Sharjah Art Foundation is pleased to announce the second cohort of artists for its Residency Programme 2025–2026, scheduled from 2 February to 30 March 2026, at Bait Obaid Al Shamsi in Arts Square, Sharjah City and the Kalba Ice Factory, Kalba. 

Selected through an open call, the local, regional and international artists who will form the cohort include Abdullah Tabaza, Azzah Salwaa, Gian Spina, Joar Songcuya, Monya Riachi, Rai, Richi Bhatia and Zenaéca Singh. 

The Residency Programme supports artists pursuing experimental and interdisciplinary practices.
 

Azzah Salwaa explores the potential of storytelling through memory and archive, blending personal narratives alongside traditional and cultural practices. Spanning illustration, photography, video, performance and textile, her practice invites critical reflection on identity and the multifaceted experience of womanhood. She has exhibited in shows such as Notes on Becoming, Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan (2025); Senang Bersamamu (Happy Together), Selasar Sunaryo, Bandung (2025); Objects of Care, Backhaus Project, Berlin (2023); and Rasasastra UNION, Semesta Gallery, Jakarta (2022).

Abdullah Tabaza is a Palestinian architect and artist based in Amman whose practice spans drawing, photography, design and installation. Engaging with themes of ecology, displacement and memory, his work probes the fragile relations between people and the natural world. During his recent participation at the Darat al Funun Summer Academy in Amman, he developed and exhibited an installation at the group’s Open Studio at The Lab.

Gian Spina is a widely published writer, visual artist, poet and researcher investigating the erasures and silences embedded in historical narratives. He has taught in numerous institutions worldwide and participated in international residency programmes and exhibitions, including at Documenta 14, Athens; the MMAG Foundation, Amman; GEGENWARTE/PRESENCES, Chemnitz, Germany; and Al-Balad, Jeddah. His collection of poems Cavalos boiando no Nilo [Horses Floating on the Nile] released in 2024.

Joar Songcuya is a Visayan self-taught painter who combines painting, maritime expertise and personal narrative. A trained marine engineer, his work encompasses his experiences as a seaman while also exploring colonial legacies, Filipino labour migration and statelessness. Recent projects include Moments of Delay, The Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila; Musafiri: Of Travelers and Guests, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; At the Edge of Land, Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai/Hayy Jameel, Jeddah; and Pilgrimage to the Ancient Seas, Art Central Hong Kong.

Monya Riachi’s recent work reflects on the entanglement of Victorian history with contemporary political and ecological changes across the Mediterranean. She is the recipient of the 2024 Lewisham Arthouse Postgraduate Award (UK) and the 2024 Boghossian Foundation Visual Arts Prize (Belgium/Lebanon). Based between the United Kingdom and Lebanon, her work has been exhibited internationally, including in Beirut, Glasgow and London. She holds an MFA with distinction from Glasgow School of Art.

Rai interweaves found materials, research, memory and fiction to explore spatial permeability. Her work has been exhibited widely, including at Experimenter, Kolkata; Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa; HH Artspaces, Goa; Gallery Espace, New Delhi; VIS Nordic Journal of Artistic Research; and Salzburg Summer Akademie, Austria. Based in Goa, Rai holds a Master of Design in Animation Film Design from the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art History from Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan, India. 

Richi Bhatia’s practice spans drawing, performance, object-making, assemblage and culinary interventions, centring the body as a sensing tool navigating memory, illness, environment, labour, social systems and the market. Her works and performances have been featured in Dubai at Foundry, Gallery Isabelle and Al Serkal Cultural Foundation, as well as at New York University Abu Dhabi and Bikaner House, New Delhi, among others. 

Zenaéca Singh’s work investigates the South African sugar economy’s complex connections to migration, colonialism, labour exploitation and gender. Her paintings, sculptures and installations often begin with family photographs that navigate the themes of history, identity and memory. Singh has completed an MFA from the University of Cape Town’s Michaelis School of Fine Art. In 2023, her work was featured in Greatest Hits at Leeuwenhof Slave Lodge Remembrance Gallery, in collaboration with the Association of Visual Arts.

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