April Diary: New Formations in Our Journeys" Launching on April 18
April 10, 2025, 10:48 am

مفكّرة أبريل

The Sharjah Art Foundation, as part of the Sharjah Biennial 16, is organizing a new program titled "April Diary: New Formations in Our Journeys," taking place from April 18 to 20, 2025, across the biennial locations in Sharjah.

The program presents a variety of events and discussion sessions that explore multiple perspectives and community participatory experiences on how to reimagine or investigate our current situations from a critical standpoint, in order to build and embody new approaches to resistance, exchange, community networks, systems, and structures that enhance life. It seeks to explore this through shared ideas and practices that combine dialogues, performance presentations, cultural expression, and community activism.

April Diary 2025 aligns with the works featured in the biennial to highlight independent and collective dialogues around systemic transformation, social changes, fragmented and reclaimed histories, forms of collective organization, leadership (including community leadership), and ancestral knowledge in its new guise. The program delves into cooperative cultural production, auditory heritage, threatened creative infrastructures, and the spatial and psychological boundaries limiting the movement of people and ideas, encouraging new and experimental methodologies, self-organization, deep reflection, and listening, while also leveraging Sharjah's proximity to the sea to enhance discussions about belonging, mobility, and maritime navigation.

Events will include guided tours, a listening session with Singing Wheels, risograph printing workshops, self-publishing workshops using various printing techniques such as risography, including a workshop led by Bomika Saraswati and Sidhesh Gautam (founders of "All That Blue" magazine), and discussion sessions with artists like Bryan Martin, Youni Scarsi, and Megan Tamati-Quennell, as well as a screening of the film "The First Horse" (2024) by Owain Simich-Bin. Bashak Gunak, Berke Can Ozkan, Sandy Shamoun, and Haubtmeier Ricker will collaborate on a performance inspired by their audio installation featured in the biennial, while Kolika Potuma will present a performance titled "Water (Re)" and a series of performances based on the work "He Koru Pōrakau mo te Oanowi o te Motu: A New Zealand River Story" (2011) featured in the Sharjah Biennial 16, which is a massive piano entirely carved in the style of Steinway by Maori artist Michael Parekowhai. Additionally, a reflective workshop for invited guests will focus on the spirit of the biennial, creating space for collective reasoning, giving us the opportunity to contemplate what we inherit, what we carry, and what we must reimagine in order to foster new formations of support, resistance, and continuity.

The April Diary 2025 events serve as a primary extension of Sharjah Biennial 16, which presents over 650 artworks from nearly 200 participating artists, including 200 new commissions. The Sharjah Biennial 16, titled "Our Journeys," is curated by Aliya Souvastika, Amal Khalaf, Megan Tamati-Quennell, Natasha Gienwala, and Zainab Oz. It represents a multi-voiced proposal to explore the ever-growing questions surrounding what we carry and how we carry it, serving as a call to confront the diverse formations and positions of the five curators and review the echoes and impact of the biennial.

Participants in this program include:
Akinbode Akinbiyi, Akram Zaatari, Al Maxwain, Albert L. Riveiti, Aliya Souvastika, Amal Khalaf, Andrew G. Eisenberg, Avni Sethi, Bashak Gunak, Berke Can Ozkan, Bettina Nguyeño, Bomika Saraswati, Bint Mbarak, Bryan Martin, Caroline Coriu, Claudia Martinez Garay, Cristiana Bonin, Daniela Castro, Dawn Chan, E. N. Merimbe, Ingxing Ho, Fatma Balqis, Jorge Jose, Georgina Velasco (voices of domestic workers), Geeta Rani, Grace Hussain Krima, Haubtmeier Ricker, Shou Fang-Zi, John Klang, Jo Lin Ong, Kolika Potuma, Leah Ndahani Zawosi, Liam Wooding, Mahmoud Khalid, Marigold Kuimooi Palkuin (voices of domestic workers), Mariam M. Al-Naimi, Mai Adadol Ingwangi, Mir Boynton, Megan Tamati-Quennell, Natasha Gienwala, "Sudan One Voice Solidarity," Raefat Majdoub, Reproction & Distribution Network, Rosie Olang Odhiambo, the Tehanaana Co. Group, Sandy Shamoun, Sarathi Korwar, Seema Alavi, Sidhesh Gautam, Sofia Tintori, Tabo Os

Lams Shamsiya Barcelona Moves Closer to the Semifinals After Big Victory Over Borussia Dortmund

BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the company’s headquarters in the Seef District.
During the meeting, shareholders approved all items listed on the agenda, including the ratification of the minutes of the previous AGM held on 26 March 2024. The session reviewed and approved the Board’s Annual Report on the company’s activities and financial performance for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, and the shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the company’s operational and financial results during the reporting period.
The meeting also reviewed the Independent External Auditor’s Report on the company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Subsequently, the shareholders approved the audited financial statements for the fiscal year. Based on the Board’s recommendation, the shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend equivalent to 10% of the paid-up share capital.
Furthermore, the shareholders endorsed the allocation of a total amount of BD 172,500 as remuneration to the members of the Board for the year ended 31 December 2024, subject to prior clearance by related authorities.
The extension of the current composition of the Board was approved, which includes ten members and one CBB observer, for a further six-month term, expiring in September 2025, pending no objection from the CBB.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Corporate Governance Report for 2024, which affirmed the company’s full compliance with the corporate governance directives issued by the CBB and other applicable regulatory frameworks. The AGM absolved the Board Members of liability for any of their actions during the year ending on 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Commercial Companies Law.
In alignment with regulatory requirements, the session approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young (EY) as the company’s External Auditors for the fiscal year 2025, covering both the parent company and its subsidiaries—Sinnad and Bahrain FinTech Bay. The Board was authorised to determine the external auditors’ professional fees, subject to approval from the CBB, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of any additional issues as per Article (207) of the Commercial Companies Law.
Speaking on the company’s performance, Mr. Mohamed Al Bastaki, Chairman BENEFIT , stated: “In terms of the financial results for 2024, I am pleased to say that the year gone by has also been proved to be a success in delivering tangible results. Growth rate for 2024 was 19 per cent. Revenue for the year was BD 17 M (US$ 45.3 Million) and net profit was 2 Million ($ 5.3 Million).

Mr. Al Bastaki also announced that the Board had formally adopted a new three-year strategic roadmap to commence in 2025. The strategy encompasses a phased international expansion, optimisation of internal operations, enhanced revenue diversification, long-term sustainability initiatives, and the advancement of innovation and digital transformation initiatives across all service lines.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to the CBB for its continued support of BENEFIT and its pivotal role in fostering a stable and progressive regulatory environment for the Kingdom’s banking and financial sector—an environment that has significantly reinforced Bahrain’s standing as a leading financial hub in the region,” said Mr. Al Bastaki. “I would also like to thank our partner banks and valued customers for their trust, and our shareholders for their ongoing encouragement. The achievements of 2024 set a strong precedent, and I am confident they will serve as a foundation for yet another successful and impactful year ahead.”
Chief Executive of BENEFIT; Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “The year 2024 represented another pivotal chapter in BENEFIT ’s evolution. We achieved substantial progress in advancing our digital strategy across multiple sectors, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the development of Bahrain’s financial services and payments landscape. Throughout the year, we remained firmly aligned with our objective of delivering measurable value to our shareholders, strategic partners, and customers. At the same time, we continued to play an active role in enabling Bahrain’s digital economy by introducing innovative solutions and service enhancements that directly address market needs and future opportunities.”
Mr. AlJanahi affirmed that BENEFIT has successfully developed a robust and well-integrated payment network that connects individuals and businesses across Bahrain, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in the banking and financial services sector and reinforcing Bahrain’s position as a growing fintech hub, and added, “Our achievements of the past year reflect a long-term vision to establish a resilient electronic payment infrastructure that supports the Kingdom’s digital economy. Key developments in 2024 included the implementation of central authentication for open banking via BENEFIT Pay”
Mr. AlJanahi concluded by thanking the Board for its strategic direction, the company’s staff for their continued dedication, and the Central Bank of Bahrain, member banks, and shareholders for their valuable partnership and confidence in the company’s long-term vision.