Art Insight #17: Hoor Al-Qasimi
President and Director of the Sharjah Art Foundation
“You don’t start a debate by offending someone, you slowly push the boundaries.” Hoor Al-Qasimi said to The New York Times in 2009. Hoor Al-Qasimi is a former painting student at London’s Slade School of Fine Art, who now heads the influential ‘Sharjah Biennial’, set up by her father Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, and its annual March Meeting symposium.
She prefers to devote her energy to conversations surrounding art – activities like the Sharjah Biennial 2015 curated by Eungie Joo and taking the curatorial reins herself for the UAE Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
The emphasis on supporting art and culture has meant that there was always a favorable environment for artists. - Hoor Al-Qasimi -
Q. What made you decide to start the Sharjah Art Foundation in 2009? Sharjah Art Foundation is supporting the Sharjah Biennale established by your father in 1993. After Sharjah Art Foundation’s organizing, the biennale could get a lot of attention from all over the world. Can you explain how this achievement was possible?
As the Biennial grew over the years, it became increasingly important within the region as a supporter of artists and artistic production. At that time, the Biennial began offering production funding and residencies to artists, and education programs for the public. But at a certain point we realized that we could be more effective as a year-round organization, so we set up the Foundation in 2009. This development in the institutional structure meant that we have been able to nurture our staff and build better, stronger relations with our local community and the international art world.
Q. Sharjah has a longer history of visual arts compared to its neighbors. The headquarters of the Emirate's Fine Arts Society was established here in 1981, and most of its artists used to live here in Sharjah as well. As a princess, artist, and curator, you are deeply engaged with this region. Can you tell us about your involvement in the arts and culture in Sharjah?
Art has always played a big part in my life – even as a child. I decided to study at the university to be an artist, and then got a master’s degree in curating. I was a young teenager when the Sharjah Biennial started, and it had a very powerful influence on me. It was also important to realize that there are also many institutions supporting various aspects of art and culture in Sharjah. There is the ‘Calligraphy Biennial’, the ‘Children’s Biennial’, about twenty museums of various sizes, the Dr. Sultan Al-Qasimi Centre for Gulf Studies. And the most popular event in Sharjah is the ‘Sharjah International Book Fair’, which is now over thirty years old. So the emphasis on supporting art and culture has meant that there was always a favorable environment for artists. There has always been studio space for artists—this was something that my father began that we continue at the Foundation.
Q. Hyundai Motor is trying to support many artists and projects all around the world as your family does. I wonder how your father was initially inspired to support the arts, and how the passion for supporting the arts was passed down from his generation to yours.
Sharjah has always been focused on education and culture. That is something that my father takes very seriously. He is himself a writer of history and a playwright. As children, we were taken to art galleries around the world. Now, we are all involved in various aspects of art, education, and culture.
Q. As a president of a cultural foundation, what do you think about the role of corporations like Hyundai Motor in the art scene?
It is extremely important that major corporations support the work of institutions, particularly those that are operating in the communities where the corporations work. Companies have a responsibility to these communities both in terms of sharing the benefits the companies receive from the business, but also to help develop a better social and cultural landscape for everyone.
Q. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the globalism of the art scene centered on UAE.
The UAE has historically played a central role in international trade and has long been a hub between the Far East and the West. This role continues today in business, but also in the art world. The UAE has been able to offer regional and international artists and other art professionals or those simply interested in art a place to meet and exchange ideas, and to learn about different practices.
Q. What are your thoughts on the Korean art scene? What do you think about Korean art? Also wonder about your opinion on the Asian art scene.
I have a personal love of the Far East and spend time every year traveling to Korea, China and Japan for professional as well as private reasons. I am going early next month to Gwangju to attend the opening of <The Time Is Out Of Joint>, a project co-produced in collaboration with the Asia Culture Center - Theater. A group of us also were in Korea for the last ‘Gwangju Biennale’ and visited many arts organizations as well, including Media City Seoul. The curator for the last Sharjah Biennial was an American curator Eungie Joo, who is of Korean descent, and there were many Korean artists in that biennial. In terms of the Korean art scene, I think it is incredibly dynamic and I look forward to continuing to learn more about the artists and hope to establish stronger ties with Korean institutions and organizations.
Q. As a leading figure in the world of contemporary art, do you have any advice for aspiring young artists and curators?
I think the most important thing for young artists and curators is to find ways within their work to visualise or express the ideas, concepts, or thoughts that are most urgent and meaningful to them. It should not be about current trends or market forces. The best artists and curators are those who help us to see the world around us in new and compelling ways. ■ with ARTINPOST
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Uriel Barthélémi and Taro Shinoda <Lunar Reflection Transmission Technique> 2016
Image Courtesy Sharjah Art Foundation
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Murtaza Vali, Elizabeth Giorgis (Modern Art Museum: Gebre Kirstos Desta Center, Ethiopia), Tina Sherwell (International Academy of Art, Palestine), Christine Tohme (Ashkal Alwan, Lebanon), Zineb Sedira (aria, Algeria), and Prateek Raja (Experimenter Curator’s Hub, India) discuss “In and Out of School” at March Meeting 2016: Education, Engagement, and Participation
Image Courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation
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Radouan Mriziga <~55 performance part of The Time is Out of Joint> 2016
Image Courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation
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Farideh Lashai, various works, Installation View, Bait Al Serkal, 2016
Image Courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation
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Farideh Lashai, various works, Installation View, Bait Al Serkal, 2016
Image Courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation
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Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige <Two Suns in a Sunset>
Image Courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation
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Simone Fattal, Installation view, SAF Art Spaces, 2016
Image Courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation
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Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi and Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi at the opening of <1980-Today: Exhibitions in the United Arab Emirates> at The Flying Saucer, Sharjah
Image Courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation
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<1980-Today: Exhibitions in the United Arab Emirates>, Various works. Installation view, The Flying Saucer, 2016
Image Courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation
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<1980-Today: Exhibitions in the United Arab Emirates>, Various works. Installation view, The Flying Saucer, 2016
Image Courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation
Profile
Hoor Al-Qasimi is the president and director of Sharjah Art Foundation located in Sharjah, which is one of the states of the United Arab Emirates. Founded in 2009, Sharjah Art Foundation is now growing fast as a major institute in the international art scene. As a princess of the Middle East who dreamt of being an artist herself, Al-Qasimi undertook the position as a curator in the United Arab Emirates National Pavilion at ‘Venice Biennale’ in 2015.
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