Sheikha Hoor Al-Qasimi. The appointment was instigated when the sheikha complained to her father that the previous biennials were too limited in vision. He suggested that she do something about it. Soon, Sheikha Hoor was appointed director.

Never mind that Sheikha floor was a 28-year-old art student with no prior curatorial or administrative experience. More important was the fact that her father is Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi, the sheikhdom's ruler since 1972. Thanks to his patronage of events such as the biennial, Sharjah is the cultural capital of this nation made wealthy by oil, shipbuilding and business. In addition to attending the show's vernissage, the sheikh also presided over the opening of a luxuriously appointed art college on the grounds of the American University, to be administered in conjunction with London's Royal Academy of Arts. As it happens, the latter is also Sheikha Hoor's recent alma mater.

In the case of the biennial, at least, nepotism provided a fortunate catalyst for change. Faced with the prospect of turning a regional art exhibition into an international biennial in less than six months, Sheikha Hoor turned to Peter Lewis, a lecturer at Goldsmiths College, University of London, who agreed to act as chief curator of the exhibition. What they accomplished in so short a time was impressive, with some noteworthy art handsomely installed in the museum's galleries and the Expo Centre's vast areas.

Even with the exhibition's successes, it was inevitable that the nascent undertaking would be beset with challenges, some having to do with finessing cultural sensitivities, some having to do with creating an international art event from scratch.

Birth Pangs

Lewis inherited over 2,000 artists' submissions which had already been made in response to an open call. He elected to augment this by inviting the participation of other artists, including those recommended by colleagues with expertise in various fields. The results were, perhaps predictably, uneven.

Emerging British artists were well represented, which comes as no surprise given Lewis's position at the college that spawned the Young British Artists of the 1990s. Indeed, the biennial proved to be an intriguing harbinger of what is to be expected of recent Goldsmiths graduates. Art from China was smartly chosen with the assistance of independent curator Thomas Berghuis. However, many nations were left to chance selections from the submission pool. While there were some notable contributors, North America was represented by an odd smattering of artists chosen solely because they applied. These included the phoned-in efforts of Christo and Jean-Claude, who submitted photographs of past projects, and two small and charming paintings by the indefatigable art duo Liz-n-Val.

Israel was excluded altogether, as its statehood is not recognized by the United Arab Emirates; cultural exchange between them is thus impossible, a reality made all the more lamentable by the insights this biennial offered into contemporary Middle Eastern art. As indicated by the knee-jerk controversy engendered at this summer's Venice Biennale by the inclusion of Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti's work involving oversized mockups of Palestinian travel papers, the reception of the region's art remains determined by political circumstances.

Fast forward on the Persian gulf: the youthful director of the Sixth Sharjah International Biennial, Sheikha Hoor Al-Qasimi, expanded the event's scope to include cutting-edge art from over 24 countries - Report From The U.A.E

Art in America, Nov, 2003 by Grady T. Turner

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