Sharjah Art Foundation organises “5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction” international symposium on the occasion of “Frank Bowling: Mappa Mundi” exhibition opening

Coinciding with the opening of the upcoming exhibition Frank Bowling: Mappa Mundi at the end of September, Sharjah Art Foundation  organises the international symposium “5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction” on September 30.

Frank Bowling: Mappa Mundi (September 29, 2018–January 12, 2019) will focus on major works by the artist, who has been dealing in his painting practice with significant issues such as history, migration, memory and representation. Taking place in the new Africa Hall, designed by Sir David Adjaye for the Africa Institute and that will inaugurate on September 25, the exhibition is curated by Okwui Enwezor with Anna Schneider at Haus der Kunst, Munich and is part of the autumn exhibiting programme of Sharjah Art Foundation.

In the same days, the international symposium will discuss the implications of the original 5-plus-1exhibition, curated by Frank Bowling in 1969, making reference to the five artists who joined him in the exhibition. The talk is organised by  Okwui Enwezor (curator, critic, and poet), Hoor Al Qasimi (President and Director, Sharjah Art Foundation) and Salah M. Hassan (Goldwin Smith Professor and Director, Institute for Comparative Modernities (ICW), Cornell University) and will see as participants Frank Bowling (artist), Melvin Edwards (artist), Salah M. Hassan, Kellie Jones (Professor in Art History and Archaeology and Faculty Fellow, Institute for Research in African American Studies, Columbia University), Courtney J. Martin (Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Dia Art Foundation) and more.

“5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction” – International Symposium
September 30, 2018, 10 am – 6 pm
Africa Hall,
Sharjah, UAE

Frank Bowling: Mappa Mundi
September 29, 2018–January 12, 2019
Sharjah Art Foundation
Sharjah, UAE
sharjahart.org