The second Lahore Biennial announces full artists' list

The artists' list has been announced for the Lahore Biennial, curated by Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, who founded the Sharjah Art Foundation. Titled LB02: between the sun and the moon, the biennial opens in late January and focuses on the climate crisis and the political and social challenges it carries, as well as indigenous and ancient means of connection to the surrounding world. “For centuries, inhabitants of these regions oriented themselves with reference to the sun, the moon, and the constellations. How might we reflect on our place within the cosmos today, at this conjuncture of planetary climate crisis and polarities between societies?” Al Qasimi said in a statement. “LB02 looks upwards with a view to forging new resonances and new imaginings of the future that encompass the full breadth of its material and virtual possibilities, growing from a tradition of intra-regional mobility of ideas, people, flora and fauna.” While the first year of the biennial was curated in-house, the second one scales upwards in terms of production: the roster includes over 70 artists and an impressive 20 new commissions. UAE artists are well-represented, including a new commission by the artist and photographer Reem Falaknaz — exploring links between the UAE and Pakistan – and existing work by the Khorfakkan artist Abdullah Al Sa'adi, part of the core group around Hassan Sharif who were the pioneering generation of Emirati contemporary artists. Many of the artists are well known on the international circuit, such as Syrian-Lebanese painter and ceramicist Simone Fattal, Moroccan artist Bouchra Khalili, Emirati photographer Farah Al Qasimi, and Kuwaiti artist Alia Farid. There are also choices responsive to Lahore's wider geography. Almagul Menlibayeva from Kazakhstan, will create an immersive installation based on 14th-century astronomy, when Pakistan and southern Kazakhstan were both part of the Timurid dynasty. The biennial will be spread across the city’s main cultural sites, including the monumental Lahore Fort, rebuilt in the 16th-century during Mughal Empire. Other sites include Gaddafi Stadium, which houses Pakistan’s national cricket team, the Lahore Museum, and the 19th-century Tollinton Market, which has recently refurbished as a museum. The biennial's concerns are close to that of the current Sharjah Architecture Triennial, which approaches the question of climate change from the perspective of the Global South, where many of its effects are being felt most keenly. Al Qasimi helped produce the Architecture Triennial, after its founder, her brother Sheikh Khalid Al Qasimi, passed away. Between the sun and the moon will look to answer these questions from the standpoint of art practice rather than architecture, while also underlining the close relationship between the UAE and Pakistan through generations of migration and shared history. Abdullah Al Saadi Adrian Villar Rojas Afrah Shafiq Ajam Media Collective Ali Kazim Alia Farid Almagul Menlibayeva with Inna Artemova and German Popov Amar Kanwar Amina Menia Amina Zoubir Anwar Saeed Ayesha Zulfiqar Ayman Zedani and Ahmad Makia Bahar Behbahani Barbara Walker Basir Mahmood Bernie Searle Basma Al Sharif Bouchra Khalili Christodoulos Panayiotou Diana Al-Hadid Eyob Kitaba Farah Al Qasimi Farideh Lashai Farkhanda Ashraf Khilji Gary Simmons Hajra Waheed Halil Altindere Henok Melkamzer Haris Epaminonda Haroon Mirza Hassan Hajjaj Hera Büyüktaşcıyan and Hajra Haider Karrar Hoda Afshar Hrair Sarkissian Imran Ahmad Khan Jeanno Gaussi John Akomfrah Kader Attia Kamala Ibrahim Ishaq Khalil Rabbah Khadim Ali Lida Abdul Madiha Aijaz Mariam Ghani Mark Salvatus Marwa Arsanios Michael Rakowitz Moza Al Matrooshi Mudasar Rashdi Muhammad Ali Talpur Munem Wasif Muzzumil Ruheel Nasrin Tabatabai and Babak Afrassiabi Naiza Khan Nalini Malini Nedko Solakov Pak Khawateen Painting Club Rabbya Naseer & Hurmat ul Ain Rachid Koraichi Rahat Ali Rasheed Araeen Rayanne Tabet Reem Falaknaz Roman Zakharov Lakhor Saule Suleimanov Simone Fattal Shezad Dawood Slavs and Tatars Syrlybek Bekbotayev Taus Makhacheva Tentative Collective The Otolith Group Vivan Sundaram Wael Shawky Waseem Akram Yaminay Chaudhri Younus Nomani Yousuf Nomani Yto Barrada Zarina Bhimji Zitta Sultanbayeva Zulfiqar Rind

The second Lahore Biennial announces full artists' list

Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi will curate the exhibition, which addresses exchange between Pakistan and the UAE