Officials in Sharjah announced Wednesday that Jack Persekian, the director of the Sharjah Art Foundation, which runs the biennial, had been fired on orders from Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed al-Qasimi, the ruler of Sharjah, because a work by one artist in the biennial contained material or subject matter that the sheikh found offensive.
SOURCE: The New York Times at 11:30AM on April 7, 2011