Biennial Bytes

Mar 10 2025 16 ep. 26 mins 2

Biennial Bytes Podcast artwork

Biennial Bytes is the official podcast of Sharjah Biennial.

Bringing the Biennial to life for culture enthusiasts around the world, the podcast delves into the work of some of the most prominent artists practising today.

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EP04: Yhonnie Scarce x Megan Tamati-Quennell

Mar 10 2025 31 mins

Megan Tamati-Quennell and artist Yhonnie Scarce shed light on the historical context of nuclear testing on Aboriginal lands in Australia. Her installation Orford Ness (2022) comprises 1000 hand-blown glass yams, which are the food of Scarce’s people. Commissioned for SB16, Operation Buffalo (2024) similarly probes into untold narratives surrounding nuclear testing. Their disc

EP03: Joe Namy x Zeynep Öz

Mar 06 2025 30 mins

Zeynep Öz speaks with artist, composer and educator Joe Namy about his sound installations that use samples from loud sound systems in cars, glitchy computer-generated noises and sounds converted from the molecular data of plants. His work for SB16 titled Dub Plants is inspired by Egyptian-American agricultural engineer and pioneer of electronic music, Halim El Dabh. Discover

EP02: Bint Mbareh x Amal Khalaf

Mar 06 2025 29 mins

Amal Khalaf speaks with artist and sound researcher Bint Mbareh about her work around songs of resistance in relation to land and water sovereignty in Palestine. Learn more about Bint Mbareh’s SB16 project, What’s Left? (2025), where she works with a choir in Sharjah on songs of revolution and collective action. Recalling practices such as throwing shells and

EP01: Hoor Al Qasimi x Sharjah Biennial 16 curators

Mar 06 2025 31 mins

Biennial Bytes Season 2 kicks off with a roundtable between the five curators of Sharjah Biennial 16: Alia Swastika, Amal Khalaf, Megan Tamati-Quennell, Natasha Ginwala and Zeynep Öz. During the conversation, moderated by Hoor Al Qasimi, Director of Sharjah Art Foundation, the curators discuss their individual projects and the synergies between their distinct curatorial approa

Stay tuned for Season 2!

What does it mean to carry? What does it entail to carry a home, ancestors and political formations with you? How do themes of care, grief, history and memory speak to the times we live in? Find out on Biennial Bytes, the official podcast of Sharjah Biennial 16, titled "to carry". Join the five curators of SB16 as they speak to artists about their practice and projects here a

Ep 12: Amar Kanwar — Narrative and Evidence

Jun 12 2023 32 mins

What are the ways through which cinema can seek the truth and respond to the times? In a world where evidence has ceased to matter, what is the role of the documentary? To find out, listen to Amar Kanwar in conversation with SB15 curator Hoor Al Qasimi. For SB15, Kanwar installed a seven-channel film installation called The Peacock’s Graveyard. The project turns to folklore and

Ep 11: Abdulrahim Salem — Tradition and Community

Jun 05 2023 28 mins

How can artistic techniques capture invisible phenomena such as movement and magic? What are the ways in which can traditional practices be reinterpreted within contemporary art? To find out, listen to Abdulrahim Salem in conversation with SB15 curator Hoor Al Qasimi. At SB15, Salem presented a live painting performance called An Unknown Sailor set to a traditional Emirati sea shan

Ep 10: Mithu Sen — Gender and Glitch

May 29 2023 34 mins

How can the distortion of language resist oppressive power structures? In what ways can depicting the body reveal and defy social strictures? To find out, listen to Mithu Sen in conversation with SB15 curator Hoor Al Qasimi. At Sharjah, Sen installed a mixed-media installation called I am from there. I am from here (2023) at the Calligraphy Square. The work takes the form of a poem

Ep 9: Annalee Davis — Planting and Recovering

May 22 2023 27 mins

How can gardens become spaces for healing and community? Can plantations become sites for challenging exploitation and the vestiges of colonialism? To find out, listen to Annalee Davis in conversation with SB15 curator Hoor Al Qasimi. At Sharjah, Davis grew a medicinal garden made using plants, herbal knowledge and gardening practices from around the world. The work, called Pray t

Ep 8: Archana Hande — Labour and Technology

May 15 2023 29 mins

How can images bring to life the narratives of labour and materials which make up the story of modernity? In what ways do western ideas of development influence representation of urban life around the globe? To find out, listen to Archana Hande in conversation with SB15 curator Hoor Al Qasimi. At Sharjah, Archana installed two works — an interactive installation called Weaving Li