US artist catalyst Suzanne Lacy on board for Sharjah Biennial 16

Renowned Los Angeles-based artist Suzanne Lacy, one of the most influential voices in socially engaged and public performance art, is participating in the sixteenth edition of the prestigious Sharjah Biennial, the global exhibition organised by Sharjah Art Foundation (Feb. 6 – June 15, 2025). The Biennial, one of the most significant international art events, takes place across several key venues in Sharjah emirate, including Sharjah City, Al Hamriyah, Al Dhaid, Kalba, and Al Madam.

Themed “to carry,” Sharjah Biennial 16 (SB16) is curated by a distinguished team including Alia Swastika, Megan Tamati-Quennell, Natasha Ginwala, Zeynep Öz, and Amal Khalaf, who ask “what does it entail to carry a home, ancestors and political formations with you?” Khalaf, who collaborated with Lacy for the Biennial, said that “Suzanne Lacy’s work challenges us to confront the weight of histories, identities, and social movements that shape our lives. Lacy doesn’t merely document societal change; she catalyses it, creating space for communities to engage with difficult truths and transformative possibilities ... her practice demonstrates a powerful testament to the impact of collective action and the relevance of art in navigating today’s global crises.”

People have a close look at In Mourning and In Rage.

Three pivotal works by Lacy, presented in the region for the first time, explore cultural, and community-focused themes and delve into how personal and collective identities bear the weight of societal transformations and disconnections. Responding to the ever-expanding impacts of technological, spiritual, and moral shifts, she examines the social and political undercurrents of change. The pieces reveal the tensions within communities, across generations, and between marginalised and dominant identities, inviting audiences to reflect on the challenges faced by those often overlooked in society.

“Art has always been my way of grappling with the complexities of injustice and inequity,” says Lacy. “These works — born from listening deeply to people’s experiences — invite their participants and subsequent audiences to consider the invisible threads connecting us across time, culture, and identity. My hope is that this presentation at Sharjah Biennial 16 fosters meaningful exchanges about the possibilities of art to convene communities and present hidden realities within our ever-changing world.” The earliest work to be presented, In Mourning and In Rage (1977) exemplifies the theme of “carrying” trauma and demonstrating resistance through the pain and anger surrounding violence against women, while critiquing the role of media sensationalism and public services.

It reflects key themes found in Lacy’s subsequent work: wide civic participation, engagement with structures of power, and an exploration of intimate and mass communications as channels for rage and pleas for solidarity. The Crystal Quilt (1985-1987) was a project in Minnesota with four hundred and thirty women over the age of 60 who were seated at tables on an 82-square-foot rug, designed to resemble a quilt. The work encapsulates the notion of “carrying” through its examination of age, gender, and visibility.

Suzanne Lacy is based in Los Angeles.

The work reveals the often unacknowledged capacity and vitality of aging women, challenging societal narratives that devalue the elderly. The Crystal Quilt acts as a reminder of how contemporary discourse must grapple with inherited biases and the need for intersectional and inclusive feminist identities. The Circle and the Square (2015-2018), produced with the people of Pendle, UK, provides an aural and visual metaphor for the interconnected yet often fractured layers of identity formed by race, labour, and tradition.

In the three-year project, Lacy explored the demise of the textile industry in the North West of England and the resulting separation of South Asian heritage and white communities who used to work together in the vast mills there. The critical inquiry into race, work, and capitalism, was captured as a performance in the epic spaces of one such mill that stands as a symbolic remnant of the globalised trade in skills, commodities and people across the world.

In 2016, the community came together over three days, along with Shape Note singers from across England, to perform themselves in the place where many used to work. Hundreds of voices resonated in the mill’s vast spaces, using traditional and fusion forms of vocal and spiritual expression including Shape Note singing and Sufi tunes. The work implies that, as global movements of labour and migration reshape communities, individuals must navigate disconnection, loss and renewed belonging. The project captures the struggle to sustain cultural identity while grappling with the ramifications of globalisation and economic flux.

As we confront challenges in today’s political landscape, from divisive media to systemic inequities, Lacy’s pieces invite us to reckon with our shared burdens, to find empowerment within the collective, and to engage in dialogues that prioritise the value of lived experiences across generations and cultures. With a career spanning over five decades, Lacy’s work pushes the boundaries of art as activism, blending performance, video, large-scale installations and media interventions, to address pressing social issues across global contexts, including the United States, Europe, and South America.

She has held significant roles in academia, including as the founding chair of the MFA Public Practice programme at Otis College of Art and Design and currently as a professor at the University of Southern California’s Roski School of Art and Design. Her academic contributions include publications such as Mapping the Terrain: New Genre Public Art and Leaving Art: Writings on Performance, Politics, and Publics. Lacy’s work has been featured in major exhibitions worldwide and recognised by numerous awards, highlighting her as a transformative figure in both art and social practice.