Sharjah Art Foundation announces the reopening of Al Majarrah Park, located alongside the creek in the heritage district of Sharjah. Opening on 21 May 2026, the park is redesigned to bring residents and visitors together through recreation, conversation and shared cultural memories. 
 

The new plan for the park was conceived by renowned artist collective SUPERFLEX in close collaboration with Schul Landscape Architects, Copenhagen, and KWY.studio, Lisbon. Outlines of old courtyards and houses are reflected in the design of the different zones, and uneven walkways rise and fall like dunes, a reminder of the landscape surrounding the city.

During the design process, SUPERFLEX asked local residents about everyday objects with personal significance for them, either as symbols of their time in Sharjah or reminders of their homelands. Ten of these objects—related to games, technology, food and nature—have been recast as large-scale sculptures, encouraging reconsideration of scale, perspective, feel and function. Now that the objects are in a public space, their meanings will continue to evolve as they engender new stories based on people’s experiences in the park.

The Foundation has a longstanding relationship with SUPERFLEX, beginning with their Sharjah Biennial 11 commission The Bank (2013), an urban playground that actively engaged the local community. 

Hoor Al Qasimi, Director and President at the Foundation, commented: ‘We’re looking forward to seeing Al Majarrah Park come to life through this project by SUPERFLEX. Sitting adjacent to our permanent installation Rain Room, the park will be a place where people of all ages can gather, play and connect. The Foundation will also organise public programmes and activities there, expanding our range of year-round exhibitions and events.’

‘We are delighted to be working with SUPERFLEX again. Building on their track record of public art projects, they have captured residents’ memories of Sharjah in a series of sculptures while also creating a place for the community to come together and enjoy recreational activities,’ Al Qasimi added.

Jakob Fenger, co-founder of SUPERFLEX, said: ‘Much like the sand, the city is never the same. The sculptures are a tribute to the fleeting memories of the people who live here or pass through. By scaling up everyday objects in concrete, small personal histories become tangible and shareable. We hope the park is a place where people can gather, connect around these stories and create new stories together.’

Al Majarrah Park joins the growing list of permanent public art initiatives spearheaded by Sharjah Art Foundation, including Random International’s Rain Room (2012), opened in Al Majarrah in 2018; Gary Simmons’ Across the Chalk Line (2015), reopened in Al Mureijah Square in 2023; and Kerry James Marshall’s Untitled: Excavation (2022), located outside Al Hamriyah Studios.

The development of Al Majarrah Park has been made possible with the support of Sharjah Municipality and the Sharjah Department of Public Works.

To learn more about Al Majarrah Park, visit sharjahart.org.

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 SUPERFLEX

SUPERFLEX was founded in 1993 by Jakob Fenger, Bjørnstjerne Christiansen, and Rasmus Rosengren Nielsen. Conceived as an expanded collective, SUPERFLEX has consistently worked with a wide variety of collaborators, from gardeners to engineers to audience members. Engaging with alternative models for the creation of social and economic organisation, works have taken the form of energy systems, beverages, sculptures, copies, hypnosis sessions, infrastructure, paintings, plant nurseries, contracts, and public spaces.

Working in and outside the physical location of the exhibition space, SUPERFLEX has been engaged in public space projects since their award-winning Superkilen opened in 2011. These projects often involve participation, involving the input of local communities, specialists, and children. Taking the idea of collaboration even further, recent works have involved soliciting the participation of other species. SUPERFLEX has been developing a new kind of urbanism that includes the perspectives of plants and animals, aiming to move society towards interspecies living. For SUPERFLEX, the best idea might come from a fish.

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