The Sharjah Art Foundation recently announced that Paula Nascimento (Luanda, b. 1981)—an architect and independent curator—is appointed co-curator of the 17th Sharjah Biennial, opening in January 2027, alongside Angela Harutyunyan (Berlin University of the Arts) .

Sharjah Biennial, active since 1993, stands as a major platform for experimentation, critical discourse, and intercultural collaboration in the Middle East. In the words of Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, the biennial’s director:

“Angela Harutyunyan and Paula Nascimento each bring distinct perspectives shaped by their individual practices. Sharjah Biennial 17 will be a space for critical engagement and collective reflection, where their curatorial visions can collaboratively explore new contemporary realities.” 

Curatorial Visions & Practice

• Paula Nascimento, based in Luanda, works at the intersection of visual arts, urbanism, geopolitics, and arts education. She is known for exploring historical and contemporary themes from Africa and the Global South through interdisciplinary curatorial practices. Her notable projects include curating the Angola Pavilion at the 2013 Venice Biennale—which won the Golden Lion for Best National Participation—contributing to the Lubumbashi Biennial, Rencontres de Bamako, and ARCO Lisboa, among others.

• Angela Harutyunyan, based in Berlin, serves as Professor of Contemporary Art and Theory at the Berlin University of the Arts. An editor of ARTMargins and scholar of post‑Soviet culture, Marxist aesthetics, and curatorial theory, she has curated exhibitions internationally and brings a theoretical rigor to biennial practice.

A Global Partnership

Together, Nascimento and Harutyunyan will shape Sharjah Biennial 17 as a platform for innovative exhibitions and public programmes across Sharjah. Harutyunyan has expressed interest in exploring the “undead afterlives of emancipatory projects of non‑capitalist modernity”, while Nascimento emphasizes biennials as spaces not only for exhibition-making, but for community gathering and infrastructure-building in expanded formats of collaboration and transformation.

This appointment marks a milestone in global curatorial representation, with an African curator taking a leading role in a biennial with international scope. As Sharjah continues to build bridges between the Middle East and Africa—seen through initiatives like its African Studies Centre—this collaboration aligns with growing institutional engagement and cultural exchange.


Sources:
e‑flux: Angela Harutyunyan and Paula Nascimento appointed curators of Sharjah Biennial 17
Forbes África Lusófona: Paula Nascimento eleita curadora da Bienal de Sharjah 2027
ArtReview: Angela Harutyunyan and Paula Nascimento to curate Sharjah Biennial 17
ContemporaryAnd.com: Paula Nascimento and Angela Harutyunyan announced as curators of Sharjah Biennial 17
Sharjah Art Foundation press release