Sharjah Art Foundation, March meeting 2018 : active forms

March Meeting 2018: Active Forms (MM 2018) explores issues of resistance through consideration of organising as a primary act of and condition for artistic and cultural production. Over three days, MM 2018 will provide an opportunity to collectively examine practices in art, writing, film, music, performance and architecture that extend and intensify engagement with present and past knowledges of resistance. The programme also seeks to investigate the relationship between recognisable forms such as projects, exhibitions and conferences, and the surrounding informality from which these events emerge. How do questions of organising enable us to conceptualise resistance as not only a practice of ‘standing against’ but also one of ongoing exchange and future planning? How might such thinking help us reassess art’s relationship to notions of authorship, agency, power and the public? MM 2018 will include artist talks, lecture performances, panel discussions and workshops on cultural and artistic production, institution building, architecture, infrastructure, film, music and literature.
Expanding on the programme’s key ideas, Active Forms will also present an exhibition of works from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection by artists John Akomfrah, Basma Alsharif, Halil Altındere, Bahar Behbahani, Simone Fattal, Hazem Harb, Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev, Maha Maamoun, Almagul Menlibayeva, Naeem Mohaiemen, Magdi Mostafa, Raeda Saadeh, Sharif Waked and Abdul Hay Mosallam Zarara. On view from 16 March to 16 June, the works will enrich MM 2018 conversations about issues of resistance, organising and form and extend the dialogue and engagement beyond the three days of the meetings.