Titled to carry, Sharjah Biennial 16 invites us into a deeply layered exploration of what we hold, inherit, and pass on, both physically and metaphorically. Captured through the lens of Russian talent Eugenia Polyakova, the Biennial unfolds as a visual journey, where the act of carrying becomes a symbol of resilience, identity, and cultural transmission. Through her striking imagery, Polyakova offers a unique perspective on the exhibition, guiding us through its narratives, spaces, and encounters.
This year’s Biennial, curated by Alia Swastika, Amal Khalaf, Megan Tamati-Quennell, Natasha Ginwala, and Zeynep Öz, presents a constellation of artistic responses to the theme of to carry. It asks: What do we take with us when we move? What remains when we stay? How do we hold onto the past while imagining the future? Rather than turning away from crisis, to carry proposes a collective wayfinding—looking back, looking within, and looking across geographies.
Like community doulas guiding transitions, the Biennial’s curatorial projects create threshold spaces for experimentation, collaboration, and storytelling, where tenderness and rage coexist. Through Eugenia Polyakova’s lens, we witness these moments of exchange, reflection, and transformation, offering a poetic and deeply personal interpretation of the Biennial’s themes.
With over 190 artists and 200+ new commissions, Sharjah Biennial 16 transforms the Emirate into a living archive, where voices, histories, and artistic visions converge. Seen through Polyakova’s eyes, this experience becomes more than an exhibition; it becomes a meditation on the weight of memory, the fluidity of movement, and the stories we carry with us.
According to Eugenia Polyakova, two installations stood out as absolutely mesmerizing. One of them, by Cécile B. Evans, who recently collaborated with Miu Miu—presents a hauntingly dystopian vision: the UN headquarters, eerily perched on ruins, a powerful reflection on collapse, authority, and the fragility of global structures.
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