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 exhibition's portrayal of societal shifts and daily life in the UAE has been transformed by historical context, becoming a relic of a pre-war era following the rapid regional escalation of the US-Israeli war on Iran. As a cultural exchange project between SeMA and the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation, it sought to establish direct connections between non-Western cultures, highlighting shared histories of colonization and rapid development between South Korea and the UAE, while consciously avoiding overt 'artwashing' and focusing on creating a sense of place and commonality.