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SHARJAH. THE SHARJAH Art Foundation announces recipients of the 2011 Sharjah Biennial Prize as the 10th edition of the Sharjah Biennial, Plot for a Biennial, continues with eight weeks of cutting-edge exhibitions, film, performance, music and publications, March 16 - May 16, 2011. Honorees of this year’s award totaling $30,000 include Trisha Donnelly, Imran Qureshi, Rania Stephan, Rayyane Tabet, and Jalal Toufic as selected by a jury of distinguished members including Director of MoMA PS1 Klaus Biesenbach, Director of Lebanon’s Ashkal Alwan, Christine Tohme, and art critic, media theorist, and Andrew Mellon Professor at the Courtauld Art Institute in London Boris Groys. The awards were presented over a celebratory gala dinner hosted by H.H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the UAE Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and members of the Sharjah Art Foundation on the occasion of the Biennial’s opening on Wednesday, March 16. The 2011 Sharjah Biennial, curated by Suzanne Cotter (Curator, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project) and Rasha Salti (Creative Director ArteEast), in association with Haig Aivazian (Chicago-based independent curator, artist and writer), continues with more than 65 Sharjah Biennial Commissions. For more information on the Sharjah Art Foundation and its programs including the Sharjah Biennial, please visit www.sharjahart.org.

Sharjah Art Foundation President H.E. Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi states, “The Sharjah Biennial Prize has served as a fundamental component of the Biennial's 20-year history of highlighting the contributions of artists who have influenced the cultural landscape of Sharjah and the Middle East. The long list of recipients serves as a reflection of not only each edition of the Biennial but of artistic movements over time.”

Director of the Sharjah Art Foundation, Jack Persekian states, “Since 1993, the Sharjah Biennial Prize has remained one of the most culturally significant awards granted to artists in the MENASA region. With virtually no restrictions placed upon the award's selection committee, the Prize strives to recognize artists based solely upon their artistic practice. Through this freedom of selection, the Sharjah Biennial Prize has served as a valuable tool in raising awareness of the themes and issues addressed by some of the region's most progressive minds.”

Sharjah Biennial Prize 2011

The 2011 Sharjah Biennial Prize was awarded in varying amounts to Trisha Donnelly, Imran Qureshi, Rania Stephan, Rayyane Tabet and Jalal Toufic in celebration of the opening of Plot for a Biennial. The artists were selected by jury members Klaus Biesenbach, Director of MoMA PS1, New York; Christine Tohme, Director of Ashkal Alwan (the Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts); and Boris Groys, art critic, media theorist, and currently Andrew Mellon Professor at the Courtauld Art Institute, London, each invited to a private preview of the Biennial. For a site-specific work conversing with the culture, history, and political realities of the region, the Sharjah Biennial Prize was awarded to Imran Qureshi for his presentation of Blessings Upon the Land of my Love (2011), a powerful site-specific installation in the courtyard of Bait Al Serkal. The second primary prize was awarded to filmmaker Rania Stephan for her subjective and compassionate reading of one of the leading figures of Egyptian cinema, Souad Husni. The evening’s final primary prize was awarded to Trisha Donnelly for her new work. Additional prizes were awarded to artists Jalal Toufic and Rayanne Tabet. Jalal Toufic received special mention as “a philosopher, artist, and thinker” of note, while Rayyane Tabet received special mention as best “Emerging Artist” for his 3-part installation Home on Neutral Ground (2011).