Sharjah Ruler opens Hassan Sharif retrospective

H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, yesterday attended the opening of the landmark retrospective "Hassan Sharif: I Am The Single Work Artist" at the Sharjah Art Foundation.

Also in attendance were Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority, Shurooq, Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, President of Zayed University, Brigadier General Saif Al Zari Al Shamsi, Commander-in-Chief of Sharjah Police, Khalid Al Midfa, Chairman of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority, Salah Salem Al Mahmoud, Director-General of the Sharjah Documents and Archives Authority, and other dignitaries and government officials.

Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, President and Director of Sharjah Art Foundation and curator of the show, gave guests a tour of the exhibition, which is organised thematically into narrative chapters, each with its own space. The chapters were given titles inspired by Sharif’s own words: ‘So I created a semi-system’, ‘My little tiny box’, ‘I’m loyal to colour’, ‘Performance is good’, ‘I’m an object maker’, and ‘Things in my room’. An additional space, with the chapter title, ‘Hassan’s Atelier’, houses the contents of Sharif’s studio, recently donated to SAF by the artist’s estate.

On view until 3rd February, 2018, the exhibition traces nearly five decades of the artist's multimedia practice, including painting, sculpture, assemblage, drawing, installation and photography. Some of the works have never been exhibited before. Free and open to the public, the retrospective spans all of Sharjah Art Foundation’s spaces in the Al Mureijah Square area and Bait Al Serkal in Arts Square.