Etel Adnan, In the Heart of the Heart of Another Country
In the Heart of Another Country explores the concept of home—of longing and belonging by artists who hail from multiple diasporas. The exhibition explores the ways that physical movement—how mobility across geographies, has shaped and contoured the frame of global art today. The artists, herein, have traversed migratory routes from South and West Asia, through Africa, and the Caribbean. Many now live in dispersed sites, far from where they first believed that they belonged.
Drawing on art from the international collection of Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE, In the Heart of Another Country showcases the work of 61 artists through over 140 artworks in all media, many of which have rarely, if ever, been seen outside of their original context. Recently restored installations are presented alongside contemporary acquisitions, which narrate a communal story of kinship amongst artists.
In the Heart of Another Country embodies the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection’s goal to present art that posits East-East and South-South alliances, forging a meeting point—a connective tissue that nurtures a polyphonous and inclusive art history.
The works featured in the exhibition, In the Heart of Another Country are brought together from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection.
In the Heart of Another Country is organised by Deichtorhallen, Hamburg and Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE.
In the Heart of Another Country is curated by Dr Omar Kholeif, Director of Collections and Senior Curator, Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE.
Exhibition Designer and Architectural Consultant: Todd Reisz.
About Sharjah Art Foundation Collection
The Sharjah Art Foundation Collection’s roots were seeded with acquisitions and commissions from the Sharjah Biennial and Foundation. It has since grown to be one of the Middle East’s pre-eminent collections, serving to enrich the lives of audiences through the acquisition and rotating exhibition of significant works of modern and contemporary art, both locally and inter- nationally. The more than 1,300 works span art movements from the 1920s to the present day in an ever-expanding range of visual culture and forms. Reflecting Sharjah’s history as a major regional trade route, the collection acts as a node that connects cultures through modern and contemporary art. The collection proposes a re-authoring of the history of art, contextualising it from a South/South and East/East perspective while offering an alternative view that shifts the axis of this history to a more inclusive, intergenerational, and transcultural one.
