Sharjah Architecture Triennial

#Countdown Mark your calendars! Six months to go until the opening of the third edition of the Sharjah Architecture Triennial (SAT03), curated by Vyjayanthi Rao and Tau Tavengwa. #SAT03, titled ‘Architecture Otherwise: Building Civic Infrastructure for Collective Futures’, examines the urgent question of how architecture can help shape collective life in a world marked by rapid urban transformation. In the lead-up to the Triennial, a series of public programmes and gatherings have been shaping conversations around the edition’s curatorial direction. These include Meet the Curators (May 2025), where Curator Vyjayanthi Rao and Associate Curator Tau Tavengwa shared their early curatorial vision for #SAT03; Mumbai Offsite: ‘Architecture Otherwise’ (November 2025), co-hosted with the School of Environment and Architecture (SEA), which brought together architects, social thinkers, activists, and artists to explore architecture as a social, ecological, and epistemological practice; and ‘Another City is Possible: Mediating Architecture’ (January 2026), an in-conversation examining how urban space is produced not only through buildings and infrastructure, but also through social relations, narratives, and cultural practice. Materials and recordings from these programmes are available on our website, sharjaharchitecture.org, as well as on our YouTube and Vimeo channels. As we move closer to SAT03, these encounters continue to build momentum toward a Triennial rooted in dialogue, research, and shared futures. #REGISTERNOW Continuing these conversations, join us online TODAY at 5pm GST for Staying with the Trouble: Conversations around Architecture Otherwise, a new series convened by the SAT03 curators. Opening under the theme “Anticipation,” the first session brings together Hiba Bou Akar and Mohamad Nahleh to reflect on architecture, conflict, and conditions of prolonged uncertainty through the context of #Lebanon. Register now via the link in bio.

#VisitUs Have you explored A Journey into Architecture Archives: Baghdad, Damascus, Tunis yet? Presented at the Sharjah Architecture Triennial’s Collection Room at Al Qasimiyah School, this exhibition, curated by architect and curator George Arbid invites visitors into the architectural histories and archives of three cities across the region. Following the inaugural 2023 edition focused on Beirut, Cairo, and Rabat, Journeys into Architecture Archives continues to foster knowledge production from within the region’s own communities while contributing to a shared archival database. On view from May 2 to July 12, 2026, the exhibition brings together reproductions of architectural drawings, documents, and models dating largely from 1930–1980, alongside three documentaries commissioned by SAT and directed by George Arbid, filmed across Baghdad, Damascus, and Tunis. Visit the Collection Room and experience the exhibition through guided tours available throughout the week. #REGISTERNOW Plan your visit! Guided tours: Every Sunday, 2pm Walk-in access: Saturday – Thursday, 9am–9pm | Friday, 2pm–9pm Group tours (over 8-10 people): Please email us at least 2 days in advance for bookings (including requests outside these hours). Location: Al Qasimiyah School (Sharjah Architecture Triennial) Book your guided tour via the link in bio. Image: Ahmed Osama @ahmmedossamaa

Have you registered for our upcoming #SAT03 public programme yet? Join us online this Saturday for ‘Staying with the Trouble: Conversations around Architecture Otherwise’, a series of conversations convened by curator Vyjayanthi Rao that brings together practitioners, artists and thinkers to ask how architecture responds to a world shaped by conflict, crisis and ongoing change. Planned in the shadow of ongoing war, Staying with the Trouble: Conversations around Architecture Otherwise looks to urban contexts where architecture has long had to grapple directly with destruction and instability. Rather than offering solutions, this series of conversations ask how architecture can support everyday forms of coexistence, care and interdependence, and how it might help foster collective futures across different places and geographies. The first conversation, themed ‘Anticipation’, opens this inquiry through the lens of #Lebanon: a country shaped by decades of conflict where peace remains deferred and futures are continuously renegotiated. Speakers Hiba Bou Akar (Associate Professor in the Urban Planning program at Columbia GSAPP) and Mohamad Nahleh (Assistant Professor of Architecture at Ohio State University), both trained in Lebanon and now based in the US, draw on their research and lived experience to reflect on the multiple conditions of the “post-war”, and what it means to practice architecture within prolonged uncertainty. 🗓 Saturday, May 16 🕘 5:00pm - 6:15pm GST 📍 Online The event is free and open to the public. Register now via the link in bio.

#REGISTERNOW Join us online this Saturday for the first conversation in Staying with the Trouble: Conversations around Architecture Otherwise, a series of conversations convened by curator Vyjayanthi Rao that brings together practitioners, artists and thinkers to ask how architecture responds to a world shaped by conflict, crisis and ongoing change. The first conversation, themed ‘Anticipation’, opens this inquiry through the lens of #Lebanon: a country shaped by decades of conflict where peace remains deferred and futures are continuously renegotiated. Speakers Hiba Bou Akar (Associate Professor in the Urban Planning program at Columbia GSAPP) and Mohamad Nahleh (Assistant Professor of Architecture at Ohio State University), both trained in Lebanon and now based in the US, draw on their research and lived experience to reflect on the multiple conditions of the “post-war”, and what it means to practice architecture within prolonged uncertainty. Planned in the shadow of ongoing war, Staying with the Trouble: Conversations around Architecture Otherwise looks to urban contexts where architecture has long had to grapple directly with destruction and instability. Rather than offering solutions, this series of conversations ask how architecture can support everyday forms of coexistence, care and interdependence, and how it might help foster collective futures across different places and geographies. 🗓 Saturday, May 16 🕘 5:00pm - 6:15pm GST 📍 Online The event is free and open to the public. Register now via the link in bio.

#REGISTERNOW As part of the final public programme event ahead of the third edition of the Sharjah Architecture Triennial #SAT03, we are pleased to invite you to 'Staying with the Trouble: Conversations around Architecture Otherwise', a series of conversations convened by curator Vyjayanthi Rao that brings together practitioners, artists and thinkers to ask how architecture responds to a world shaped by conflict, crisis and ongoing change. Planned in the shadow of ongoing war, 'Staying with the Trouble: Conversations around Architecture Otherwise' looks to urban contexts where architecture has long had to grapple directly with destruction and instability. Rather than offering solutions, this series of conversations ask how architecture can support everyday forms of coexistence, care and interdependence, and how it might help foster collective futures across different places and geographies. Taking place online on Saturday, 16 May at 5pm GST, the first conversation, themed ‘Anticipation’, opens this inquiry through the lens of #Lebanon: a country shaped by decades of conflict where peace remains deferred and futures are continuously renegotiated. Speakers Hiba Bou Akar (Associate Professor in the Urban Planning program at Columbia GSAPP) and Mohamad Nahleh (Assistant Professor of Architecture at Ohio State University), both trained in Lebanon and now based in the US, draw on their research and lived experience to reflect on the multiple conditions of the “post-war”, and what it means to practice architecture within prolonged uncertainty. 🗓 Saturday, May 16 🕘 5:00pm - 6:15pm GST 📍 Online The event is free and open to the public. Register now via the link in bio.

#GeorgeArbidExhibition A big thank you to everyone who joined us for the opening programme of A Journey Into Architecture Archives: Baghdad, Damascus, Tunis. Held online, the opening programme featured an lecture and panel discussion led by curator George Arbid, alongside our panelists, followed by the first guided tours of the Collection Room. Building on the inaugural 2023 exhibition, which focused on Beirut, Cairo, and Rabat, Journeys into Architecture Archives was developed to foster knowledge production about the region from within its own communities, while contributing to the development of a shared archival database. On view from May 2 to July 12, 2026, the exhibition features work from private collections and institutional archives. It brings together reproductions of architectural drawings, documents, and models dating largely from 1930 to 1980, alongside three documentaries commissioned by SAT and directed by George Arbid, filmed on location across the three cities. #REGISTERNOW Plan your visit! Guided tours: Mon–Thu, 10am–5pm | Sat–Sun, 2pm–6pm (no tours on Fridays) Walk-in access: Sat–Thu, 9am–9pm | Fri, 2pm–9pm Group tours: Please email us at least 2 days in advance for bookings (including requests outside these hours). Book your guided tour via the link in bio. Image: Ahmed Ossama

#GeorgeArbidExhibition Step into the archive with Curator George Arbid✨ #REGISTERNOW George Arbid will be leading a limited series of guided tours for A Journey into Architecture Archives: Baghdad, Damascus, Tunis, taking place from May 3–5. These special tours offer a unique opportunity to experience the exhibition through Arbid’s own perspective. Building on the inaugural 2023 exhibition, which focused on Beirut, Cairo, and Rabat, Journeys into Architecture Archives was developed to foster knowledge production about the region from within its own communities, while contributing to the development of a shared archival database. This edition, focusing on Baghdad, Damascus, and Tunis, features work from private collections and institutional archives. It brings together reproductions of architectural drawings, documents, and models dating largely from 1930 to 1980. The Collection Room at Al Qasimiyah School includes three documentaries, which trace Arbid’s on-site engagement with architectural archives, weaving together material discoveries with oral histories and personal accounts from architects, archivists, residents, and historians—thereby positioning the archive as a living and evolving form. These tours are limited and available by booking only. 📍 Collection Room, Al Qasimiyah School (Google: Sharjah Architecture Triennial) 📅 May 3–5, 2026 Reserve your spot via the link in bio.

#GeorgeArbidExhibition Here’s a preview from the Tunis documentary directed by George Arbid for A Journey into Architecture Archives: Baghdad, Damascus, Tunis. Building on the inaugural 2023 exhibition, which focused on Beirut, Cairo and Rabat, ‘Journeys into Architecture Archives’ was developed to foster knowledge production about the region from within its own communities, while contributing to the development of a shared archival database. This edition, focusing on Baghdad, Damascus, and Tunis, features work from private collections and institutional archives. It brings together reproductions of architectural drawings, documents and models dating largely from 1930 to 1980, alongside three documentaries commissioned by SAT and directed by Arbid, filmed on location across the three cities. The Collection Room at Al Qasimiyah School will include three documentaries commissioned by SAT and directed by George Arbid, filmed on location across Baghdad, Damascus and Tunis. These works trace his in-site engagement with architectural archives, weaving together material discoveries with oral histories and personal accounts from architects, archivists, residents and historians. Together, they position the importance of the archive as a living and evolving form. #REGISTERNOW Join us for the opening programme online, where Arbid will present a lecture followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with panellists Salma Gharbi, Zaid Issam, Ahmad Salah and Ola Seif. Date: Saturday May 2, 2026 Venue: Online Schedule: 3 – 4pm: Lecture presented by George Arbid (English) 4 – 5pm: Panel discussion (Arabic) 5pm - 5:30pm: Q&A (English and Arabic) For more information and to register for the online public programme, see link in bio. Starting May 3rd, visitors will be able to book either independent or guided tours of the Collection Room at Al Qasimiyah School via the link in bio.

#GeorgeArbidExhibition A glimpse from the Damascus documentary, directed by George Arbid, for A Journey into Architecture Archives: Baghdad, Damascus, Tunis. Building on the inaugural 2023 exhibition, which focused on Beirut, Cairo and Rabat, ‘Journeys into Architecture Archives’ was developed to foster knowledge production about the region from within its own communities, while contributing to the development of a shared archival database. This edition, focusing on Baghdad, Damascus, and Tunis, features work from private collections and institutional archives. It brings together reproductions of architectural drawings, documents and models dating largely from 1930 to 1980, alongside three documentaries commissioned by SAT and directed by Arbid, filmed on location across the three cities. The Collection Room at Al Qasimiyah School will include three documentaries commissioned by SAT and directed by George Arbid, filmed on location across Baghdad, Damascus and Tunis. These works trace his in-site engagement with architectural archives, weaving together material discoveries with oral histories and personal accounts from architects, archivists, residents and historians. Together, they position the importance of the archive as a living and evolving form. #REGISTERNOW Join us for the opening programme online, where Arbid will present a lecture followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with panellists Salma Gharbi, Zaid Issam, Ahmad Salah and Ola Seif. Date: Saturday May 2, 2026 Venue: Online Schedule: 3 – 4pm: Lecture presented by George Arbid (English) 4 – 5pm: Panel discussion (Arabic) 5pm - 5:30pm: Q&A (English and Arabic) For more information and to register for the online public programme, see link in bio. Starting May 3rd, visitors will be able to book either independent or guided tours of the Collection Room at Al Qasimiyah School via the link in bio.

#GeorgeArbidExhibition Here is a snippet from the Baghdad documentary directed by George Arbid for 'A Journey into Architecture Archives: Baghdad, Damascus, Tunis'. Building on the inaugural 2023 exhibition, which focused on Beirut, Cairo and Rabat, ‘Journeys into Architecture Archives’ was developed to foster knowledge production about the region from within its own communities, while contributing to the development of a shared archival database. This edition, focusing on Baghdad, Damascus, and Tunis, features work from private collections and institutional archives. It brings together reproductions of architectural drawings, documents and models dating largely from 1930 to 1980, alongside three documentaries commissioned by SAT and directed by Arbid, filmed on location across the three cities. The Collection Room at Al Qasimiyah School will include three documentaries commissioned by SAT and directed by George Arbid, filmed on location across Baghdad, Damascus and Tunis. These works trace his in-site engagement with architectural archives, weaving together material discoveries with oral histories and personal accounts from architects, archivists, residents and historians. Together, they position the importance of the archive as a living and evolving form. #REGISTERNOW Join us for the opening programme online, where Arbid will present a lecture followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with panellists Salma Gharbi, Zaid Issam, Ahmad Salah and Ola Seif. Date: Saturday May 2, 2026 Venue: Online Schedule: 3 – 4pm: Lecture presented by George Arbid (English) 4 – 5pm: Panel discussion (Arabic) 5pm - 5:30pm: Q&A (English and Arabic) For more information and to register for the online public programme, see link in bio. Starting May 3rd, visitors will be able to book either independent or guided tours of the Collection Room at Al Qasimiyah School via the link in bio.

#GeorgeArbidExhibition As part of SAT’s long-term commitment to promoting and safeguarding the region’s architectural history, this iteration of ‘Journeys into Architecture Archives’ takes the form of a Collection Room amid ongoing political precarity. Focusing on Baghdad, Damascus and Tunis, the Collection Room features work from private collections and institutional archives. It brings together reproductions of architectural drawings, documents and models dating largely from 1930 to 1980, alongside three documentaries commissioned by SAT and directed by Arbid, filmed on location across Baghdad, Damascus and Tunis. #REGISTERNOW Join us for the opening programme online, where Arbid will present a lecture followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with panellists Salma Gharbi, Zaid Issam, Ahmad Salah and Ola Seif. Date: Saturday May 2, 2026 Venue: Online Schedule: 3 – 4pm: Lecture presented by George Arbid (English) 4 – 5pm: Panel discussion (Arabic) 5pm - 5:30pm: Q&A (English and Arabic) For more information and to register for the online public programme, see link in bio. Starting May 3rd, visitors will be able to book either independent or guided tours of the Collection Room at Al Qasimiyah School via the link shared in our bio.

Join us for the opening programme of ‘A Journey into Architecture Archives: Baghdad, Damascus, Tunis’, curated by architect George Arbid. To mark the opening of the Collection Room on Saturday, 2 May, George Arbid will present an online lecture from 3–4pm, reflecting on his journey and introducing key projects that will be featured in the Collection Room. From 4–5:30pm, he will lead a live panel discussion and Q&A. The panel will address the conditions of access and use of archives in various environments in the region, namely in Baghdad, Damascus, and Tunis. Panelists include Salma Gharbi, Zaid Issam, Ahmad Salah, and Ola Seif. Building on the inaugural 2023 exhibition, which focused on Beirut, Cairo and Rabat, ‘Journeys into Architecture Archives’ was developed to foster knowledge production about the region from within its own communities, while contributing to the development of a shared archival database. This edition, focusing on Baghdad, Damascus, and Tunis, features work from private collections and institutional archives. It brings together reproductions of architectural drawings, documents and models dating largely from 1930 to 1980, alongside three documentaries commissioned by SAT and directed by Arbid, filmed on location across the three cities. Date: Saturday May 2, 2026 Venue: Online Schedule: 3 – 4pm: Lecture presented by George Arbid (English) 4 – 5pm: Panel discussion (Arabic) 5pm - 5:30pm: Q&A (English and Arabic) For more information and to register for the online public programme, see link in bio. Starting May 3rd, visitors will be able to book either independent or guided tours of the Collection Room at Al Qasimiyah School, via the link in bio.