Explore themes of memory, identity and the layered dynamics of urban and cultural transformation through two thought-provoking panel discussions, part of the Layered Medium: We Are in Open Circuits – Contemporary Art from Korea, 1960s to Today exhibition by Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF) and Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA), this month.
Taking place on 14 and 20 June at Manarat Al Saadiyat, the sessions feature artists, curators and cultural thinkers as part of the exhibition’s public programme, Layered Dialogues, offering a rare opportunity to engage with leading voices in the arts and culture landscape.
The exhibition, co-curated by SeMA’s Kyung-hwan Yeo and Curator Maya El Khalil,brings together 48 works by 29 Korean artists, ranging from pioneers such as Nam June Paik and Park Hyunki to celebrated contemporary figures like Lee Bul, Haegue Yang, Ayoung Kim, and Moka Lee. Drawing its title from Nam June Paik’s visionary phrase “We Are in Open Circuits,” the show explores medium not only as a material but as a system of communication, one that traverses time, technology, geography and identity.
Visitors to the exhibition can attend the thematic discussions, held in collaboration with the Korean Cultural Centre, free of charge.
Panel 1: Society as Medium – Objects as Anchors: Material, Narrative, and Memory
Saturday 14 June 2025, 5:00 PM
This session explores the persistent role of objects from ritual artefacts to domestic ephemeraas vessels of meaning and memory across time and geography. As material carriers of collective and personal narratives, objects anchor stories of culture and identity, yet their interpretation is never static. The panel will discuss how artefacts operate within shifting social contexts and how meaning transforms across generations and borders raising key questions about authenticity, interpretation and the cultural transmission of material heritage.
The panel will feature artists Sojung Jun and Rand Abdul Jabbar and will be moderated by Tina Sherwell, Co-Director of the Master of Fine Arts in Art and Media and Associate Arts Professor at New York University Abu Dhabi.
Panel 2: Space as Medium – Unveiling the In/Visible City
Friday 20 June 2025, 5:00 PM
This discussion delves into the hidden infrastructures that shape and sustain modern cities. Taking the Gulf’s urban landscapes as a departure point, the session discusses the city not only as a built environment but as a layered system of visible and invisible mechanisms. From speculative masterplans to informal maintenance networks, the city is revealed as a living choreography of social, political and spatial codes. The panel invites reflection on how these “invisible cities” carry cultural, historical and geopolitical meaning and how art can make them perceptible.
The speakers include artist Minouk Lim and Wael Al Awar, Principal Architect and Founding Partner of Waiwai.
Guests are invited to join the discussions at Manarat Al Saadiyat for an evening of meaningful dialogue and artistic discovery as part of Abu Dhabi Festival 2025’s commitment to global cultural exchange.
For more information please visit: Abu Dhabi Festival.
