The Biennale of Sydney has introduced that Hoor Al Qasimi, the president and director of the Sharjah Artwork Basis, would be the creative director for its 2026 version.
Al Qasimi is the daughter of the Emir of Sharjah, Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi.
She has been the director of the Sharjah Biennial since 2002, and can also be the creative director of the sixth Aichi Triennale (2025) in Japan.
In Sydney for the announcement, Al Qasimi advised The Artwork Newspaper she has been visiting the Sydney Biennale for ten years.
“It is one of many biennials I strive to not miss,” she stated. “Sydney’s so multicultural, so the entire world is in Sydney, in a manner.”
The 2026 Biennale of Sydney would be the twenty fifth version. The present biennial curated by Cosmin Costinaş and Inti Guerrero closes on 10 June.
Al Qasimi stated her focus was not on attracting worldwide guests to the Biennale of Sydney however extra on offering an “pressing” and fascinating occasion for town’s 5.2 million residents.
“After I took over the Sharjah Biennial, I stated for me it isn’t about tourism, it isn’t about worldwide guests, it is in regards to the native guests,” she stated.
“For me, these are the audiences which are going to return each weekend. They are going to carry their households. Folks haven’t got to simply see all the pieces on one go to. They’ll simply take their time and make a weekend out of 1 web site and spend time, and in the event that they’re kids it turns into a part of their childhood or youth they usually bear in mind it.”
Al Qasimi stated she nonetheless remembers attending the Sharjah Biennial as a toddler. She liked to remain behind in school and paint. She later attended the Slade Faculty of Advantageous Artwork in London, discovering her creative abilities of nice use as a curator.
“Numerous occasions I work with artists they usually say, ‘since you’re an artist you perceive the place I am coming from’,” she stated. “So there’s a manner of working that’s rewarding as a result of I really feel prefer it’s giving me a lot greater than if I used to be simply focusing by myself follow.”
The Biennale of Sydney was one of many world’s first biennials, and this offers it a particular standing that Al Qasimi hopes to stress via her position as creative director.
“I hope that I can carry one thing that might have an after-life. Not simply an exhibition that involves an finish, however one thing that makes a distinction,” she stated.
Al Qasimi stated it was essential to grasp the evolution of any given biennial, and famous the rising inclusion of First Nations and worldwide artwork within the Sydney occasion.
