Now open! Sharjah Art Foundation’s two-year renovation of the landmark building has completed, with the work restoring the iconic building’s original silhouette and adding new space for installations, public programs and community gatherings.
Acquired by the Foundation in 2012 and used as a SAF venue since 2015, the futuristic, Brutalist structure was constructed in the mid-1970s in the heart of Downtown Sharjah. Modified over the decades to house various businesses, starting as a one-stop-shop restaurant, newsstand, tobacconist, gift shop, patisserie and delicatessen, the renovation - led by SAF and SpaceContinuum Design Studio - has restored the original character of the building, while also introducing a new outdoor public space and lower-level community space with a cafe, library, sunken courtyard - the ‘Green Crater’ - and activity spaces.
The newly-renovated space’s first show will be Nowhere Less Now3 (flying saucer), a new multimedia installation by Lindsay Seers and Keith Sargent, which uses the architectural elements of The Flying Saucer to narrate an alien’s landing on Earth and subsequent attempts to understand human patterns through geometry, gestures and movement.
For tickets, visit www.sharjahart.org