An exhibition titled 'Proximities,' featuring over 110 works by 47 UAE-based artists, opened at the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) in December and closed on March 29. The show, co-curated by Maya El Khalil and SeMA's Eunju Kim, aimed to present nuanced, everyday perspectives of life in the UAE through sections organized by artist-curators like Farah Al Qasimi and Mohammed Kazem, moving beyond stereotypes of gilded excess.
The Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) is hosting "Proximities: Contemporary Art from the United Arab Emirates," a major survey featuring over 110 works by 47 artists. Co-curated by Maya El Khalil and Eunju Kim in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF), the exhibition eschews traditional chronological narratives in favor of a dense, non-linear exploration of Emirati identity. The show is organized into thematic chapters led by artist-curators, featuring works ranging from Shaikha Al Mazrou’s precarious sculptures to Raja’a Khalid’s olfactory installations.
A partnership exhibition titled "Layered Medium: We Are in Open Circuits" has opened at Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi, featuring 29 Korean contemporary artists from the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) collection. Organized with the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF), the show includes works by Nam June Paik, Haegue Yang, Lee Bul, and others, and runs until 30 June. A reciprocal exhibition of Emirati artists, "Intense Proximities," will open at SeMA in December 2025. The curators, Maya El Khalil and Kyung-hwan Yeo, chose to present each country's art scene separately to allow full appreciation on its own terms.