Lessons from a desert oasis

The tiny emirate of Sharjah has built up significant cultural capital by hosting the Arab world's biggest contemporary art event

- Ong Sor Fern

SHARJAH (United Arab Emirates) — A forest of poles festooned with oyster shells sprouts from rocky soil. This striking sight in Sharjah's Buhais Geological Park is an art installation by indigenous Australian artist Megan Cope.

Her work, referencing the deep history of Aborigines whose shell middens date back 29,000 years, resonates with the site, a 93 million-year-old seabed which holds ancient marine fossils as well as evidence of human habitation from the Stone, Bronze and Iron ages.

This unusual meeting of modern and ancient is part of Sharjah Biennial 16, the Arab world's biggest contemporary art event, which opened on Feb 6 and runs till June 15.

The small kingdom of Sharjah, one of the United Arab Emirates, may not be top of mind for most people as a contemporary arts hub. An absolute monarchy ruled by Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, it has stricter decency laws and is more conservative than its flashier siblings Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Yet, as Singaporean artist Heman Chong, who is exhibiting at the latest edition and has been to the emirate five times, observes: "The Sharjah Biennial has been slowly maturing into an extremely important platform in the Middle East region for many unseen practices to be represented. I would say it might be one of the most important for non-Western artists, particularly those from the Middle East and Africa."

The biennial features nearly 200 participants with more than 650 artworks spread across 17 venues.

BUILDING CULTURAL CAPITAL How this tiny territory spanning just 2,590 sq km has built substantial cultural capital holds instructive lessons for Singapore. There are distinct parallels to be drawn between these two prosperous cities, alike in artistic ambitions expressed in the organising of, and participation in, international arts events.