burbangbuwanha winha-nga-nha (Returned Ceremony of Memory)

burbangbuwanha winha-nga-nha (Returned Ceremony of Memory), at Sharjah Biennial 15, 2023

Performance, ceramics and installation.
Performers: Aaron Reeder, Sahar Mohdali, Malavika Suresh and Ashraf Awad and the Ayala Ensemble.

Overview
Conceived by the late Okwui Enwezor and curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, Director of Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present (SB15) reflects on Enwezor’s visionary work, which transformed contemporary art and established an ambitious intellectual project that has influenced the evolution of institutions and biennials around the world.

Working in collaboration with cultural practitioners, performers and creative professionals from First Nations Australia, Sharjah and Berlin, Brook transformed the courtyard of Bait Hassan Abdulla into a ceremonial ground, arraying it with colourful ceramic objects in the shape of vessels, furnaces and incense holders. It became a space for a performance led by the character MEMORY from Brook’s play GABAN, sharing a story of the removal and eventual restitution of cultural objects to their Indigenous homelands through poetry and song. The work continues  to serve as a space for gathering after the performance. 

This project is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.

Sharjah Biennial 15 (SB15)
Performances: 7 and 11 February
Exhibition: 7 February - 11 June
Sharjah Art Foundation
Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Sharjah Biennial 15 (SB15) is curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, Director of Sharjah Art Foundation.