This Is Not an Art Show – It’s a Luxury of Time, Memory and Silence

Just a short drive from the shimmering towers of Dubai, the Sharjah Art Foundation at Al Mureijah Square is preparing to host a different kind of luxury – one measured not in opulence, but in the depth of human memory and the haunting elegance of absence. This dialogue finds its latest expression in Time the Destroyer Is Time the Preserver, Jorge Tacla’s most expansive presentation to date, on view from 8 February to 7 June 2026. For a generation redefining prestige through cultural intelligence and experiential depth, the exhibition offers a resonant and thought-provoking pilgrimage.

 

The very architecture of Al Mureijah Square – a sublime fusion of restored heritage buildings and contemporary design – serves as the perfect prologue to Tacla’s work. Here, the past is not erased but thoughtfully integrated, a philosophy that mirrors the Chilean-born artist’s practice. A third-generation descendant of Palestinian and Syrian migrants, Tacla has navigated the fractures of modern history throughout his life and career, from the 1973 coup in Chile to decades spent working between Santiago and New York. His paintings emerge from this cross-continental consciousness, unravelling the intricate geopolitical threads that bind seemingly disparate worlds and inviting us to look again – and more deeply – at how collective trauma and memory are formed.