Cultural Exchange and Urban Appropriation: Spaces for Art in Sharjah's Historical Centre

There is a common misconception that culture in the Gulf must be entirely newly imported and artificial. Architect Mona El Mousfy and architect and researcher Sharmeen Syed , who have both been engaged as architects for the Sharjah Art Foundation Art Spaces project and the Sharjah Biennial, challenge the notion of ‘constructed heritage’ at Sharjah in UAE. They show Sharjah to be a highly adaptive, historically multiethnic city that is characterised by its cultural fluidity.