Five things you need to see at Sharjah Biennial 16

The UAE’s perpetually burgeoning art scene is about to get even more exciting. Running from February 6 to June 15, 2025, Sharjah Biennial 16 is set to transform the city into a sprawling hub of art, installations, and cultural experiences.

Curated under the theme “to carry,” the biennial explores the weight of histories, collective struggles, and the ways we navigate the world’s burdens and aspirations. With nearly 200 artists presenting over 650 works – including more than 200 new commissions – across a myriad of venues, this edition is Sharjah Biennial’s most ambitious yet. 

Here are five highlights that we think you to keep an eye out for:

Art that confronts the climate crisis

The climate emergency looms large at Sharjah Biennial 16, with artists dissecting the devastation of environmental degradation and the legacies of colonial resource extraction. Yhonnie Scarce’s glass installations evoke radioactive rain clouds – a stark reminder of nuclear testing on Indigenous lands in Australia and Adelita Husni-Bey’s Like a Flood tackles Libya’s crumbling water infrastructure, looking at the intersections of resource scarcity and imperialism. Alongside these works are a series of installations by artists from around the world that urge us to reconsider our relationship with the world, offering both warnings and alternative pathways.

Installations exploring Sharjah’s maritime history

As a key hub of global trade, Sharjah has long been a meeting point of cultures, and this history is woven through the biennial’s exhibitions. Akinbode Akinbiyi’s Sea Never Dry captures the rhythms of life along Sharjah’s coast, whereas Cassi Namoda’s paintings explore motherhood and labour on the shores of Mozambique. These works trace how cultural memory flows across generations to allow visitors to engage with and reflect on our collective relationships with the shorelines and ports we often take for granted.

The uncomfortable legacy of technological advancements

In a world increasingly dominated by AI and automation, and with ecological collapse looming, artists are probing the tangled relationship between technology, environment, and tradition at Sharjah Biennial 16. Akira Ikezoe’s paintings offer glimpses of landscapes shaped by nuclear disasters, while Fernando Palma Rodríguez turns to ancestral knowledge to provide a perspective on imagining a more sustainable future rooted in tradition – encouraging visitors to rethink what progress and sustainability can mean.

A stacked program of talks, screenings, and performances

Beyond its exhibitions, Sharjah Biennial 16 also presents a rich lineup of events. The March Meeting (March 7-9) will see artists, curators, and thinkers unpack the biennial’s themes through a series of discussions and lectures. April Acts (April 18-20) will feature live performances, film screenings, and panel conversations, and a dedicated podcast series will offer behind-the-scenes insights from the artists themselves.

Julianknxx’s multidimensional art and storytelling

Sierra Leonean poet and artist Julianknxx is bringing his multi-hyphenate, expansive art to Sharjah Biennial 16. Drawing from personal experience while tapping into broader diasporic memory, his work interrogates how we construct local and global narratives, reflecting on migration, belonging, and the weight of inherited histories. Julianknxx’s practice expands the ways we think about identity, place, and the ever-shifting nature of home.

This is just a glimpse of the provocative and moving art you can expect to find at Sharjah Biennial 16. The biennial invites visitors to reflect on what they carry – physically, emotionally, and historically – and how art can become a vessel for transformation.

So, plan your visit now and immerse yourself in one of the UAE’s most exciting cultural events of 2025.

For more information, visit the Sharjah Art Foundation’s website here.