Sharjah, artistically inclined

Neeta Lal

Over 70 stunning art pieces — mirror-encrusted sculptures, vibrant paintings, jewelry, collages — by legendary Iranian artist Monir ShahroudyFarmanfarmaian surround me at Al Hamriya Studios in Sharjah. The exhibition space, overlooking a shimmering expanse of the Persian Gulf, is a stone’s throw from UAE’s other emirates — Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah. The critically acclaimed retrospective —  Sunset  Sunrise — by the artist, who passed away recently, offers a unique amalgam of traditional Persian techniques with contemporary Western abstraction.

“The artist’s works invoke the sky as a metaphor that separates as well as connects the East and the West. The exhibition is part of our autumn collection that also includes other renowned international artists like Akram Zaatari, Adam Henein, Bani Abidi, and Marwan Rechmaoui,” informs Nawale Lacroix of Sharjah Art Foundation, an organisation credited with powering the Emirate’s rise as an international art hub.

My appetite whetted for stirring art, I next visit what is arguably the Gulf’s most talked about work of art — The  Rain Room. The installation that has wowed critics and masses alike invites me to walk through a downpour of continuous rain without getting wet! I navigate a darkened underground space, preventing rain from falling directly above me, as I tiptoe over a smooth floor. The site-specific installation — that has now turned into UAE’s largest selfie-taking station — uses 2,500 litres of self-cleaning recycled water, controlled through a system of networked 3D tracking cameras. “It explores human condition in an increasingly mechanised world through emotional yet physically intense experiences,” I’m informed.

Designated by UNESCO as the cultural capital of the Arab world, the city’s focus on aesthetics is all-pervasive. Instead of anodyne malls and OTT architecture that characterises its glamorous sibling Dubai, Sharjah’s landscape is peppered with serene dun-colored buildings, verdant parksand mosques, accented by soaring spires and sweeping curves.

City of museums 

The third largest Emirate in the seven-member constellation of the UAE, Sharjah boasts of 20 museums, making it a compelling stop for those seeking a deep cultural immersion. There’s the Sharjah Art Museum, Museum of Islamic Civilisation and Museum of Archaeology. But my favorite turned out to be The Art Museum — a capacious building near the dhow-speckled Corniche — that showcases one of the Gulf region’s largest art exhibitions, many of the exhibits collected personally by ruler Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi.

At the Sharjah Museum of Cultural Civilisation, housed in an old souk on the Majarrah waterfront, I view another significant collection of Islamic art. Over 5,000 artefacts including precision-made astronomical instruments, calligraphy, jewelry, handwritten Koran, letters from Prophet Muhammad and rare collectibles from Mecca going centuries back.

Sometimes, one doesn’t even have to visit museums to see art in Sharjah. At the Sharjah Art Foundation, the brainchild of the ruler’s daughter Sheikha Hoor Al-Qasimi, located in the heart of old Sharjah, there’s a warren of early 19th century buildings made of coral bricksbrim with art from across the globe. The venue bustles with seasonal exhibitions as well as works of renowned global artists.

Its future projects include expansion of more art spaces to house its substantial permanent collection, a new film festival that will start this December as well as the Sharjah Biennale, which is recognised as one of Middle East’s most prestigious art events. Held every spring, and spread over several sites in and around the Emirati city as well a few off-site venues like Kalba on the Gulf of Oman as well as Hamriyah, it draws top curators, gallerists and art connoisseurs from across the world.

Many mosques

For a population of just 1.4 million, Sharjah boasts of 600 mosques, the most enthralling being Al Noor on Khalid Lagoon. Noor means light in Arabic and during evenings, the mosque lights up like a lighthouse, taking in its fold up to 2,200 people. “It was also the first mosque in Sharjah to allow the expatriate community in,” the local guide informs me as I perambulate the shrine’s premises, its floors so shiny I could eat off them.

From the mosque, I peregrinate to Khalid Lagoon, near Al Majaz Island to visit Al Noor Island. This is where art and nature coalesce to form an enchanting landscape. The man-made island has won top international accolades for its spectacular design and illumination. I marvel at its tropical biosphere filled with fluttering butterflies, a Literature Pavilion stocked with books and towering avantgarde sculptures by leading international artists.

A 3.5 km-long boardwalk snakes through its landscaped gardens, while light installations bring the whole island to life at night. I watch mesmerised as fluorescent pinks, blues and reds flicker to life one by one at dusk, lighting up the whole island like a star-speckled sky!