Missed April Acts in Sharjah? Here's how the exhibition unfolded
Sharjah Art Foundation's very first edition of April Acts, a jam-packed three-day programme, came to a meaningful end on Sunday April 20.
Workshops, conversations and performances at April Acts: to carry new formations nudged audiences to rethink how they engaged with art, ideas and each other.
Shaped as a continuation of Sharjah Biennial 16, which remains on view until Sunday June 15, the exhibition took over Africa Hall in Sharjah.
Michael Parekōwhai, He Kōrero Pūrākau mo te Awanui o Te Motu: Story of a New Zealand river, 2011. Collection of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, purchased 2011 with the assistance of the Friends of Te Papa. Installation view: Sharjah Biennial 16, Al Mureijah Art Spaces, Sharjah, 2025. Photo: Motaz Mawid.
To carry new formations picked up from the Biennial's overarching concept to carry, diving deeper into how we collectively remember, resist, reimagine and reshape knowledge across borders and generations.
It is less about learning in a traditional sense and more about shared reflection – what needs to be reimagined if we're to support each other better.
See for yourself
Screening of Roy Samaha, LEGACY// Premonition, 2024. Commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation. Courtesy of the artist. Sharjah Biennial 16, Mirage City Cinema, Al Mureijah Square, Sharjah, 2025 .Photo: Shanavas Jamaluddin
Visitors got to try riso-print workshops, tune into listening sessions, join guided walks and watch films that go beyond storytelling.
Sound played a big part in this edition, both as medium and message, with performances closing out each day. One of the evenings featured the now-iconic red Steinway grand piano carved by Māori artist Michael Parekowhai.
Dhrupad vocalist Pelva Naik (right) and pakhawaj player Sukhad Munde accompanying dancer Tishani Doshi for her work Nyāsa, 2024. Commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation. Performance view: Sharjah Biennial 16, Sharjah Performing Arts Academy, Sharjah, 2025. Image courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation. Photo: Shafeek Nalakath Kareem
Meanwhile, The Farm Project brought sound installations to life with contributions from Başak Günak, Berke Can Özcan, Sandy Chamoun and Hauptmeier I Recker, while poet and theatre-maker Koleka Putuma returned with WATER (reprise) – a performance tracing ancestral memory through bodies of water.
There was also a space carved out for young curators from Southeast Asia and the UAE, thanks to an exchange programme led by Alia Swastika and Jo Lene Ong.
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