Time's running out to see Sharjah Biennial 16
Sharjah Biennial 16, under the title to carry will come to a close on Sunday June 15. Until then, you can see the works in multiple venues across the city in everything from heritage buildings to public courtyards at Sharjah City, Al Hamriyah, Al Dhaid, Kalba and more.
Image courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation
What is it?
With more than 650 works by over 190 artists and over 200 brand-new commissions, it's a rich, multi-voiced conversation, spread across the city in everything from heritage buildings to public courtyards.
Curated by five voices from different backgrounds and practices, the experience is all about allowing the art, thoughts and conversations to unfold.
Exploring the exhibition
There are free guided tours available, whether you're going solo or as part of a group. Sign up for a free tour here: forms.sharjahart.org
You can even hop on a free Sunday shuttle from Al Mureijah Square at 2pm, with routes heading to both Kalba and Al Hamriyah. That's your transport and your tour sorted.
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. Image courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation. Photo: Danko Stjepanovic
Play Michael Parekōwhai's Steinway grand piano
There are also unexpected surprises, like He Kōrero Pūrākau mo Te Awanui o Te Motu: Story of a New Zealand river which features a carved Steinway grand piano by artist Michael Parekōwhai.
And it's just for show, trained pianists can actually book a slot to play it, activating the sculpture through their own interpretation. Book your slots on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays until June 15, 2025.
Image courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation
Listen to the exhibition
For those who prefer a more relaxed kind of art immersion, there's always Biennial Bytes 2, the podcast offering behind-the-scenes chats with participating artists. Episodes drop every Monday on Apple, Spotify, Anghami, Google and other podcast platforms, or you can catch up via sharjahart.org.
And when you're ready for a break, head to Fen Café & Restaurant for a snack or browse the Sharjah Art Shops for souvenirs and books. A little something to carry home with you, perhaps?
Entry to Sharjah Biennial 16 is completely free, and doors are open Saturday to Thursday from 9am to 9pm, and on Fridays from 4pm to 9pm.
See you there?
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
26-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Secrets of the 'world's greatest hotel' after insane 8-year transformation but it remains steeped in nostalgia
The infamous New York City hotel, the Waldorf Astoria, has reopened its doors after a massive eight-year renovation gave the nostalgic building a modern facelift - but the essence of old Park Avenue money hasn't disappeared. After eight years of renovations, delays, and ownership scandals, the iconic hotel is back, with many nods to its roots. The Waldorf Astoria has a long history of influencing culture, fashion, and architecture, donning a unique Art Deco style that put the hotel on the map. Conrad Hilton, the founder of the Hilton Hotels chain, once referred to the Waldorf Astoria as 'the greatest of them all'. The newest version of the hotel has significantly cut down on rooms from 1,400 to only 375, increasing the exclusivity and making it even more difficult to book a stay. The reduction has also made the rooms some of the largest in the city, starting at 570 square feet. The hotel's infamous Peacock Alley, which once connected the Waldorf and the Astoria before it became one building, has been restored to its original grandeur. The alley got its name from the promenade that guests would take to show off their wealth. Now that the building is one hotel, Peacock Alley has become the Waldorf Astoria's breathtaking lounge. The grand Waldorf clock is the star of the show in the center of the lounge. It was once commissioned by Queen Victoria for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Also featured prominently in Peacock Alley is a beautiful Steinway grand piano that once belonged to the famous American composer Cole Porter. Porter composed scores for several Broadway shows, including Kiss Me, Kate, and the 1965 film, High Society, which starred Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra. He lived in the Waldorf Astoria from 1934 until he died in 1964. The tribute to him goes beyond decoration, as the hotel plans to have a pianist play the instrument for guests in the lobby. Setting the scene The doors to the Waldorf Astoria have seen many celebrities and political figures, including Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe, and even Queen Elizabeth II, walk through them. The hotel is steeped in history, with the Grand Ballroom being the first venue to host the Tony Awards. Monroe is said to have met former President John F. Kennedy at the awards ceremony. The Waldorf Astoria also introduced the world to the famous Waldorf salad, a classic fruit and nut salad created by the maitre d'hotel Oscar Tschirky in 1893. The hotel's kitchen is responsible for producing other staples like red velvet cake and eggs Benedict. Lemuel Benedict, a retired Wall Street stockbroker, is believed to have ordered the combination to cure his hangover, which inspired Tschirky to popularize the dish. The Waldorf Astoria was the first to offer 24-hour room service for its guests and was even the first to start hiring female chefs, starting in 1931, according to Culture Now. In addition to food, the Waldorf Astoria was famous for cocktails. One of the bartenders, Johnnie Solon, invented the Bronx Cocktail behind the hotel's bar. The cocktail is a mix of gin, orange juice, and a dash of vermouth. History riddled with drama The hotel's story begins in 1897 when cousins William Waldorf Astor and John Jacob Astor IV built two separate hotels on Fifth Avenue. The cousins turned their mansions into hotels during a bitter feud to one-up each other. A cruel twist came in 1929 when they were forced to demolish their hotels for construction of the Empire State Building. They then made a deal to combine the Waldorf and the Astoria into one hotel, moving the location to Park Avenue. The grand opening came two years later when the Waldorf Astoria debuted as a 47-story skyscraper with a coveted Grand Ballroom that saw Frank Sinatra perform and Albert Einstein speak. In 1977, Conrad Hilton achieved his dream of acquiring the property, but sold it to Chinese firm Anbang Insurance Group in 2014 for a whopping $1.95 billion in 2014. Over a decade later, the sale remains the most expensive hotel sale in history. In 2017, the insurance group began renovations. However, just two years later, the firm's chairman, Wu Xiaohui, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for fundraising fraud and embezzlement by the Chinese government. Anbang declared bankruptcy, and the Waldorf Astoria was acquired by another Chinese firm called Dajia Insurance Group. The legal woes further delayed the hotel's current renovations, and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 pushed it back even further. A new era With a rich history of scandal, art, culture, and wealth, the Waldorf Astoria has now entered a new era. The renovation was overseen by architects from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, one of the leading architecture firms in the country. The team told the New York Times that they spent years sifting through archival photos to create new designs that rang true to the hotel's origin. Chef Michael Anthony, who previously won a Michelin Star at New York's Gramercy Tavern, is spearheading the cuisine at the Waldorf Astoria's Lex Yard restaurant. The Waldorf Astoria has consistently been at the forefront of cocktail innovation, with drinks such as the Rob Roy cocktail and Bronx Cocktail originating there. Pictured a bartender makes a Rob Roy at the hotel on Wednesday The hotel also features a massive 30,000 square foot spa with a sprawling fitness center. The brand is staying true to its ballroom roots, reimagining the Grand Ballroom to accommodate new technology. The bordering rooms have undergone renovations to make them soundproof, so guests can still rent them out during events. A gaudy crystal chandelier that used to be the centerpiece of the ballroom has been removed and replaced with a modern lighting system. Frank Mahan, a principal architect with SOM, told the Times that the lighting of the ballroom, 'never quite worked the way it was intended'. The chandelier's harsh lighting damaged the paneling and metalwork of the ballroom, but now light comes through from coves in the ceiling. The hotel's third floor features a stunning hallway called the Silver Corridor, connecting the Grand Ballroom, the Astor Room, and the Basildon Room. The hallway's grandiose chandeliers light up the jaw-dropping murals on the ceiling, painted by Edward Emerson Simmons. Guests are also promised ultimate comfort in their rooms, which feature dressing areas and private bar areas. The Waldorf Astoria is officially open for guests and has rooms available starting at a whopping $1,500 a night.
Times
20-07-2025
- Times
Alexandre Kantorow — from damp Olympic hero to Proms piano star
A solitary pianist sits at a Steinway piano on a bridge in Paris, ready to play to a global audience of millions watching the Olympics opening ceremony. It's pouring with rain but even a deluge can't stop Ravel's Jeux d'eau (Fountains, aptly) rippling from Alexandre Kantorow's fingers. 'No one else was allowed on the bridge, not even security. I had to wait 20 minutes in the rain without playing, just looking at all the boats passing,' he says, recalling last summer. 'I felt so alone in Paris, which was absolutely magical.' As we talk over a post-concert beer in Freiburg, Germany, I'm swept up by this rose-tinted version of events, but I can't help wondering, more prosaically, what happened to the piano. 'My contract is terrible — I still can't talk about the piano and how they made it,' he says. 'But let's say they prepared for the rain, so there was no destruction of a piano.' The 28-year-old French pianist reached a new level of fame after his rain-drenched Ravel, but he was already hot property in the piano world. Dubbed 'Liszt reincarnated' for his impassioned performances, in 2019 Kantorow became the first French musician to win the Tchaikovsky Competition — a musical equivalent of the Olympics. He remembers it both as 'one of the highlights of stress' in his life and as a place where he reached a musical paradise. 'It's a memory of what's it like to only have music in your mind,' he explains — a rarefied state he's dedicated his life to achieving. His supercharged touring career began the moment he won. 'You've got no time,' he says. 'I didn't even go home, and they had already booked concerts.' When I first heard Kantorow play live at a sold-out solo recital in London a few years ago, I was bowled over by his virtuosity and the resonant sound he conjures from the piano. (He attributes this to the Russian-French teacher Rena Shereshevskaya, who taught him the tricks of 'the long sound'.) His star has continued to rise and he recently won the $300,000 Gilmore Artist Award (he's using the money to build a studio in Paris). After an impressive Proms debut in 2023 playing Beethoven, Kantorow returns to the Royal Albert Hall this summer with Saint-Saëns' Fifth Piano Concerto, an entertaining piece nicknamed 'The Egyptian' (the composer was in the country when he composed it). 'It's one of the important French concertos that's not by Ravel. It's full of intensity and joy, and it makes for one of the most pleasing pieces of music, honestly, that we get on the piano,' Kantorow says, laughing as he splutters over a wasabi snack. 'Even in France, there was for a long time a sort of contempt for Saint-Saëns because he can go over the edge into 'easy' or over-sugary music. But he was incredibly creative, and there's always a spirit of discovery [in his music].' In an age when even purist classical pianists such as Vikingur Olafsson dabble with soothing albums of 'reworks', tapping into the popularity of 'relaxing' and 'chillout' piano playlists, Kantorow has rooted himself firmly in the Romantic era. His playing delivers big emotions and dramatic contrasts. ('I get very hot-headed,' he says. 'I wish I could have more distance.') He's been immersed in Brahms, Liszt and Saint-Saëns, is filling in repertoire gaps by learning Rachmaninov's Second and Prokofiev's Third concertos, and has a new love: the music of Nikolai Medtner, whom he calls 'the Chopin of the 20th century'. What does Kantorow think the appeal of this music is today? 'Melodies — I think that's very important for people. Melody is a big part of the 19th century,' he says without hesitation. 'And the best Romantic music carries a feeling of a universal journey that everyone will understand.' • RPO/Petrenko review — Alexandre Kantorow delights at the Proms That's certainly true of the darkness-to-light trajectory of Brahms's First Piano Concerto, which I've just heard Kantorow play in a free concert packed with schoolchildren and students. He's given a standing ovation and a single red rose, and when I meet him at the stage door afterwards, the fans are waiting. 'Wunderbar,' exclaims one starstruck woman, while a group of teenage girls gather round for a photo. 'Brahms is not going to work on every kid,' he replies, when I suggest that this serious, hour-long concerto is, much as I love it, an unexpected choice to introduce classical music to a new generation. 'Still,' he adds, 'it's a joy that a guy from the 19th century who wasn't the kind of person you'd probably have a good dinner with, had such an interior world that even today we cling to him.' My impression is that the past is as alive to Kantorow as the present. When he went to Moscow for the Tchaikovsky Competition, he says his head was filled with the ghosts of Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky. His fantasy dinner guests would be Liszt, George Sand and Berlioz. He's less interested in staying in touch with the modern world. Not only does Kantorow avoid all social media but he is also 'extremely bad' at answering phone calls and texts. He has sacrificed time with people, he says, for this life of music, and shies away from a question about whether he is in a relationship. 'I'm afraid that you can very quickly become a sort of grown-up child,' he confesses. 'I'm very lucky to do these concerts, but you are not very autonomous. There are always people to bring you to places, who know where you're going. Musical life is advancing and the rest is not. I'm really struggling with that and trying to be sure that's not the case.' Kantorow grew up in a family of musicians. His mother, Kathryn Dean, is a British violinist. 'I love Marmite.' Kantorow smiles. 'Christmas cake is a big tradition in the family, scrambled eggs in the morning. There's a big part of me that feels connected to Britain.' His French father, the violinist and conductor Jean-Jacques Kantorow, opened doors for him into the professional musical world. While Alexandre was still a teenager, they recorded two albums together for BIS, the small Swedish label that's since become part of Apple's Platoon and for which Kantorow still records. 'It was a privilege. He gave me a big chance, but he waited to be sure it wouldn't backfire — you need enough weight on your own to exist outside of your name,' Kantorow says. • Alexandre Kantorow review — intense doesn't even begin to describe this piano phenomenon He also made the most of his big competition break. The Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, who was chair of the jury, whisked Kantorow and the other finalists off into a whirlwind of concerts. 'He wanted new repertoire and quickly, with no time to rehearse because he would arrive late, having already done an opera,' Kantorow says. 'This process of being immediately on the spot and having to react was the best school.' Since then, Gergiev has become persona non grata in the West, barred for his close ties to Putin and refusal to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He is making his controversial return to Europe, conducting in Italy in a concert mooted for the end of July. 'I heard also Spain, maybe he was trying to …' Kantorow adds, trailing off. Should he be allowed back? 'My truthful wish I have in my heart is I wish to play again with him because he's one of the great artists of today,' he says. 'But I get it, honestly, I get it. From the point of view of Ukraine, I get it.' While he believes artists can't hide and say they're apolitical ('everything you say or stand for has meaning'), he doesn't feel he yet has a full enough knowledge of politics to use his platform in the way that, say, the pianist Igor Levit has done. Nor does he feel under pressure to modernise the concert format. 'Honestly, the more I look at it, the more I feel that's also the joy of classical music. It's a place you go to if you're a bit overwhelmed or tired from the modern world,' he says. 'I think more and more it will be a sort of refuge for people.' Once again, the world disappears, and Kantorow is absorbed by Kantorow plays at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on Jul 25, live on Radio 3/BBC Sounds, His album of Brahms and Schubert is out on BIS
Time Out
15-07-2025
- Time Out
First look: The Waldorf Astoria's shiny $2 billion renovation
After eight years behind scaffolding and a reported $2 billion restoration, the Waldorf Astoria New York is nearly ready for its next curtain call. The Art Deco icon at 301 Park Avenue, which was once the tallest and largest hotel in the world, is reopening this fall with just 375 oversized rooms and suites (down from more than 1,400), a sleek new look and a reverence for its storied past. During a recent hard-hat tour, I tiptoed past dust sheets and dangling chandeliers for a sneak peek at the reincarnated legend. Even before the final polish, the transformation is jaw-dropping. The soaring lobby has been restored to its original 1931 proportions, with gleaming marble underfoot, hand-restored murals overhead and sightlines that feel grander and more open than ever. The iconic 'Wheel of Life' mosaic shines once again and, just where they belong, guests will spot the gilded Queen Victoria clock and Cole Porter's Steinway piano. Gone are the office cubicles and corporate carpet vibes of the past. In their place are creamy marble floors, silver-leaf ceilings and custom Pierre-Yves Rochon furnishings—plus thoughtful modern details in every room, from through-closet luggage storage to dedicated bar setups. The Waldorf's comeback hasn't been quick or linear. Originally opened in 1931 by hotelier Lucius Boomer after the demolition of the original Fifth Avenue location, the property became a hub for galas, diplomats and cultural icons—from Marilyn Monroe and Eartha Kitt to Queen Elizabeth and every U.S. president from Hoover to Obama. In 2017, the hotel closed for its extensive overhaul, converting the top floors into private residences while Hilton retained management. Now under Dajia Insurance Group, the hotel returns with fresh ownership, new vision and its old glamour fully intact. The culinary program alone makes a strong case for a visit. Later this month, the revitalized Peacock Alley returns as a gilded cocktail bar led by PDT's Jeff Bell. The two-story flagship Lex Yard, from Gramercy Tavern's Michael Anthony, will serve seasonal American fare in a glowing space by AvroKO that nods to the hotel's secret train platform below. A third venue, Yoshoku, helmed by Ry Nitzkowski, offers a playful Japanese twist on brasserie dining. Room bookings open Monday, September 1. Every category starts at nearly 600 square feet and is decked in subtle hues of mint and mauve, accented with deco-inspired light fixtures and plush, contemporary touches. Other draws include a 30,000-square-foot spa, 43,000 square feet of restored event space and a Library Lounge check-in area that replaces the old front desk with a serene welcome zone.
