Sharjah Biennial 14: “Leaving the Echo Chamber”
By HG Masters
KHADIM ALI, Standing Flames, 2019, from
The title of Sharjah Biennial 14 (SB14), “Leaving the Echo Chamber,” set the bar high for the three curators selected for the 2019 edition. The phenomenon of the echo chamber is a structural one that entails people having their world view reinforced by the like-minded community they choose to have around them. It is a problem of the audience—a perennial challenge for many arts organizations—and how to reach new publics, how to engage with them, and possibly how to impact them. How then can a biennial engage beyond the echo chamber of the art world and its cultural classes?
