'Open Circuits' in Abu Dhabi explores curatorial collaboration
Collaborating on an exhibition sometimes poses challenges, as it requires constant communication and research until the curators succeed in drawing a visual narrative together. The metaphor 'open circuits' in the exhibition 'Layered Medium: We Are in Open Circuits' embodies not only the content of the exhibition itself but the process of co-curation.
The exhibition, which is on view at Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi, is the first-ever exhibition in the Middle East to comprehensively show Korean art spanning from the 1960s to the present. It was co-curated by UK-based independent curator Maya El Khalil and Yeo Kyung-hwan of the Seoul Museum of Art.
'Creating a meaningful dialogue between curators from two countries required considerable time -- it took over a year and a half for us to evolve our genuine dialogue between perspectives and visions into the exhibition,' El Khalil said in a recent interview with The Korea Herald.
The collaborative process itself mirrored the exhibition's central concept of "open circuits,' she said.
Inspired by a 1965 statement by Korean-born video art founder Paik Nam-june that says, 'we are in open circuits,' the exhibition shows how Korean contemporary art can be interpreted in different contexts depending on the viewers, curators and the region.
'We focused on how artists have used shifts in artistic mediums to reflect on the changes that happened to them, and how they used art, new technology and innovations across media and form to process and synthesize those changes.
'Visitors appreciate that these aren't just Korean stories, but shared contemporary experiences,' El Khalil said.
Yeo said working with El Khalil triggered a change in perspectives for co-curation, which she had considered 'almost impossible.' The exhibition in Abu Dhabi evolved from an exhibition in Seoul held last year, titled 'SeMA Omnibus: At the End of the World Split Endlessly," which reexamined the museum's collection.
'The original concept and exhibition were renewed and revisited for our current exhibition as a result of my co-curation with Maya El Khalil,' Yeo said. 'The exhibition is a form of storytelling, highlighting how different generations of artists responded to key moments in Korea's political and cultural history.
'By framing this in a non-linear, conceptual way, we offer audiences in Abu Dhabi a deeper understanding of how Korean avant-garde art was shaped by and continues to shape larger global narratives,' she said.
Forty-eight works in the exhibition include those by artists who have recently garnered global attention -- such as Lee Bul, Yang Hae-gue, Lee Kun-yong, Chung Seo-young and Kang Seok-yeong -- demonstrating how Korean contemporary art has continuously renewed itself in a changing world.
'This mirrors the dynamic cultural identity of Abu Dhabi, where the traditions of the past and the drive for innovation coexist, highlighting that we are standing within an open circuit,' Yeo added.
A companion exhibition, 'Intense Proximities,' will take place in December at Seoul Museum of Art, featuring a collection from Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation, the co-organizer of the Abu Dhabi exhibition along with SeMA, as well as other significant works by UAE-based practitioners.
'For the past decade, the focus of the Seoul Museum of Art's international exchanges has primarily been with non-Western regions, such as Asia, the Middle East and South America. We are no longer concerned with following the Western art flow or its historical canon,' Yeo said.
She continued: 'Rather, our focus lies in the recognition of art as one of many diverse branches, with increasing attention to the historical and cultural 'glocal' context that shapes each region's unique identity.'
El Khalil suggests art serves as a 'crucial interface' for processing and relating to the changing world on different scales, and as a curator, she believes she creates frameworks that allow audiences to encounter shared experiences.
'It's about dialogue and opening circuits of meaning rather than simply presenting objects or delivering predetermined messages,' she said of her curatorial philosophy.
'In our increasingly complex world, fraught with technological, social, geopolitical and urban change, art shows us that we're not passive observers but always active participants creating meaning and connection,' she added.
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