My first encounter with the Middle East came alive through the captivating pages of One Thousand and One Nights and the sweeping visuals of David Lean’s epic Lawrence of Arabia (1962). These narratives painted vivid portraits—endless deserts shimmering beneath an unforgiving sun, nomads wrapped in flowing fabrics drifting across shifting dunes, distant cities flickering like ethereal visions on the horizon and whispered tales carried by caravan winds under starlit skies. Yet these enchanting scenes were more imagination than reality, poetic dreams lacking the nuanced, intricate layers of lived experience in the region.

Years later, romantic fascination yielded to pragmatic exchanges. Driven by economic realities, thousands of Korean workers journeyed to Gulf cities, quietly transforming arid landscapes into gleaming metropolises—Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh. Their hard-earned contributions, often concealed beneath towering skyscrapers and dazzling malls, were profound testimonies of resilience and global connectivity. They built foundations in silence, with sweat and sacrifice hidden behind reflective glass facades, their stories rarely heard or acknowledged.

Yet despite physical proximity, these transactional cultural interactions remained thin and superficial, embedding a perception of Koreans as diligent yet emotionally distant—a narrative stubbornly entrenched in collective consciousness.

More recently, Korea’s cultural wave—Hallyu—dramatically redefined interactions between Korea and the Middle East. Korean pop culture now captivates stadium-sized crowds and dominates screens across Arab households, which was inconceivable mere decades ago. Images of meticulously choreographed K-pop performances and heartwarming dramas have woven themselves into daily life in the Arab world, creating a vibrant yet limited lens through which Korea is perceived. But beneath the glamour lies a superficiality where authentic understanding remains elusive. Korean galleries rarely present Middle Eastern contemporary artists, limiting cultural exchange to consumer-driven interactions rather than meaningful dialogue. Conversely, Middle Eastern perspectives of Korea seldom stretch beyond curated portrayals of its pop-cultural phenomena.

Addressing these gaps thoughtfully, the exhibition Layered Medium: We Are in Open Circuits, jointly curated by Kyung-hwan Yeo and Maya El Khalil and organised by Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) and Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF), asserts a new model of cross-cultural curatorial practice that transcends traditional geographic or institutional power centres. Inspired by Nam June Paik’s 1966 note, the exhibition highlights his vision of art as a fluid medium of connection and communication. Paik foresaw the transition from analogue to digital and imagined technology as an open circuit—an expansive, decentralised network capable of dissolving boundaries, democratising creative expression and reshaping the very rules of artistic engagement.

This vision is poignantly amplified by co-curator Yeo, who situates Korean contemporary art within the generative friction between its turbulent socio-political history and the autonomous, aesthetic force of artistic form. For Yeo, it is precisely this dialectic that allows Korean art to resonate beyond its local context, a resonance further deepened during the collaboration with El Khalil through the recognition of a shared condition: the disorienting effects of environmental degradation and alienation brought on by accelerated industrialisation. This point of convergence informs the exhibition’s curatorial framework, which the curators articulate through three thematic lenses—Body, Society and Space. Together, these themes probe the medium not simply as a physical substrate but as a mutable system of transmission, relation and affect. This approach entails a reconfiguration of the “medium” as an operative apparatus capable of producing new constellations of meaning within the specific context of Abu Dhabi, a strategy that draws directly from the legacy of Paik. Yeo positions Paik not merely as a technological pioneer but as a structural innovator—a “rule-changer” who liberated Korean art from insular debates and reoriented it toward a global circuitry of dialogue and exchange.

Realising the potential of these cultural exchanges requires a deeper reassessment of current conditions and carefully charted pathways forward. We must move beyond the dominant narrative of Hallyu, leveraging contemporary art to critically address the limitations of "soft power." While Hallyu has significantly enhanced Korea’s global visibility, it risks reducing complex cultural narratives into a polished, singular image. Contemporary art exhibitions like Layered Medium provide powerful critiques, uncovering nuanced historical and social layers beneath popular culture’s glossy surface. Through this complexity, Middle Eastern audiences can encounter a deeper, more authentic Korea and Korean curators face the compelling task of communicating these rich narratives abroad.

Addressing mutual invisibility is equally essential. The invisibility of Middle Eastern contemporary art in Korea is not due to content scarcity but rather epistemological blind spots. The aesthetic and critical frameworks familiar to Korean audiences frequently overlook vital themes in Middle Eastern contemporary art—such as Lebanese artists’ poignant artistic responses to civil conflict, Emirati practitioners’ reflective engagements with rapid urbanisation and evolving identities, or Iranians’ critical explorations of gender and tradition. Expanding curatorial and critical lenses to embrace these nuanced perspectives represents a transformative opportunity for Korean contemporary art to challenge intellectual insularity and foster richer dialogues.

The pursuit of authentic exchange demands structural institutional partnerships beyond one-off, ephemeral exhibitions. Enduring collaborations dedicated to knowledge creation, such as multi-year joint research platforms, can explore shared themes like rapid modernisation versus traditional heritage, spirituality in digital contexts, or nomadic identities. Such collaborations, involving long-term curatorial residencies, joint exhibitions and multilingual publications, will create enduring intellectual resources accessible globally, transcending short-lived cultural showcases.

Deepening collaborative creation further enriches exchanges by transcending mere representation, actively engaging artists in immersive joint creative processes. Proposed initiatives like context-exchange residencies—such as a hypothetical "Desert and City: Korean Media Artists in Abu Dhabi" or "Island and Wind: Emirati Land Artists in Jeju"—can be envisioned as platforms for profound cultural immersion, generating fresh artistic expressions rooted in firsthand experiences. Establishing interdisciplinary labs that combine Korea’s media technology prowess with the Middle East’s rich humanistic traditions could yield groundbreaking projects, such as digital reinterpretations of Arabic calligraphy or immersive VR adaptations of traditional Middle Eastern storytelling. These creative intersections promise new dialogues born from mutual respect and shared curiosity.

Fostering critical discourse is crucial to nurturing mature, substantive relationships. Regular, jointly organised forums linking influential biennales—such as the Gwangju Biennale and the Sharjah Biennial—can provide meaningful platforms for critical exchanges among leading theorists, critics and curators from both regions. Encouraging rigorous debate, these forums will cultivate shared critical vocabularies and mutual insights. Intensive mentoring workshops for emerging curators and critics can build sustainable infrastructure for future discourse, nurturing a generation equipped with deep cultural empathy and sophisticated analytical skills.

This comprehensive approach transcends cultural diplomacy to construct a new art-geographical map, challenging dominant Western-centric narratives and elevating previously marginalised artistic voices. By thoughtfully investing in these strategies, Korea and the Middle East can transform superficial exchanges into substantive, sustainable dialogues, forging deeper cultural empathy and fostering profound cross-cultural understanding.

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of STIR or its editors.