9th November 2018

Introducing Sharjah's first graphic design biennial

The UAE's visionary, ground-breaking and entirely fictitious government department – the Ministry of Graphic Design – opened its doors today in Sharjah, marking the beginning of an extraordinary and multifaceted three-week examination of contemporary graphic design and what it means for the world today.

Hosted in the Bank of Sharjah, a modernist multi-storey in the heart of the city that is set to be demolished soon after the show closes. Until then, the building has one last hurrah as the host of the Middle East’s first graphic design biennial.

The design education platform Fikra and Artistic Directors Prem Krishnamurthy, Emily Smith and Na Kim, have transformed the space into a vast and complex exhibition centre, spanning multiple ‘departments’ (whose remits range from ‘Dematerialising Language’ to 'Graphic Optimism’). There are exhibitions, performances, panel discussions, retrospectives, speculations, installations and the downright unclassifiable on the schedule.

Fikra Graphic Design Biennial: Ministry of Graphic Design 01 runs from 9–30 November 2018. Read our interview with the founder Salem Al-Qassimi here.

Ministry of Graphic Design, Fikra Graphic Design Biennial 01, Image courtesy of Obaid AlBudoor.

Department of Dematerialising Language, Fikra Graphic Design Biennial 01, Esen Karol and Jeff Talks, Image courtesy of Obaid AlBudoor.

Office of the Archive, Fikra Graphic Design Biennial 01, Oddkin, Today’s Success Is Tomorrow’s Disaster, Image courtesy of Obaid AlBudoor.

Fikra Graphic Design Biennial 01, Ministry of Graphic Design, Birds eye street view, Image courtesy of Obaid AlBudoor.

Department of Flying Saucers, Fikra Graphic Design Biennial 01, Public Fiction, Nicole Miller, For Now and Michael in Lavender, Image courtesy of Obaid AlBudoor.

Department of Non-Binaries, Fikra Graphic Design Biennial 01, Lizania Cruz, Flowers for Immigration, Image courtesy of Obaid AlBudoor.

Department of Non-Binaries, Fikra Graphic Design Biennial 01, Jonathas de Andrade, Image courtesy of Obaid AlBudoor.

If you're also visiting Dubai Design Week make sure you check out our must-sees.