Proximities: Emirati art in dialogue with South Korea

Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF) and the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) have recently opened "Proximities" (16 December 2025 - 29 March 2026), a group exhibition conceived as the most comprehensive look at contemporary UAE art ever presented in South Korea. The exhibition brings together over 100 works by 47 artists from three different generations, who through photography, video, painting, sculpture, performance and installation explore the many forms of proximity - emotional, geographic or cultural - and their role in transformation without annulling differences. Curated by Maya El Khalil and Eunju Kim, the exhibition is divided into three sections, offering distinct perspectives and spaces for reflection, dialogue and discovery.

«Conversation», 2023, di Farah Al Qasimi; Archival Inkjet Print, 50 x 33 in 127.00 x 83.82 cm, Edition of 5, 2AP

One chapter of the exhibition, developed in collaboration with artist-curator Farah Al Qasimi, unfolds through eerie photographic scenes set in imaginary domestic interiors, offering speculative reflections on life in the Emirates from 1990 to the present. Another brings together Mohammed Kazem and Cristiana de Marchi in an immersive exploration of physical and psychological disorientation, where memory, displacement and belonging are rendered through layered spatial experiences. The final proposal, conceived by the artist trio Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian, focuses on the motif of the square within the square, which deconstructs familiar ideas of nation-building and the rituals of everyday life. Through these three strands, the works of artists such asHassan Sharif, Abdullah Al Saadi, Shaikha Al Mazrou, Ala Younis, Rand Abduljabbar and Jumairy trace a dialogue between the personal and the collective. Recontextualised in the urban and cultural landscape of Seoul, the artworks acquire renewed meaning, demonstrating how proximity can reshape perception without dissolving differences.

Huda Alkhamis-Kanoo

"Proximities" did not start as an isolated project, but was rooted in a structured collaboration between ADMAF and SeMA, based on cultural affinities and openness to innovation. As Huda Alkhamis-Kanoo, founder and president of ADMAF, explains, the meeting with the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) represented "the beginning of a natural dialogue, based on harmony and a shared interest in developing joint initiatives; ADMAF and SeMA share a philosophy that focuses on artists and the value of art. Since our first dialogues, we have focused on what artists and audiences can gain from the similarities and differences between our contexts, united by similar historical paths but distinct creative approaches. Creativity is seen as an agile, innovative and pioneering practice, far removed from conventional formats'. From these resonances, a dynamic partnership was born, developed over three years of initiatives and culminating in two major co-curated exhibitions: 'Layered Mediums: We Are in Open Circuits' in Abu Dhabi and 'Proximities' at SeMA in Seoul, which traces fifty years of artistic evolution in the Emirates through three generations of artists. "The selection of artists took place through an open and collaborative curatorial process," Alkhamis-Kanoo continues, "and for "Proximities", co-curators Eunju Kim and Maya El Khalil defined a shared concept about relationships and 'proximities', progressively integrating the perspectives of the curator-artists and individual artists, creating an inclusive and dialogic exhibition itinerary.

It is precisely in this process dimension, rather than in the exhibition result itself, that the partnership reveals its broader scope. In fact, in addition to exhibitions, commissions, residencies, round tables and academic publications have fostered ongoing exchanges, mentoring and critical development, with a targeted investment in the younger generations, "through projects that strengthen confidence, inspiration and awareness of the universal value of their stories".

In this framework, the collaboration between ADMAF and SeMA transcends the boundaries of institutional cooperation to question the very role of cultural partnerships as instruments of dialogue between the Middle East and Asia: not replicable models, as Alkhamis-Kanoo points out, but exemplary experiences that demonstrate how cultural diplomacy can be based on shared emotions and authentic confrontation, oriented not towards the production of a 'product', but towards mutual knowledge, common exploration and lasting results.