E-Issue 07 –– AUH
Winter 2023-24

January 29th, 2024



  1. Editor’s Note
  2. What’s On in Abu Dhabi/Dubai
  3. Cover Interview: Shaikha Al Ketbi on Darawan
  4. Rapport: Public Art in the Gulf and a Case Study of Manar Abu Dhabi
  5. Hashel Al Lamki’s Survey Exhibition Maqam Reflects on a Decade of Practice in Abu Dhabi
  6. “You Can’t Stand on a Movement”: Michelangelo Pistoletto Interviews Benton Interviewing Pistoletto

E-07++
Winter/Spring 2024



About ––

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    Contributors
    Contact

Interviews ––

    Selected Archive

Open Call ––

    Policy
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Newsletter ––




Chronological Archive ––

    Selected Archive

Artist Interview November 18th, 2016
AUH Raed Yassin in Abu Dhabi

Editorial March 1st, 2018
AUH Abu Dhabi Is The New Calabasas

Exhibition Listing May 22nd, 2018
DXB Christopher Benton: If We Don't Reclaim Our History, The Sand Will

Artist Interview June 15th, 2018
TYO An Interview with BIEN, a Rising Japanese Artist

Artist Interview July 17th, 2018
TYO Rintaro Fuse on Selfies and Cave Painting

Artist Interview August 28th, 2018
BER Slavs and Tatars: “Pulling a Thread to Undo The Sweater”

Artist Interview September 1st, 2018
NYC Shirin Neshat In Conversation with Sophie Arni and Ev Zverev

Artist Interview September 1st, 2018
PAR Hottest Spices: Michèle Lamy

E-Issue 01 –– AUH/DXB
Summer 2020

August 1st, 2020



  1. Editor’s Note
  2. What’s On in the UAE
  3. Pop(Corn): Hashel Al Lamki
  4. Tailoring in Abu Dhabi
  5. Rapport: Dubai
  6. Michael Rakowitz From the Diaspora


E-01++
Fall/Winter 2020-21


Artist Interview August 23rd, 2020
LHR/MCT Hanan Sultan Rhymes Frankincense with Minimalism


Artist Interview August 24th, 2020
DXB Augustine Paredes Taking Up Space

Artist Interview August 26th, 2020
AUH Sarah Almehairi Initiates Conversations

Market Interview August 28th, 2020
AUH/DXB 101 Pioneers Ethical and Curious Art Collecting


Exhibition September 1st, 2020
DXB Alserkal Arts Foundation Presents Mohamed Melehi


Market Interview September 4th, 2020
DXB Meet Tamila Kochkarova Behind ‘No Boys Allowed’


Artist Interview September 7th, 2020
DXB Taaboogah Infuses Comedy Into Khaleeji Menswear

Artist Interview September 10th, 2020
LHR/CAI Alaa Hindia’s Jewelry Revives Egyptian Nostalgia

Curator Interview September 14th, 2020
UAE Tawahadna Introduces MENA Artists to a Global Community

Exhibition Review September 24th, 2020
MIA a_part Gives Artists 36 Hours to React


Artist Interview September 27th, 2020
AUH BAIT 15 Welcomes New Member Zuhoor Al Sayegh

Market Interview October 14th, 2021
DXB Thaely Kicks Off Sustainable Sneakers


Exhibition Review October 19th, 2020
DXB Do You See Me How I See You?


Exhibition October 22nd, 2020
TYO James Jarvis Presents Latest Collages at 3110NZ


Exhibition Review October 22nd, 2020
AUH Ogamdo: Crossing a Cultural Highway between Korea and the UAE


Book Review October 28th, 2020
DAM Investigating the Catalogues of the National Museum of Damascus


Exhibition Review November 13th, 2020
DXB
Kanye Says Listen to the Kids: Youth Takeover at Jameel Arts Centre


Exhibition Review November 16th, 2021
DXB Melehi’s Waves Complicate Waving Goodbye


Exhibition Review November 19th, 2020
DXB Spotlight on Dubai Design Week 2020


Exhibition Review November 21st, 2020
DXB 101 Strikes Again with Second Sale at Alserkal Avenue


Exhibition Review
November 23rd, 2020


AUH SEAF Cohort 7 at Warehouse 421


Exhibition Review December 9th, 2020
SHJ Sharjah Art Foundation Jets Ahead on the Flying Saucer


Curator Interview January 25th, 2021
DXB Sa Tahanan Collective Redefines Home for Filipino Artists


Exhibition Review February 21st, 2021
GRV MIA Anywhere Hosts First Virtual Exhibition of Female Chechen Artists  

🎙️GAD Talk Series –– Season 1 2020


November 1st, 2020
1. What is Global Art Daily? 2015 to Now

November 16th, 2020
2. Where is Global Art Daily? An Open Coversation on Migration as Art Practitioners


November 29th, 2020
3. When the Youth Takes Over: Reflecting on the 2020 Jameel Arts Centre Youth Takeover

December 20th, 2020
4. Young Curators in Tokyo: The Making of The 5th Floor

January 27th, 2021
5. How To Create Digital Networks in The Art World?

E-Issue 02 –– NYC
Spring 2021

February 21st, 2021



  1. Editor’s Note
  2. What’s On in NYC
  3. Pop(Corn): Zeid Jaouni
  4. You Can Take The Girl Out Of The City
  5. Rapport: NYC
  6. Kindergarten Records Discuss The Future of Electronic Music
  7. Sole DXB Brings NY Hip-Hop To Abu Dhabi
  8. Wei Han Finds ‘Home’ In New York
  9. Vikram Divecha: Encounters and Negotiations

E-02++
Spring/Summer 2021

Exhibition Review March 3rd, 2021
DXB There’s a Hurricane at the Foundry


Exhibition Review March 7th, 2021
AUH Re-viewing Contrasts: Hyphenated Spaces at Warehouse421


Curator Interview March 21st, 2021
DXB Permeability and Regional Nodes: Sohrab Hura on Curating Growing Like a Tree at Ishara Art Foundation


Exhibition March 28th, 2021
DXB Alserkal Art Week Top Picks


Exhibition Review April 1st, 2021
DXB A ‘Menu Poem’ and All That Follows


Exhibition Review April 5th, 2021
DXB A Riot Towards Landscapes


Exhibition April 16th, 2021
RUH Noor Riyadh Shines Light on Saudi Arabia’s 2030 Art Strategy


Artist Interview April 26th, 2021
CTU/AUH/YYZ Sabrina Zhao: Between Abu Dhabi, Sichuan, and Toronto


Exhibition Review April 27th, 2021
TYO BIEN Opens Two Solo Exhibitions in Island Japan and Parcel


Artist Interview April 28th, 2021
DXB Ana Escobar: Objects Revisited


Exhibition May 9th, 2021
LDN Fulfilment Services Ltd. Questions Techno-Capitalism on Billboards in London


Artist Interview May 11th, 2021
BAH Mihrab: Mysticism, Devotion, and Geo-Identity


Curator Interview May 20th, 2021
DXB There Is A You In The Cloud You Can’t Delete: A Review of “Age of You” at Jameel Arts Centre

Market Interview May 26th, 2021
TYO Startbahn, Japan’s Leading Art Blockchain Company, Builds a New Art Infrastructure for the Digital Age

Exhibition June 11th, 2021
TYO “Mimicry of Hollows” Opens at The 5th Floor


Exhibiton Review June 20th, 2021
AUH “Total Landscaping”at Warehouse 421


Artist Interview June 30th, 2021
OSA Rintaro Fuse Curates “Silent Category” at Creative Center Osaka


Exhibition Review August 9th, 2021
DXB “After The Beep”: A Review and Some Reflections

E-Issue 03 ––TYO
Fall 2021

October 1st, 2022



  1. Editor’s Note
  2. What’s On in TYO
  3. Pop(Corn): Nimyu
  4. Ahmad The Japanese: Bady Dalloul on Japan and Belonging
  5. Rapport: Tokyo
  6. Alexandre Taalba Redefines Virtuality at The 5th Floor
  7. Imagining Distant Ecologies in Hypersonic Tokyo: A Review of “Floating Between the Tropical and Glacial Zones”
  8. Ruba Al-Sweel Curates “Garden of e-arthly Delights” at SUMAC Space
  9. Salwa Mikdadi Reflects on the Opening of NYU Abu Dhabi’s Arab Center for the Study of Art

E-03++
Fall/Winter 2021-22


Market Interview October 6th, 2021
RUH HH Prince Fahad Al Saud Discusses Saudi Arabia’s Artistic Renaissance


Exhibition October 7th, 2021
RUH Misk Art Institute’s Annual Flagship Exhibition Explores the Universality of Identity


Curator Interview October 15th, 2021
IST “Once Upon a Time Inconceivable”: A Review and a Conversation


Exhibition Review October 16th, 2021
AUH Woman as a Noun, and a Practice: “As We Gaze Upon Her” at Warehouse421



Exhibition Review February 11th, 2022

Artist Interview February 26th, 2022
TYO Akira Takayama on McDonald’s Radio University, Heterotopia, and Wagner Project


Artist Interview March 10th, 2022
DXB Prepare The Ingredients and Let The Rest Flow: Miramar and Zaid’s “Pure Data” Premieres at Satellite for Quoz Arts Fest 2022


Exhibition March 11th, 2022
DXB Must-See Exhibitions in Dubai - Art Week Edition 2022


Exhibition Review March 14th, 2022
DXB Art Dubai Digital, An Alternative Art World?

E-Issue 04 –– IST
Spring 2022

March 15th, 2022



  1. Editor’s Note
  2. What’s On in IST
  3. Pop(Corn): Refik Anadol
  4. Rapport: Istanbul
  5. Independent Spaces in Istanbul: Sarp Özer on Operating AVTO

E-04++
Spring/Summer 2022


Curator Interview March 21st, 2022

Market Interview March 28th, 2022
DXB Dubai's Postmodern Architecture: Constructing the Future with 3dr Models


Exhibition April 23rd, 2022
HK Startbahn Presents “Made in Japan 3.0: Defining a New Phy-gital Reality”, an NFT Pop-Up at K11 Art Mall


Exhibition May 6th, 2022
IST
Istanbul’s 5533 Presents Nazlı Khoshkhabar’s “Around and Round”


Artist Interview May 13th, 2022
DXB
“We Are Witnessing History”: Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian On Their Retrospective Exhibition at NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery

Artist Interview June 13th, 2022
DXB “Geometry is Everywhere”: An Interview and Walking Tour of Order of Magnitude, Jitish Kallat’s Solo Exhibition at Dubai’s Ishara Art Foundation


Exhibition June 21st, 2022
DXB Art Jameel Joins The World Weather Network in a Groundbreaking Response to Global Climate Crisis

Exhibition June 27th, 2022
UAE
What’s On in the UAE: Our Top Summer Picks

Curator Interview July 9th, 2022
IST Creating an Artist Books Library in Istanbul: Aslı Özdoyuran on BAS

E-Issue 05 –– VCE
Fall 2022

September 5th, 2022



  1. Editor’s Note
  2. What’s On in VCE
  3. Pop(Corn): UAE National Pavilion
  4. Rapport: Venice
  5. Zeitgeist of our Time: Füsun Onur for the Turkish Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale
  6. GAD’s Top Picks: National Pavilions
  7. Strangers to the Museum Wall: Kehinde Wiley’s Venice Exhibition Speaks of Violence and Portraiture
  8. Questioning Everyday Life: Alluvium by Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian at OGR Torino in Venice

E-05++
Fall/Winter 2022-23


Market Interview June 28th, 2022
HK
How Pearl Lam Built Her Gallery Between China and Europe


Exhibition November 11th, 2022
TYO
“Atami Blues” Brings Together UAE-Based and Japanese Artists in HOTEL ACAO ANNEX


Exhibition December 2nd, 2022
TYO Wetland Lab Proposes Sustainable Cement Alternative in Tokyo

Artist Interview December 9th, 2022
DXB Navjot Altaf Unpacks Eco-Feminism and Post-Pandemic Reality at Ishara Art Foundation

Artist Interview January 8th, 2023
TYO Shu Yonezawa and the Art of Animation

Artist Interview January 19th, 2023
NYC Reflecting on Her Southwestern Chinese Bai Roots, Peishan Huang Captures Human Traces on Objects and Spaces

Exhibition Review February 9th, 2023
DXB Augustine Paredes Builds His Paradise Home at Gulf Photo Plus

Artist Interview February 22nd, 2023
DXB Persia Beheshti Shares Thoughts on Virtual Worlds and the State of Video Art in Dubai Ahead of Her Screening at Bayt Al Mamzar

E-Issue 06 –– DXB/SHJ
Spring 2023

April 12th, 2023



  1. Editor’s Note
  2. What’s On in the UAE
  3. Pop(Corn): Jumairy
  4. Rapport: Art Dubai 2023
  5. Highlights from Sharjah Biennial 15
  6. Is Time Just an Illusion? A Review of "Notations on Time" at Ishara Art Foundation
  7. Saif Mhaisen and His Community at Bayt AlMamzar









DXB Christopher Joshua Benton to Debut Mubeen, City as Archive at The Third Line Shop in Collaboration with Global Art Daily

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Ogamdo: Crossing a Cultural Highway between Korea and the UAE


By Ji Young Kim

Published on October 22, 2020

        In a world where we are physically restricted from moving from one place to another and unable to travel the way we used to, Ogamdo: 5 scenes of Korean Art exhibition brings Korea to the UAE.

I was first attracted to this exhibition because I was excited and proud to see a solo exhibition of Korean Contemporary Art in the UAE, a place so far from Korea. Ogamdo: 5 scenes of Korean Art was advertised as an exhibition to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Korea-UAE diplomatic relations. After I viewed the exhibition, however, I realized that my emotions were more complex than a feeling of pride. What the exhibition tried to achieve was more than a simple political celebration of two countries.

Ogamdo: 5 Scenes of Korean Art, VR exhibition at Maranat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi. Images courtesy of A-L.


What the exhibition tried to achieve was more than a simple political celebration of two countries.



As a Korean citizen, I have always thought of Korea as a strange yet beautiful place, where the past and the present are intertwined not only in the urban structure of the city but also socially. Koreans have an eye on the future yet a tight grasp on its routes. In the rapidly changing urban landscape and social culture of Korea influenced by globalization, however, I always struggled to understand what “Korean-ness” truly meant. Ogamdo: 5 scenes of Korean Art is an exhibition which attempts to reveal the multifaceted nature of the Korean sentiment.


Ogamdo: 5 scenes of Korean Art is an exhibition which attempts to reveal the multifaceted nature of the Korean sentiment.



The questioning of self-identity is not only felt by Koreans. It is a universal sentiment that could be felt by anyone living in a fast-paced society. This is a sentiment that can be felt by Emiratis in the UAE, a country established only in 1971, a country that is only as old as my mother. In less than a generation, the UAE acquired great geopolitical and economic power in the Middle East. In an ever changing society, it is inevitable for people to be confounded with an identity changing as fast as their surroundings. The exhibition creates a cultural highway between Korea and the UAE, finding commonalities in previously unexplored aspects of each culture.

Ogamdo unfolds this sentiment through five different perspectives: “New Traditions”, “City Montage”, “Reconstruction of Culture”, “Everyday Affair” and “Landscape through the Mind’s Eye”. These five elements are designed to reflect on the development of our fast growing society where the old and new meet and are molded to create a new identity. They are structured to show the complex relationship between urban change and artistic expression, and their dependence on emotions rooted in the past, and aspirations of the future.


The exhibition creates a cultural highway between Korea and the UAE, finding commonalities in previously unexplored aspects of each culture.



I think many people would be surprised to know how similar Korean and UAE culture can be. Seoul to Abu Dhabi may be 6899 km away with different language, looks, and food, but our traditional beliefs have a lot in common.

Let’s take a look at Buchimgae Party (2019) by Lee Woosung.

1. Installation view, Room G1. Lee Woosung, Buchimgae Party, 2019. 4 pieces. Black gesso on fabric. 210 x 210 cm. Image courtesy of A-L.

Displayed in Scene 4: Everyday Affair, Buchimgae Party is 210cm long four-width painting on fabric, showing a group of people sitting around eating and drinking together, a very typical look that you see in any type of social gathering in Korea. Buchimgae, best explained as Korean pancake, is prepared in traditional ceremonies or feast.

We can find this type of gathering in the UAE. Jummah gatherings happen after Friday prayers where all family members gather together at the house of the eldest member of the family. This gathering is where family members sit around the floor to share the food prepared by the host family or sometimes cooked together by the members of the family to be eaten together.

In both settings, we gather, not only to eat but also to socialize, catch up with one another, and sometimes to get bothered by our family members. We always have that uncle who wants to know everything about your life, that aunt who asks when you’ll get married and grandma who continuously feeds you until you pass out. It is a chaotic scene, yet wholesome as these gatherings are where you meet all your family members to cook and eat together. While the type of food cooked and shared may be different between Korea and the UAE, the principle of gathering remains the same.


While the type of food cooked and shared may be different between Korea and the UAE, the principle of gathering remains the same.



Unfortunately, this is an ambience that we have been restricted from by Covid-19. Sparking feelings of nostalgia towards the times when physical interaction was a norm, the exhibition shows how our lifestyle is never stagnant and makes us reflect on how we used to take social relationships for granted. Life will sometimes not go by the way we planned or imagined it to go.

Interestingly the story of how this virtual exhibition emerged also exemplifies this message. Ogamdo was initially planned as an in-person exhibition. When the exhibition was selected as part of the “Traveling Korean Art” Program by the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE), project leaders, curator and artists were all very optimistic about the exhibition in Manarat Al Saadiyat as Covid-19’s impact was very minimal in both Korea and the UAE at the time.


Ogamdo was initially planned as an in-person exhibition.




Ogamdo: 5 Scenes of Korean Art installation and VR-capturing process at Manarat Al Saadiyat. Photography: Kim Taehwah. 

Then March came around with spiking cases of the new pandemic. Caiya Kang, the Team Leader of Cultural Exchange and Planning Team of KOFICE, says they even considered postponing the exhibition as they could no longer fly in the artworks due to travel restrictions. Tonghyun [Tony] Yu, the exhibition curator, suggested a hybrid form of the art exhibition, “a desperate countermeasure” as he describes in Korean, to overcome and adapt to the new society the pandemic had created.

Completely switching a fully curated in-person exhibition to a Virtual Reality (VR) system was definitely a bold move. However, with the message Yu attempts to express through this work is reflected on this brave and spontaneous decision he has made to showcase Contemporary Korean Art to the international community.

Ogamdo: 5 Scenes of Korean Art installation process at Manarat Al Saadiyat. Photography: Kim Taehwah.


Tony Yu, the exhibition curator, suggested a hybrid form of the art exhibition, “a desperate countermeasure” as he describes in Korean, to overcome and adapt to the new society the pandemic had created.



My experience with VR was definitely not an easy one. I am a type of person who needs to be in a specific mind-set to enjoy art and this usually gets achieved by being physically present in the space. Trying to view art through a screen felt quite foreign to me, at times a bit distracting. However, without this system, I would not have been able to see the exhibition as I do not live in Abu Dhabi, where the exhibition was supposed to be presented in. The exhibition may not even have taken place until next year. 

2. KWON Namhee, Meet me at the train station, 2009. White neon. 300 x 7 x 45 cm. Image courtesy of A-L.
3. LEE Woo Sung, People Running in Sweat, 2019. Water based paint, acrylic color on fabric. 165 x 300cm. Image courtesy of A-L.

4. Kim Seungyoung, Sweep, 2020. Chair, speaker, trash bin, light, paper, pencil. Image courtesy of A-L

Yu shared his thoughts on curating virtually: “Even though the medium has changed, the essence of the exhibition remains the same. The senses are still stimulated and so is the mind. Our virtual means are just one way to share the vibrancy of our artists’ work. Through the virtual world, we have found a new way to communicate and connect to a broader audience and to explore new ways to get closer to them.” Art is ever changing. There is no reason why our means of sharing it should remain the same. 


“Through the virtual world, we have found a new way to communicate and connect to a broader audience and to explore new ways to get closer to them.”


- Tony Yu

As our world is forced to become more digitized, we realized that the world is becoming smaller and smaller. The 6899km distance can be shortened with a click of a button, where I, living in Ras Al Khaimah, the very north of the UAE, can enjoy art curated inside Manarat Al Saadiyat, which was actually displayed in Paju, Korea. And this is the whole purpose of Ogamdo: first, from an artistic perspective, to introduce Contemporary Korean Art to a foreign country and second, from a cultural perspective, to show multifaceted expressions of Korean Identity. Lastly and most importantly, Ogamdo is a testament to our ability to adapt and grow from unpredictable challenges, which then affects the way in which we view our life and identify ourselves in this new environment. 


Ogamdo: 5 scenes of Korean Art
18 August - 30 November, 2020
Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi
Participating Artists: Gim Duk-Hoon, Kim Byung-hoon, Kwon Nam-Hee, Kwon Hyun-Bin, An Gyung-Su, Kim Eun-Hyung, Baek Heaven, Cho Jai-Young, Sunny Kim, Yoo Geun-Taek, Lee Woo-Sun, Kim Seung-Young, Park So-Young, Sen Chung
Curated by A-Lounge

The exhibition was organized as part of the Traveling Korean Arts (TKA) for the 2020 Year of Korea-UAE Cultural Dialogue in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Korea and the Ministry of Culture and Youth in the UAE.


Visit the full VR exhibition online until November 30, 2020.
Visit the KOFICE’s website.
Follow UAE’s Ministry of Youth and Culture Instagram.


Ji Young Kim is a NYU Abu Dhabi graduate from South Korea (NYUAD ’20). While she is a Korean citizen, she spent most of her adolescent life in the Philippines and moved to the UAE in 2016 to pursue her undergraduate studies. Ji Young graduated with a B.A. in Arab Crossroads Studies from NYUAD where she studied the Arabic language and conducted research on development of Emirati youth subcultures in Abu Dhabi. Currently, she is working in in Ras Al Khaimah as an Events Specialist, responsible for organizing and executing events that foster community engagement and cultural development in Ras Al Khaimah and beyond.

Many thanks to KOFICE, Caiya Kang, and Tony Yu.

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