‘Between Circles and Constellations’ at the Sharjah Art Foundation reflects Bouchra Khalili’s deep exploration of the hidden histories of solidarity among transnational and stateless communities, highlighting key projects from the past 15 years. Her work, which transcends the boundaries of fiction and documentary, intertwines visual and sonic elements to propose new forms of emancipatory belonging. ‘Between Circles and Constellations’ is organised by Sharjah Art Foundation and MACBA Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, with the assistance of Amal Al Ali and Meera Madhu from Sharjah Art Foundation.
Bouchra Khalili: Between Circles and Constellations
Khalili, born in Morocco, engages with a range of media, including film, photography, print, installation, publication, and textiles. Central to her practice are collaborations with members of marginalised communities, who serve as ‘civic poets.’ Together, they merge personal and collective narratives, creating alternative methods of witnessing and recording history. Khalili uses montage as a means of both articulation and speculation, inviting her audience to become active participants in her narratives, thus expanding the collective of civic poets within her works.
The exhibition’s title, ‘Circles and Constellations,’ symbolises the potential communities envisioned in Khalili’s art. ‘Circles’ references ‘al halqa,’ a traditional Moroccan storytelling practice where people gather to share memories and political ideas across generations. This civic form of gathering has been a recurring element in Khalili’s work, particularly in her recent explorations of theatre groups founded by North African migrant workers in 1970s France and her new two-channel installation, ‘The Public Storyteller’ (2024), filmed in Marrakesh. ‘Constellations; represent the networks of transnational solidarities revealed in the exhibition, connecting various migrant and anti-colonial struggles across different regions.
By bringing these works together, the exhibition testifies to what Khalili describes as ‘radical citizenship’: a conception of community that transcends traditional notions of identity.
About Bouchra Khalili
Bouchra Khalili is a Moroccan-French artist with a background in Film & Media Studies from Sorbonne Nouvelle and Visual Arts from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts de Paris-Cergy. Her work has been featured in prominent solo exhibitions at institutions like the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2019); MoMA, New York (2016); and Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2015). Khalili’s work has also appeared in major biennales and group shows, including documenta 14 and the Venice Biennale. She has received numerous accolades, including the Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination Fellowship (2019) and the Abraaj Art Prize (2014).
Location: Galleries 4, 5, 6 and Bait Habib Yousef and Mirage City Cinema, Al Mureijah Square
Dates: 7 September–1 December 2024
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