Hoor Al Qasimi with HE Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi
(excerpt)
The Aichi Triennale, one of Japan’s leading international art events, opened its sixth edition to the public on 13 September 2025. Curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, President and Director of Sharjah Art Foundation—the first non-Japanese Artistic Director in the triennale’s history—the exhibition draws its title, A Time Between Ashes and Roses, from a verse by the Syrian poet Adonis, a leading voice in the contemporary Arab world.
The exhibition proposes a vision of the future that is framed through geological time, rather than through the current national or territorial perspectives, which tend to dictate our understanding of the divide between humanity and its environment.
The triennale brings together 60 artists and collectives from 22 countries and territories whose practices span cultural memory, material experimentation, and popular imagination. Afra Al Dhaheri draws from her upbringing in Abu Dhabi, often blending performance, video, and installation.