Artistic Taste-Making at the Sharjah Biennial

Extract

This poster investigates the role that the Sharjah Biennial (SB), an international art showcase in the United Arab Emirates, plays in the development of a local artistic and cultural taste. It argues that the SB contributes to the molding of local aesthetic values through its selection of curatorial themes, artists, artworks, and, especially, venues. Using field visits, interviews, and archival research informed by sociological and anthropological theories on aesthetics, the author shows that organizers of public art exhibitions and programs are in a key position to shape the art to which people are exposed and how this, in turn, creates a public valuation of aesthetics. This project fills a gap in contemporary biennial literature by shedding light on the pivotal roles of art events in shaping societal aesthetic values.