ISLAMABAD: With a strong focus on art from West Asia and the Middle East, the Lahore Biennale Foundation announced this week that the curator for the exhibition’s second show will be UAE’s Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi.

Al Qasimi serves as the President and Director of the Sharjah Art Foundation and is the director of the Sharjah Biennale. She will be leading the Lahore team for the Lahore Biennale 2 (LB02) following closely on the heels of the premiere in June this year where more than 100 pieces of art were showcased around the city, divided between seven venues.

The Sharjah Biennale was established in 1993. Al Qasimi has served as the director since its sixth production in 2003. A learned force in the art world, she will be leading the Lahore Biennale’s quest for creations and artwork by artists and artisans from Western Asia and the Middle East. Year one was an ode to creations from South Asia, particularly artists from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka.

Al Qasimi’s career follows an extensive education in fine arts from London’s Slade School of Fine Art, the Royal Academy of Arts, and the Royal College of Arts. She has served on countless juries and prize panels for artistic excellence, even as she participated in a number of film festivals including the Berlin International Film Festival and the Dubai International Film Festival.

Chairman of the Board of the Lahore Biennale Foundation, Osman Khalid Waheed said he and his team were excited to see what Al Qasimi would bring to the table. “LBF is delighted to have Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi as its curator for the second edition of the Lahore Biennale. Apart from her deep knowledge and extensive curatorial experience, Al Qasimi brings a very special energy to her projects,” he said.

Noting her expertise as the head of Sharjah Foundation he said: “As the driving force behind the Sharjah Art Foundation and the Sharjah Biennial, Al Qasimi has explored and demonstrated the power of art to transform narratives and transcend borders.”

“The selection of Al Qasimi as the curator for LB02 reaffirms the Lahore Biennale Foundation’s commitment to creating inclusive spaces that invite collaboration and engagement through art. With her as the curator, our engagement will extend widely beyond local borders, thus inviting new conversations between the local and the global to flourish,” Qudsia Rahim, Executive Director for the Lahore Biennale Foundation and Director of LB02, said.

The event will be held in Lahore in early 2020.