Eungie Joo - Curator of Sharjah Biennial 12

Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) announced the appointment of Eungie Joo as Curator of Sharjah Biennial 12 (SB12), opening in March 2015. Joo is Director of Art and Cultural Programs at Instituto Inhotim in Brumadinho, Brasil, and previously served as Director and Curator of Education and Public Programs at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York.

Joo's proposal for SB12 builds upon SAF's commitment to artistic production and the unique contribution of the annual March Meeting to organisational and artistic development in the region. For Joo, SB12 offers an opportunity to contemplate how artists' positions help us consider new possibilities for social organisation and ways to transcend cultural and political boundaries. Sustained engagement and new commissions will be central to SB12—discussion of which will begin during the March Meeting.

Sharjah Art Foundation President Sheikha Hoor Al-Qasimi comments, "We look forward to working with Eungie Joo on the realisation of her vision for the next Biennial. Reflecting a career focused on working closely with artists and communities, Joo's collaborative perspective will find resonance in Sharjah and enrich the experience of SB12."

According to Joo, "Sharjah is a very special place that calls you back again and again. I am truly excited to work with Sheikha Hoor and the Sharjah Art Foundation to develop a meaningful conversation with artists, cultural practitioners, and Sharjah through both the March Meeting and the Biennial."

About Eungie Joo
Eungie Joo is Director of Art and Cultural Programs at Instituto Inhotim in Brumadinho, Brasil. Previously, she was Director and Curator of Education and Public Programs at the New Museum, New York (2007–2012) where she commissioned the yearlong seminar Night School by Anton Vidokle; edited Rethinking Contemporary Art and Multicultural Education (Routledge and New Museum, 2009); published the Art Spaces Directory (ArtAsiaPacific and New Museum, 2012); and curated The Ungovernables (2012). Joo presented Condensation: Haegue Yang at the Korean Pavilion in the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009). As founding Director and Curator of the Gallery at REDCAT, Los Angeles (2003–2007), she commissioned projects by Mark Bradford, Damián Ortega, Sora Kim, Taro Shinoda, SUPERFLEX, Kara Walker, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and others.

About Sharjah Art Foundation
SAF brings a broad range of contemporary art and cultural programmes to Sharjah, the UAE, and the region. Since 2009, SAF has built on the history of cultural collaboration and exchange that began with the first Sharjah Biennial in 1993. Working with local and international partners, SAF creates opportunities for artists and artistic production through core initiatives that include the Sharjah Biennial, the annual March Meeting, residencies, production grants, commissions, exhibitions, research, publications, and a growing collection. SAF's education and public programmes focus on building recognition of the central role art can play in the life of a community by promoting public learning and a participatory approach to art.