Theme and Artists Announced for 2027 Sharjah Biennial

The Sharjah Art Foundation has announced that the 2027 Sharjah Biennial will be titled What remains, sits restive. 

The curators, Angela Harutyunyan and Paula Nascimento, will each explore how our present is ‘troubled by what remains of unlived pasts’ in different sections of the exhibition. 

Harutyunyan will consider ‘the afterlives of socialist modernity’. Her section will include 55 artists: 

Alban Muja; Alexandra Sukhareva; Amanda Beech; Anri Sala; Arash Azadi; Arman Grigoryan; Armen Ter-Mkrtchyan; Armenak Grigoryan; Cristiana de Marchi; Cynthia Zaven; Daniele Genadry; David Schutter; Hamlet Hovsepyan; Hande Sever; Hassan Khan; Hiwa K; Igor Savchenko; Iman Issa; Jasmina Cibic; Jessica Ekomane; Jiří Žák; Josef Bolf; Josephine Pryde; Kapwani Kiwanga; Karen Ohanyan; Karine Matsakyan; Karlo Kacharava; Kasper Kovitz; Khaled Tanji; Kristina Benjocki; Lala Rukh; Lena Kocutar; Lousineh Navasartian; Marcos Grigoryan; Michael Martirosyan; Natasha Gasparian; Neda Saeedi; Octavian Esanu; Romana Schmalisch and Robert Schlicht; Sebastián Díaz Morales; Shady Elnoshokaty; Sherif El Azma; Stijn Verhoeff; Suat Öğüt; Tekla Aslanishvili and Solveig Qu Suess; Teni Vardanyan; Thea Djordjadze; Thea Gvetadze; Tsolak Topchyan; Vehanush Topchyan; Yaşam Şaşmazer; Yass; and Zbyněk Balandrán

Paula Nascimento will consider infrastructure as a method to explore the intersection of space, place and memory. Her section will include 54 artists: 

Agnes Essonti Luque; Ana Silva; Ângela Ferreira; António Ole; Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński; Carlos Noronha Feio; César Schofield Cardoso; Christian Salablanca Díaz; Cipriano; Dana Whabira; Edson Chagas; Euridice Zaituna Kala; Francisco Vidal; Gabriel Chaile; Gabrielle Goliath; Georges Senga; Gosette Lubondo; Grada Kilomba; Helena Uambembe; Hong-Kai Wang; Ibrahim Mahama; Ilídio Candja Candja; Januario Jano; Jean Katambayi Mukendi; Josèfa Ntjam; Kamala Ibrahim Ishag; Kapela Paulo; Kiluanji Kia Henda and Sumayya Vally with Flávio Cardoso, Lilianne Kiame, Raul Jorge Gourgel and Yazan Khalili; Limbo Museum founded by Dominique Petit-Frère; Lungiswa Gqunta; Mpho Matsipa; Myles Igwe; Nolan Oswald Dennis; Ntshepe Tsekere Bopape; Nú Barreto; Oscar Murillo; Pamela Cevallos; Rebeca Carapiá; Reinata Sadimba; René Tavares; Rui Magalhães; Sandra Poulson; Senzeni Marasela; Sonia Gomes; Tuli Mekondjo; Victor Gama; Wendy Morris; Ziad Naitaddi; and Zina Saro-Wiwa

The Sharjah Biennial will take place from 21 January to 13 June.