Sharjah announces new foundation to oversee biennial and commissioning programmes

Foundation hopes to establish an endowment fund

By Antonia Carver | Web only
Published online 1 Jul 09 (News)

Dubai. Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, director of the Sharjah Biennial, launched the Sharjah Art Foundation last month, a new umbrella body that will oversee and fund the Gulf’s largest art exhibition plus the various programmes that run alongside the event. The new organisation also aims to focus on nurturing local talent through international and regional exchange.

Besides the biennial, the foundation supports and manages the March Meeting, an annual gathering of Arab cultural organisations; the Production Programme, offering direct grants to artists for new projects; artists’ residencies in Sharjah and an education programme.

Jack Persekian, artistic director of the biennial, told The Art Newspaper that the foundation plans to establish an endowment fund to ensure long-term stability, and aims to announce an international advisory board by mid-2010.

The foundation, said Sheikha Hoor, “signals our commitment to further development of contemporary visual arts in the region and to the continued empowerment of art across the Arab world.” Sharjah’s long-standing interest in cultural matters—the biennial has been running since 1993, and the emirate is home to a plethora of museums—is unusual in the Gulf, and its direct support for artists through commissions is unique in the region.

Ongoing plans include the development of a contemporary arts centre for temporary exhibitions in Sharjah. “The establishment of the Sharjah Art Foundation was a timely decision, enabling us to take on such exciting challenges, while relieving the Sharjah Biennial of the burden of continuously trying to stretch its definition and scope to accommodate our ever-expanding vision,” added Mr Persekian.