Biennial Bytes

• EP05: Singing Wells x Natasha Ginwala

  Natasha Ginwala and Tabu Osusa, Nairobi-based producer, composer and founder of Singing Wells, dive into the group’s decolonial mission to platform and preserve East African music. Committed to safeguarding cultural heritage and sound-based storytelling traditions, they travel to remote villages with a mobile recording studio. Their SB16 commission titled Sonic Inheritances (2025) gives a glimpse into a vast archive of rare interviews and performance videos. Listen to an excerpt of the Benga song ‘Flora’ by the Sega Sega band and experience the sound of the nyatiti, an instrument from Western Kenya, in ‘Ukalo Matek’ by Rapasa Nyatrapasa Otieno. Sonic Inheritances is on view at Bait Al Serkal from 6 February until 15 June 2025. CREDITS Host Natasha Ginwala Guests Tabu Osusa Editorial and Content Strategy Team Jyoti Dhar, Kamayani Sharma and Mahshid Rafiei Podcast Producer Kamayani Sharma Sound Producer Basil Kisswani Shownotes Rajwant Sandhu and Suguna Sridhar Music and Sound - Flora by the Sega Sega band - Ukalo Matek by Rapasa Nyatrapasa Otieno Special Thanks Jiwon Lee, Amal Al Ali and Osemudiamen Ekore © Sharjah Art Foundation, 2025 This episode was recorded on 19 November 2024. Sonic Inheritances is commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation and Bergen Assembly.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• EP04: Yhonnie Scarce x Megan Tamati-Quennell

  Megan Tamati-Quennell and artist Yhonnie Scarce shed light on the historical context of nuclear testing on Aboriginal lands in Australia. Her installation Orford Ness (2022) comprises 1000 hand-blown glass yams, which are the food of Scarce’s people. Commissioned for SB16, Operation Buffalo (2024) similarly probes into untold narratives surrounding nuclear testing. Their discussion draws parallels between the desert landscapes of Sharjah and Australia. Tune in to engage with the artist’s sense of materiality and reflections on Country, fragility, resilience and collective memory. Orford Ness is on view at Kalba Ice Factory and Operation Buffalo is on view at Al Hamriyah Studios from 6 February until 15 June 2025. CREDITS Host Megan Tamati-Quennell Guests Yhonnie Scarce Editorial and Content Strategy Team Jyoti Dhar, Kamayani Sharma and Mahshid Rafiei Podcast Producer Kamayani Sharma Sound Producer Basil Kisswani Shownotes Rajwant Sandhu and Suguna Sridhar Special Thanks Nawar Al Qassimi, Jiwon Lee, Amal Alkhaja and Reem Sawan © Sharjah Art Foundation, 2025 This episode was recorded on 29 October 2024. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• EP03: Joe Namy x Zeynep Öz

  Zeynep Öz speaks with artist, composer and educator Joe Namy about his sound installations that use samples from loud sound systems in cars, glitchy computer-generated noises and sounds converted from the molecular data of plants. His work for SB16 titled Dub Plants (2024-2025) is inspired by Egyptian-American agricultural engineer and pioneer of electronic music, Halim El Dabh. Discover his unique process that blends radio culture and experimental agricultural practices, allowing the grit, uncertainty and chance in nature, urban and public spaces to infiltrate his works. Dub Plants is on view at Al Dhaid from 6 February until 15 June 2025. CREDITS Host Zeynep Öz Guest Joe Namy Editorial and Content Strategy Team Jyoti Dhar, Kamayani Sharma and Mahshid Rafiei Podcast Producer Kamayani Sharma Sound Producer Basil Kisswani Shownotes Rajwant Sandhu and Suguna Sridhar Music and Sound Excerpt from Ta’abir al-Zar (1944) by Halim El-Dabh and field recordings by Joe Namy (2024-2025). Special Thanks Nawar Al Qassimi, Jiwon Lee, May Rashid and Meera Madhu © Sharjah Art Foundation, 2025 This episode was recorded on 15 October 2024. Dub Plants is commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation with Busan Biennale Organising Committee.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• EP02: Bint Mbareh x Amal Khalaf

  Amal Khalaf speaks with artist and sound researcher Bint Mbareh about her work around songs of resistance in relation to land and water sovereignty in Palestine. Learn more about Bint Mbareh’s SB16 project, What’s Left? (2025), where she works with a choir in Sharjah on songs of revolution and collective action. Recalling practices such as throwing shells and rain summoning, they discuss their mutual awe of water bodies as sites of resistance and ancestry. Tune in to hear a deeply personal rendition of the revolutionary song Saat el Tahrir Dakkat (1974). What’s Left is on view at Al Qasimiyah School from 6 February to 15 June 2025. CREDITS Host Amal Khalaf Guest Bint Mbareh Editorial and Content Strategy Team Jyoti Dhar, Kamayani Sharma and Mahshid Rafiei Podcast Producer Kamayani Sharma Sound Producer Basil Kisswani Shownotes Rajwant Sandhu and Suguna Sridhar Music and Sound Saat el Tahrir Dakkat (1974), sung by Bint Mbareh and Zeina Amro. Special Thanks Nawar Al Qassimi, Jiwon Lee, Abdulla Aljanahi and Raja’a Khalid © Sharjah Art Foundation, 2025 This episode was recorded on 8 October 2024.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• EP01: Hoor Al Qasimi x Sharjah Biennial 16 curators

  Biennial Bytes Season 2 kicks off with a roundtable between the five curators of Sharjah Biennial 16: Alia Swastika, Amal Khalaf, Megan Tamati-Quennell, Natasha Ginwala and Zeynep Öz. During the conversation, moderated by Hoor Al Qasimi, Director of Sharjah Art Foundation, the curators discuss their individual projects and the synergies between their distinct curatorial approaches to the Biennial, expressed in the title “to carry”. They also speak about the diverse forms in which viewers can expect to experience the art at SB16 and how a Biennial can be a space of encounter and collective processing. Sharjah Biennial 16 runs from 6 February to 15 June 2025, across venues in Sharjah City, Al Hamriyah, Al Dhaid, Kalba and other locations in the Emirate of Sharjah. Host Hoor Al Qasimi Guests Alia Swastika, Amal Khalaf, Megan Tamati-Quennell, Natasha Ginwala and Zeynep Öz Editorial and Content Strategy Team Jyoti Dhar, Kamayani Sharma and Mahshid Rafiei Podcast Producer Kamayani Sharma Sound Producer Basil Kisswani Shownotes Rajwant Sandhu and Suguna Sridhar Special Thanks Nawar Al Qassimi, Jiwon Lee, Amal Al Ali, Abdulla Aljanahi, Sara Al Mheiri, May Alqaydi, Osemudiamen Ekore, Raja’a Khalid, Meera Madhu and Khalid Mohammed © Sharjah Art Foundation, 2025 This episode was recorded in three parts — with Amal Khalaf, Natasha Ginwala and Megan Tamati-Quennell on 4 September 2024, Alia Swastika in October 2024 and Zeynep Öz in November 2024.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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