SHARJAH.- Following the successful opening of Sharjah Biennial 16, followed by the annual March Meeting and April Acts, Sharjah Art Foundation is pleased to announce its autumn 2025 programme. Highlights include the first institutional solo exhibitions in the region by Afra Al Dhaheri, Leda Catunda and Rachid Koraïchi, as well as a significant presentation of works from the Foundation’s collection at Kalba Ice Factory. Autumn 2025 also includes the launch of two recent initiatives by the Foundation: a new photography gallery in Al Manakh and the opening of Al Majarrah Park, designed by the artist collective Superflex.
The season includes the 2025 editions of Perform Sharjah, Sharjah Film Platform and Focal Point—the Foundation’s annual film festival, performance programme, art book fair in addition to music events.
Internationally, recent and new work by artist Mounira Al Solh is on view in her mid-career solo exhibition at The Bonnefanten, Maastricht, co-organised by Sharjah Art Foundation, from June 7, 2025 to January 11, 2026. The exhibition will be on view in Sharjah in 2027. Singing Wells’s Sharjah Biennial 16 project Sonic Inheritances, commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation and Bergen Assembly, will be on view at the 5th Bergen Assembly, Norway (September 11–November 9, 2025). Stephanie Comilang’s Search for Life II, commissioned by TBA21, Sharjah Art Foundation and The Vega Foundation, is on view in CARA, New York, until August 10, 2025. Additionally, premiering at the Festival d’Avignon in July is Laaroussa Quartet by Selma and Sofiane Ouissi supported by Sharjah Art Foundation and the presentation of Magec / The Desert by Radouan Mriziga co-produced by the Foundation. These performances will be presented at Perform Sharjah’s upcoming season in Autumn 2025.
Exhibition programme
Afra Al Dhaheri
August 30–December 14, 2025
Gallery 6, Al Mureijah Square, Sharjah
The autumn season begins with the first institutional solo show of Afra Al Dhaheri. The exhibition invites the audience to reflect on the textures and rhythms of temporality by focusing on the artist’s mixed media works which experiment with repetition, layering and accumulation.
Leda Catunda
September 26, 2025–February 8, 2026
Galleries 4 and 5, Al Mureijah Square, Sharjah
Marking the first major solo exhibition of artist Leda Catunda in the region, this presentation brings together a vibrant selection of her haptic works from the 1980s to the present. Catunda’s practice crafts together readymade graphics, fabrics and everyday items. Co-organised with Halle für Kunst Steiermark, Graz, the exhibition will travel to Austria in June 2026.
Rachid Koraïchi
September 26, 2025–April 5, 2026
Galleries 1, 2 and 3, Al Mureijah Square, Sharjah
Spanning five decades of his practice, this major survey traces artist Rachid Koraïchi’s ongoing exploration into signs and symbols from a diverse range of languages and cultural traditions, through multifaceted installations inspired by the legacy of Islamic mysticism.
Works from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection
October 17, 2025–May 31, 2026
Kalba Ice Factory, Kalba
For the first time since its restoration, Kalba Ice Factory, the Foundation’s east coast venue, hosts a large-scale presentation of works from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection.
New openings
Photography Gallery and Al Majarrah Park
November 2025
Sharjah City
November marks the launch of two landmark initiatives. In Al Manakh, the Foundation opens a new photography gallery housed in a repurposed former telecommunications building. The inaugural presentation features a wide-ranging selection of photographs from the Foundation’s collection.
Simultaneously, Al Majarrah Park, adjacent to Rain Room Sharjah, will open to the public following its transformation by the artist collective Superflex in close collaboration with Schul landscape architects, KWY.studio and local residents.
Annual events
Perform Sharjah
October 11–December 14, 2025
Various locations across Sharjah
Sharjah Art Foundation’s performing arts season returns this October with the fourth edition of Perform Sharjah, expanding its presence across the cities of Sharjah and Khorfakkan. With a diverse lineup reflecting and celebrating Sharjah’s rich cultural fabric, the season will create shared experiences to connect people through art in familiar and unexpected spaces.
Sharjah Film Platform 8
November 14–23, 2025
Mirage City Cinema, Al Mureijah Square, and other cinemas in Sharjah
The eighth edition of Sharjah Film Platform, the Foundation’s annual festival of independent cinema and experimental filmmaking, includes the UAE premieres of a selection of films nominated by an international committee, all of which will compete for the Sharjah Film Platform Awards.
Focal Point
December 12–14, 2025
Bait Obaid Al Shamsi, Arts Square, Sharjah
Sharjah Art Foundation’s annual art book fair showcases independent bookmaking from around the world. A critical space for knowledge-sharing and community building, the fair features a compelling selection of printed material by cultural producers who expand and experiment with the medium of publishing. It also includes workshops for print and design enthusiasts.
Music Programme
Autumn 2025
Various locations across Sharjah
Sharjah Art Foundation is organising listening sessions and gatherings for the local community as well as concerts, workshops and talks. Sharjah will welcome a diverse group of musicians, who will perform and share their experiences of both traditional and experimental musical forms. A conference on maritime music from the Western Indian Ocean is also planned for the end of the year. Two book projects will be launched during Focal Point. More details will be available closer to the dates of the events.
