Kalba Ice Factory is a gallery and art space in

Kalba Kalba () is a city in the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is an exclave of Sharjah lying on the Gulf of Oman coast north of Oman. Khor Kalba (Kalba Creek), an important nature reserve and mangrove swamp, is located south ...

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

, a city on the East Coast of the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. The 20,000 square-metre building was constructed by renovating a derelict feed mill and ice factory. It was opened to the public on 8 February 2023, the opening timed to house

Sharjah Biennial The Sharjah Biennial is a large-scale contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in the city of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The first Sharjah Biennial took place in 1993, and was organized by the Sharjah Department of Cu ...

15.

Origin

Kalba Ice Factory was originally constructed in the 1970s as a fish feed mill and then used as an ice production and storage facility by local fishermen, allowing fish caught on Kalba's extensive coastline to be transported to

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

for sale. It fell into dereliction until the shell of the building was bought by

Sharjah Art Foundation The Sharjah Art Foundation () is a contemporary art and cultural foundation based in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern ...

in 2015. The development of the ice factory includes a series of six apartments, social spaces and a 200 square-metre workshop as well as a branch of the Foundation's Fen Café. Inaugurated by the ruler of Sharjah, Dr Sultan Al Qasimi, it has since been called 'a testament to the power of

adaptive reuse Adaptive reuse is the reuse of an existing building for a purpose other than that for which it was originally built or designed. It is also known as recycling and conversion. The adaptive reuse of buildings can be a viable alternative to new con ...

and preservation.'

Biennial

The Ice Factory was used as an informal venue for two previous Sharjah Biennial events, an exhibition by Argentinian sculptor Adrian Villar Rojas titled ''Planetarium'' during Biennial 12 in 2015, and a 2019 performance by South African film maker Mohau Modisakeng, ''Land of Zanj,'' during Sharjah Biennial 14. Sharjah Art Foundation commissioned Peruvian architects 51-1 Arquitectos in 2017 to refurbish the derelict buildings as a permanent art space and construction started in 2020.

Location

Kalba Ice Factory is situated by Khor Kalba (Kalba Creek) and overlooks the Al Qurm Nature Reserve, a mangrove and wildlife sanctuary that is an important area of biodiversity and home to endangered species including the Arabian-Collared Kingfisher, the Blandford's lizard and endangered hawksbill and green turtles which nest on the nearby beach. The Kalba Ice Factory project is one of a number of 1970s and '80s buildings under restoration by Sharjah Art Foundation and the Sharjah Architecture Triennial, including the

Flying Saucer A flying saucer, or flying disc, is a purported type of disc-shaped unidentified flying object (UFO). The term was coined in 1947 by the United States (US) news media for the objects pilot Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting, Kenneth Arnold claimed fl ...

; the Jubail Vegetable Market; the 1970s

Khor Fakkan Khor Fakkan () is a city and an exclave of the Emirate of Sharjah, located on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), facing the Gulf of Oman, and geographically surrounded by the Emirate of Fujairah. The city, the second largest on ...

Cinema, being redeveloped as a music school, and a pyramid-roofed kindergarten, being made into a community centre.

References

{{Reflist Arab art scene Emirate of Sharjah