Sharjah Art Foundation announces March Meeting 2026 (MM 2026), titled Between Us, the World, taking place from 27 to 29 March 2026 at Al Qasimiyah School, Al Manakh, Sharjah.

MM 2026 invites artists, writers, researchers and community organisers to recognise, reveal and reflect in response to the social unrest, environmental degradation, systemic erasure and alienation that continue to imperil multiple ways of life across the world.

The programme asks how kinship, memory and humour can sustain connection even as shared stories fracture or fade; and what forms of transmission—oral, visual, sonic, literary and archival—can trace the movement of knowledge and experience between people and places. Against the context of intersecting historical, social, linguistic, economic and geographical entanglements that shape our present, these questions will be discussed through a range of engaging panels, keynote lectures, conversations and performances.

Convening at Al Qasimiyah School, a repurposed 1950s building, MM 2026 offers a space for collective deliberation and exchange, foregrounding the fragile bonds that hold communities together while exploring the creative possibilities that emerge from them.

About Sharjah Art Foundation

Sharjah Art Foundation is an advocate, catalyst and producer of contemporary art within the Emirate of Sharjah and the surrounding region, in dialogue with the international arts community. The Foundation advances an experimental and wide-ranging programmatic model that supports the production and presentation of contemporary art, preserves and celebrates the distinct culture of the region and encourages a shared understanding of the transformational role of art. The Foundation’s core initiatives include the long-running Sharjah Biennial, featuring contemporary artists from around the world; the annual March Meeting, a convening of international arts professionals and artists; grants and residencies for artists, curators and cultural producers; ambitious and experimental commissions and a range of travelling exhibitions and scholarly publications.

Established in 2009 to expand programmes beyond the Sharjah Biennial, which launched in 1993, the Foundation is a critical resource for artists and cultural organisations in the Gulf and a conduit for local, regional and international developments in contemporary art. The Foundation’s deep commitment to developing and sustaining the cultural life and heritage of Sharjah is reflected through year-round exhibitions, performances, screenings and educational programmes in the city of Sharjah and across the Emirate, often hosted in historic buildings that have been repurposed as cultural and community centres. A growing collection reflects the Foundation’s support of contemporary artists in the realisation of new work and its recognition of the contributions made by pioneering modern artists from the region and around the world.

Sharjah Art Foundation is a legally independent public body established by Emiri Decree and supported by government funding, grants from national and international nonprofits and cultural organisations, corporate sponsors and individual patrons. Hoor Al Qasimi serves as President and Director. All exhibitions are free and open to the public.

About Sharjah

Sharjah is the third largest of the seven United Arab Emirates, and the only one bridging the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Reflecting the deep commitment to the arts, architectural preservation and cultural education embraced by its ruler, Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Sharjah is home to more than 20 museums and has long been known as the cultural hub of the United Arab Emirates. It was named UNESCO's Arab Capital of Culture for 1998 and the UNESCO World Book Capital for 2019.

Media Contact

Alyazeyah Al Marri     
alyazeyah@sharjahart.org
+971 (0)6 5444113