Sharjah Biennial 12: Opening weekend

Damian Ortega, Talking Wall, 2015. Wooden cast, clay, sand, gravel, hay, rocks, Styrofoam ear pieces and flexible PVC pipes. Dimensions variable. Installation view, Sharjah Biennial 12. Photo by AlfreShow more

Phew what a weekend! The opening of the Sharjah Biennial 12 (SB12) was the first real sign that Art Month is upon us. Artists, collectors, journalists and art professionals gathered in Sharjah’s heritage area on Thursday morning for the inauguration of Sharjah Biennial 12. Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qassimi, the ruler of Sharjah, arrived at 10am precisely and walked through the Sharjah Art Foundation spaces as the first official viewer of the art, that curator Eungie Joo has spent the last two years collating and commissioning.

We all eagerly followed.

This edition of the biennial seemed smaller to me in terms of artist numbers and on first impression what I really liked was that Joo had given space to each of the artists, allowing us to become familiar with their work if we didn’t know it already and to see more than one piece or a collection of pieces.

I made a bee-line for the room dedicated to Fahrelnissa El Zeid (Building J, SAF Art Spaces). I love the work of this artist - she is a Turkish-Jordanian artist who is considered to be a pioneer in abstract art. Her style is influenced by the Sufi branch of Islam and her massive art work My Hell, permenantly on display in Istanbul Modern captivates me every time I see it. For SB12, Joo acquired some incredible pieces of work from her estate. On the far wall hangs Break the Atom and Vegetal Life which became the second highest piece of art to be at a Christie's Dubai auction in 2013. Also in the room are some incredible resin works embedded with bones titled Paleocristálos and some portraits. For me, this room was an immediate highlight and I will certainly be returning.

A large part of Joo's biennial consists of commissioned works. Of the 55 artists displayed, 36 have produced commissions, many of which respond directly to Sharjah itself. I enjoyed Damian Ortega's Talking Wall, inspired by the coral walls the artist saw in an abandoned village at Al Khan, the walls contain networks of tunnels that you can whisper through and talk to someone on the other side. The curved structures comment on the nature of boundaries - do they separate or divide? This is one to enjoy while the weather is still good.

Performance also played a critical role over this opening weekend. Eduardo Navarro's XYZ game for children had crowds gathering as they watched the children guide a massive blue ball through the open space using only their sensory jackets.

Over at the Sharjah Art Museum, Joo gave a lot of space to a collection of artists whose works dialogued together. On the top floor of the museum, you can see work from Hassan Sharif, the UAE’s foremost contemporary artist alongside that of American artist Byron Kim (whose work also appears on Sharjah Corniche in the form of a sky blue flag). I also loved discovering the sculptures and paintings of Saloua Raouda Choucair - a Lebanese artist who I had never heard of before. She is a prominent artist, also considered to be a pioneer of Middle Eastern abstract art and I fell in love with her curvaceous wooden sculptures and abstract paintings.

Although there are so many works that I didn't get to spend time with or mention here, there was one final installation that has to get a mention and that is Rirkrit Tiravanija's Eau de Rose of Damascus. In the Calligrapher's Studios this Thai artist reproduced a distillery for rose water and planted a rose garden. With the beautiful smell of roses in the air, we were treated to a glass of freshly distilled water and a cookie dipped in rose water glaze. Also, for those wanting to take the weight off, there is a delightfully cool majlis shaded with red and orange tinted windows, to take in the beauty of the art.

* Sharjah Biennial runs until June 5 and is located at various locations all over Sharjah. For more info visit www.sharjahart.org