Amid the silence of Sharjah Art Foundation’s numerous galleries at the historic crossroads of Al Mureijah Square, Bouchra Khalili’s work whispers stories of invisible identities, civil liberties, stateless communities, the migrant dilemma and what she calls ‘radical citizenship.’ Based in Vienna, Khalili is of Moroccan-French descent, and her recently opened solo exhibition Between Circles and Constellations is part of Sharjah Art Foundation’s ambitious autumn programme, which also includes an exhibition on Emily Karaka, a seminal figure in New Zealand’s postmodern expressionist movement.

These two major exhibitions were opened by Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Federal Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. They will serve as a basis for other upcoming exhibitions featuring works by renowned masters such as William Kentridge and Antonio Dias.

Curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, Director and Chairman of Sharjah Art Foundation, along with Amal Al Ali and Meera Madhu, Between Circles and Constellations presents an extraordinary snapshot of the Moroccan-born Khalili’s most important projects from the past two decades, including the regional premiere of her latest film The Public Storyteller (2024). One of the unmissable highlights of the programme is The Circle.

The mixed-media installation begins with a forgotten historical event—the candidacy of Djellali Kamal, an undocumented worker from the Maghreb, in the 1974 French presidential election. “The piece is essentially a meditation on the notion of belonging and community, through spoken word poetry, film, and performance. I invite viewers to imagine a world in which an anonymous undocumented worker could be elected president,” says Khalili, hoping the artwork will lead to a liberatory conception of community that is based on purely poetic gestures.

While The Public Storyteller frames Djellali’s campaign as a Moroccan bard’s epic, the “Circles” in the show’s title refers to al halqa, a traditional Moroccan storytelling practice in which people from different generations gather in a circle and share memories and political ideas. In Khalili’s skillful hands, the circle formed by the audience “becomes a metaphor for a community united by the act of imagining a better future in a shared world,” explains Hoor, who was recently appointed artistic director of the 25th Sydney Biennale, which will take place in 2026.

Between Circles and Constellations serves as a reminder to document and describe stories of collective emancipation and collective healing. Yet Khalili, whose video projections The Mapping Journey Project garnered wide acclaim at the 2024 Venice Biennale, refrains from interpreting her work solely as a commentary on migration or colonial and postcolonial narratives. “Indeed, all of my work is connected through the very question that has haunted my practice from the beginning—how can we rethink forms of belonging freed from limiting notions of identity?” says Khalili, who is no stranger to Sharjah’s artistic landscape.

She has previously exhibited at Sharjah Biennale 10 in 2011 and Sharjah Biennale 15 in 2023. “The amazing programmes and the amazing team at Sharjah Art Foundation make Sharjah a truly special place for me,” enthuses the artist, who has also participated in two editions of March Meeting, an annual art convention organised by Sharjah Art Foundation where experts from around the world engage in valuable dialogue on important issues related to contemporary art.

The life and times of Emily Karaka – now 72 and based in Auckland – tell a different story, though her colourful abstractions are no less powerful, as they focus on the fraught legacy of colonialism and its ongoing impact on Māori identity and culture. As the first major exhibition of Karaka’s work anywhere in the world, there is much for art lovers to discover here.

Titled Ka Awatea, A New Dawn, Karaka’s extensive survey features works from public and private collections spanning her five-decade career. She also presents new works commissioned by the Sharjah Art Foundation. “Stylistically diverse, from intense abstract expressionist paintings in saturated colours to poetic representations of land and people, her work carries messages of Maori sovereignty, social justice, environmental care and love for her family. Born from the politics of colonisation, her work is personal, passionate and rooted in Maori rights linked to the Treaty of Waitangi, the founding document of Aotearoa New Zealand,” says Hoor, who co-curated the exhibition with Megan Tamati-Quennell (co-curator of the upcoming Sharjah Biennial 16).