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Art, Culture and Change: A Talk by Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi
by
Thu, Oct 22, 2026
1 PM – 2 PM (GMT+3)
Alwaleed Hall
AUC Avenue, P.O. Box 74, New Cairo, 11835, Egypt
Details
What does it mean to make art accessible, and who gets to shape the cultural narratives that define our world? How can institutions rethink how they curate, exhibit and produce knowledge through a decolonial lens? And how can they challenge dominant narratives and make space for overlooked histories and perspectives?
In this talk, Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, artist, curator, and president and director of the Sharjah Art Foundation, will explore the challenges of artistic production and accessibility, and the role cultural institutions play in creating space for diverse voices, histories and artistic practices.
She will also reflect on the possibilities and challenges of building cultural platforms outside traditional Western art-world centers, and how institutions can support artists, engage local communities and foster meaningful international exchange while staying rooted in their own cultural contexts.
The discussion will be moderated by Rabab El-Mahdi ’96, ’98, director of Alternative Policy Solutions (APS) and associate professor of political science at The American University in Cairo.
Speakers
Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi
Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi is President and Director of Sharjah Art Foundation, which she established in 2009, and has served as Director of Sharjah Biennial since 2003. An artist and curator, she has played a key role in establishing Sharjah Biennial as an internationally recognised platform for contemporary art and expanding the Foundation’s programmes to support artistic production, experimentation and cultural exchange. She has curated major international exhibitions and biennials, including Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present (2023) and the second Lahore Biennale (2020). She is also President of The Africa Institute, President and Director of Sharjah Architecture Triennial, and Creative Director of the fashion brand QASIMI. In 2017, she was elected President of the International Biennial Association. Al Qasimi holds an MA in Curating Contemporary Art from the Royal College of Art, London, a Diploma in Painting from the Royal Academy of Arts, and a BFA from the Slade School of Fine Art, London. She received an Honorary Doctorate from the University for the Creative Arts, UK, in 2023.
Rabab El Mahdi ’96, ’98
Associate Professor, Political Science Department
The American University in Cairo
Rabab El Mahdi is an associate professor of political science at The American University in Cairo (AUC). She earned her PhD from McGill University in Montreal, where she wrote her dissertation on the impact of neo-liberal economic reconstruction on changing patterns of state-civil society relations in Egypt and Bolivia. Her field of specialization is comparative political economy and development, with a focus on Latin America and the Middle East. El Mahdi’s research interests cover the areas of state-civil society relations, social movements and resistance, as well as the political economy of social policy. Before joining AUC, she worked for several developmental organizations, including Non-governmental organizations and United Nation agencies. Previously she taught at Yale University and was a recipient of a number of fellowships at Columbia University, the University of Chicago, and the Rockefeller Bellagio Center Residency. She is also the recipient of a number of research grants from Carnegie Corporation of New York and The Rockefeller Brothers Foundation. Currently, she leads AUC's research project, Alternative Policy Solutions (APS). She serves on the boards of a number of civil society and professional organizations, including the Arab Political Science Network (APSN).