Abu Dhabi Group for Culture and Arts organizes an exhibition "Tributaries and visions" In Seoul

ABU DHABI, 24TH November / WAM / Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Honorary Founding Patron of the Abu Dhabi Festival, and Her Highness Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, Patron of the Abu Dhabi Festival, wife of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in the Al Dhafra Region, the Abu Dhabi Culture and Arts Group is preparing, in partnership with the Seoul Museum Arts, to organize the “Trifoods and Visions” exhibition, the first prominent art exhibition of its kind and the largest by Emirati artists in the Korean capital, Seoul, during the period from December 16, 2025 to March 29, 2026.

It brings together more than 100 artworks by 47 artists, including 33 Emirati artists, and extends across three generations of creators, embodying five decades of the emergence and development of contemporary Emirati art.

It displays the works of artists including Hassan Sharif, Abdullah Al-Saadi, Sheikha Al-Mazrouei, Alaa Younis, Rand Abdul-Jabbar, and Jumairi.

His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said that the UAE and the Republic of Korea have strong relations and a growing strategic partnership in various sectors, including the culture and arts sector, which is witnessing a distinguished model of cooperation between the Abu Dhabi Festival, affiliated with the Abu Dhabi Culture and Arts Group, and the Seoul Museum of Arts (SeMA), which embodies the vision of the leaderships of the two countries in promoting convergence and communication, and building bridges of cooperation between the two friendly peoples.

His Highness added that the “Trivories and Visions” exhibition, which is held at the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) in the Korean capital, and presents 47 artists from the Emirates, represents a pivotal station in the process of exchanging visions, expertise and artistic experiences within the global fine art scene, especially in the South and East Asia region. The Emirati-Korean relations are full of a rich history of fruitful cooperation over the decades, and this distinguished relationship is based on a solid foundation of trust, mutual respect and common interests.

His Highness said that the Abu Dhabi Festival, through this cooperation, renews its firm commitment to consolidating the country’s distinguished position and reputation globally, by building cultural partnerships with international institutions, in an effort to stimulate creative dialogue and enable the process of a sustainable cultural renaissance.

For her part, Her Excellency Hoda Ibrahim Al-Khamis, founder of the Abu Dhabi Group, founder and artistic director of the Abu Dhabi Festival, confirmed that the “Trivories and Visions” exhibition sheds light, through photography, video, drawing, sculpture, performance and artistic installation, on the impact of the convergence of advanced creative thought, cultural dialogue and communication of civilizations, and in partnership with the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) contributes to enhancing cultural exchange between the UAE and Korea, and enhances the presence of Emirati artists on the global scene, contributing to We deeply focus on exchanging knowledge and awareness of the place of the arts in our journey towards a developed future, through shaping narratives, embodying identities, and building bridges of dialogue between them.

She added that in a world that today has become a global village full of creativity and innovation, exchange and dialogue, and where cultures juxtapose and meet, the “Tributaries and Visions” exhibition comes to present the experiences of three generations of Emirati artists, who grew up in the midst of the transformations of its advanced construction, and contributed to its cultural and cognitive renaissance. These artists preserved the originality of their visions, despite the disparate influences, and balanced between the traditional and the modern, and contributed to Enriching regional and global contexts, between an ancient heritage and an advanced future. In the Korean capital, Seoul, their work opens up to different echoes and new dimensions, with an idea that builds civilization and enhances human communication.

The exhibition covers many artistic media, including photography, video, drawing, sculpture, artistic performance, and installation, and explores how connotations and meanings change between one generation and another, one region and another, while delving into the subtle transformations shaped by exchange processes and different cultural contexts.

The exhibition also discusses how various forms of cultural convergence, whether cultural, geographical, or stemming from shared identities and stories, contribute to shaping transformations without eliminating difference or obliterating cultural specificity.

Under the supervision of curators Maya Al-Khalil and Onjo Kim, the exhibition reveals three main sections with themes specific to each section, each of which was developed in partnership with guest curators, including Farah Al-Qasimi, Muhammad Kazem, Christiana De Marchi, and the artistic trio Ramin, Rokni Haerizadeh, and Hossam Rahmani.

Each section presents a different perspective for interacting with the world, where visions intersect, sometimes converging and at other times diverging, providing multiple interpretations of the world.

The valuable interventions provided by artists contribute to the creation of artistic worlds that invite their colleagues and the public to contemplate, dialogue and discover.

Maya Al-Khalil, the co-executor, said that the “Trivories and Visions” exhibition constitutes a space in which multiple institutional and creative dynamics intersect, and in which artistic cooperation relationships flourish that bring together duos and trios that do not know any geographical borders or time restrictions as a result of generational differences.

She added: “Through this joint work with these creative artists with unique styles, we did not seek to mold or imitate artistic ideas. Rather, we started from the idea that each of us has his own artistic style and concept, despite the possibility of developing it again through such artistic meetings.”

She explained that each section of the exhibition presents a creative proposal for different ways to enter the artistic scene, which has a more global character than ever before, and proceeds towards different approaches, and moves between multiple levels, from the details of daily life to imagination and composition, all the way to the abstraction of individual and collective artistic creations and primary elements, noting that these cooperation relationships have prompted a reconsideration of our own perceptions, and we hope that the public will experience these transformations in turn to become part of the ongoing series of exchanges.

For her part, Eunjoo Kim, the co-executor, added, “Through the Tributaries and Visions exhibition, we seek to delve deeper into the contemporary resonances created by artistic exchange between the Republic of Korea and the UAE, that vital space in which multiple worlds intersect, not only to meet, but also to interact and open the horizon of imagination in a creative manner, establishing a state of harmonious coexistence.”

She explained that the aim of this exhibition is to weave narratives that transcend the geographical and cultural dimensions with extreme precision, inviting the audience to explore the interwoven human fabric of communication through the works of artists associated with the Emirates, stressing that the cooperation between the Abu Dhabi Culture and Arts Group and the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) will open new horizons for more in-depth dialogues and common understanding, thus enriching the cultural scene in the two countries for years to come.

The “Trifoods and Visions” exhibition represents the second chapter of the three-year institutional partnership between the Abu Dhabi Group for Culture and Arts and the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA).

It follows their cooperation to hold the first art exhibition, “Multimedia: We Are All Open Circles,” a joint exhibition that highlighted the interaction of artists in the Republic of Korea with the profound social and technological transformations that the country has witnessed from the 1960s to the present. It was held at Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi during the period from May 16 to June 30, 2025.

In addition to the two exhibitions, the two sides’ cooperation also includes jointly commissioned artworks, artistic residencies, knowledge exchanges between the two institutions, and an ongoing public program full of dialogue sessions, performances, and artist performances in Abu Dhabi and Seoul.

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