The Sharjah Biennial is a significant event in the world of contemporary art. Founded in 1993, it has been fostering the MENA region’s art scene for over 30 years. This year, the exhibitions are not only showcased in traditional gallery spaces but also spill out into streets, deserts, and historical Emirati landmarks, transforming the country into a living art platform. The announced theme, To Carry, explores the issues of memory, heritage, identity, and their transformation in the context of global change. Especially for DEL’ARTE Magazine, Elen Levitt, columnist, MENA art curator, and collector, shares her selection of key works presented at the 16th Sharjah Biennial that address relevant and pressing contemporary issues.
1. Monira Al Qadiri —
Gastromancer (2023)
© Photo by Elen Levitt
Kuwait-born artist Monira Al Qadiri explores the environmental impact of the oil industry. Her work Gastromancer features two massive red seashells suspended in the air. From within, you hear dialogues of marine species discussing how toxic oil emissions have altered their environment and impacted them. For instance, female organisms lament losing their reproductive functions. This installation is a powerful metaphor for man-made ecological disasters.Kuwait-born artist Monira Al Qadiri explores the environmental impact of the oil industry. Her work Gastromancer features two massive red seashells suspended in the air. From within, you hear dialogues of marine species discussing how toxic oil emissions have altered their environment and impacted them. For instance, female organisms lament losing their reproductive functions. This installation is a powerful metaphor for man-made ecological disasters.
2. Jorge González Santos —
Jatibonicu (2024–2025)
© Photo by Elen Levitt
In Jatibonicu (“People of the Sacred High Waters”), Puerto Rican artist Jorge González Santos revives the traditions of the Taíno people — the indigenous population of Puerto Rico. At the heart of the composition stands a reed-woven pole surrounded by a bed of ceramic thorns. These elements symbolize resilience, survival, and connection with natural cycles, where fire plays a transformative role.
Fire, a central symbol, represents both seasonal change and nature’s renewal, as well as the collective creation of candles and ceramic vessels by the tribes. Clay figures representing the Taíno were baked in open fire during an eclipse, underscoring their cosmic connection and sacred significance.
The entire space is designed as a ritual site and a learning hub for traditional techniques, reviving lost indigenous knowledge. González Santos reconstructs a world where fire binds the past and the present, transforming matter and time.
3. Rossella Biscotti — Saturated Salty
Mud Stories (2025)
© Photo by Elen Levitt
Italian artist Rossella Biscotti works with natural and industrial materials — sand, salt, metal, soil, and oil pipes — to tell stories of trade, colonialism, and migration.
Her installation Saturated Salty Mud Stories (2025) combines three series: Circulations (2024–2025), Oil Vessels Time Smuggling Geometry (2025), and Sand Portables (2025). Circulations presents large sculptures made from oil and gas pipeline fragments, referencing the UAE’s fuel industry. In Oil Vessels Time Smuggling Geometry, Biscotti recreates ancient Islamic oil and perfume vessels in glass. Meanwhile, Sand Portables, created with French-Palestinian ceramicist Maya Beiruti, explores alchemical processes through clay and glazes partially sourced in Sharjah.
4. Paky Vlassopoulou —A day after a day after
a day after a day (2023 — ongoing)
© Photo by Elen Levitt
Greek artist Paky Vlassopoulou explores the history of Leros — an island whose military barracks, built during the Italian occupation (1912–1943), were later repurposed as a re-education center, a prison for dissidents, and a refugee camp. Vlassopoulou’s work features porcelain plates etched with scratches, drawings, and inscriptions resembling prisoner carvings. This subtle exploration of domestic comfort and violence turns a dinner table into a carrier of historical memory.
5. Joe Namy — Dub Plants
(2024–2025)
© Photo by Elen Levitt
Joe Namy’s Dub Plants is a bamboo radio tower equipped with speakers that broadcasts a sound composition. The artist explores the relationship between radio culture and agriculture. His inspiration comes from Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi’s early broadcasts (1920s), which were later repurposed in Egyptian composer Halim El-Dabh’s electronic music experiments. The installation’s soundscape blends traditional chants of various cultures, bridging modern technology and spiritual practices.
6. Arthur Jafa — LOML (2022)
Renowned for his emotionally charged video installations, Arthur Jafa presents LOML — a meditative reflection on loss and memory. This abstract, layered visual narration combines sound and imagery into a farewell message to his late friend, music critic Greg Tate. The work evokes deep emotions through its fusion of music, film, and personal storytelling.
7. Cassi Namoda — Carapau
in the deep abyss (2024)
© Photo by Elen Levitt
Mozambican artist Cassi Namoda paints scenes of coastal life and motherhood using vibrant pink and ochre hues. Her series Carapau in the deep abyss draws on the symbolism of the carapau (mackerel) — a symbol of food scarcity during war and migration in Mozambique.
8. Okyanus Çağrı Çamcı — Day to Day (2024–2025)
© Photo by Elen Levitt
Turkish artist Okyanus Çağrı Çamcı explores the connections between objects, emotions, and memories. In her series Day to Day, she combines drawing and collage to weave delicate networks of interconnections that often go unnoticed in everyday life.
Rather than making a linear narration of family memory, she skillfully intertwines past and present, personal and public. The series addresses themes of female identity and embodiment, reflecting on how women perceive their bodies and surroundings within societal norms and boundaries. Her work reimagines traditional notions of femininity, opening new perspectives on the interplay between inner worlds and external realities.
9. Lorna Simpson —
Earth & Sky (2016–2025)
© Photo by Elen Levitt
Lorna Simpson blends archival photographs of Black women from the 1960s–1970s with mineral imagery, transforming her subjects into cosmic beings. In her collages, women’s hair becomes galaxies, and their faces turn into constellations. This reimagining of identity and beauty expands the boundaries of reality, offering viewers alternate universes.
10. Nida Sinnokrot — Water Witnesses (2024–2025)
© Photo by Elen Levitt
Renowned conceptual artist Nida Sinnokrot presents his Water Witnesses series at the historic Al Jubail Market. His totemic sculptures engage in dialogue with the market’s architecture, creating a resonance that invites viewers to reflect.
Sinnokrot’s works merge industrial water supply system elements with traditional ceramics, inspired by ancient Canaanite goddess figurines and Palestinian amulets from the collection of Palestinian physician, ethnographer, and researcher Tawfiq Canaan. Through these images, Sinnokrot addresses ancient practices of resource protection, exploring the balance between mythology and ecology. His work also reinterprets colonial hierarchies over natural resources, the policy of land expropriation, and forced displacement by settlers.
Another notable work by Sinnokrot on display at the biennial is Capital Coup. This sculpture presents a skeletal model of the US Capitol building transformed into a chicken coop. By incorporating architectural drawings and schematics, the artist deconstructs this symbol of centralized power. Sinnokrot invites viewers to see the Capitol as a vessel where flows of water, sound, and memory intersect, creating new narratives of care and renewal.
The Sharjah Biennial 2025 brings together thought-provoking works that address pressing issues, reimagine the past, and propose new perspectives for the future.
If you wish to witness how art transforms our understanding of the world, be sure to visit the Sharjah Biennial 2025.
The exhibition runs until June 15, 2025.
