Latest news with #AbuDhabiFestival
Al Etihad
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Etihad
Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation, France's Manufactures Nationales to advance cultural exchange
23 July 2025 18:09 ABU DHABI (WAM)The Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF) and Manufactures Nationales – Sèvres & Mobilier national – operating under France's Ministry of Culture – have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to foster deeper artistic and cultural dialogue through joint collaboration, innovation and educational partnership aims to support emerging talent, advance expertise among established artists and help preserve and evolve heritage agreement was signed on July 21, 2025 by Huda Alkhamis-Kanoo, Founder of ADMAF and Abu Dhabi Festival, and Hervé Lemoine, President of Manufactures nationales, witnessed by Minister Rachida Dati, French Minister of Culture at the Ministry of Culture in Dati said, 'I am particularly pleased with the signing, at the Ministry of Culture in Paris, of this partnership between the Manufactures Nationales and ADMAF, a major foundation in the cultural scene of the UAE."This agreement marks a new stage in the relationship between France and the United Arab Emirates, where culture plays a key role. It also fits perfectly with the international outreach objective of the Manufactures Nationales: a public center of expertise that is absolutely unique in the world. Thanks to this partnership, the arts and crafts enrich the strategic cultural partnership that unites France with the United Arab Emirates, and Abu Dhabi in particular.'Huda Al Khamis-Kanoo said, 'Through this partnership between ADMAF and Manufactures Nationales, we are establishing the foundations of a long-term collaboration, built around three pillars: creation, innovation, and transmission. This commitment to upholding our roots while embracing modernity is shared by the United Arab Emirates and France.'She added, 'Together, we believe that the past is our bond, and the future our calling. Through this historic MoU, may our collective efforts support young talents, broaden their horizons, and advance excellence in craftsmanship.'Hervé Lemoine, President of Manufactures nationales, said, 'Through this unprecedented dialogue between our two institutions, we affirm that the future of the decorative arts lies at the intersection of tradition and bold innovation. This partnership with ADMAF opens a fertile ground for experimentation, where heritage craftsmanship meets contemporary imagination.'Nicolas Niemtchinow, Ambassador of France to the UAE, said, 'I am truly thrilled by the signing of this ambitious agreement in Paris between ADMAF and the Manufactures nationales – Sèvres & Mobilier national, a partnership rooted in shared values of creation, innovation and transmission. This marks a meaningful new chapter in the deep and vibrant relationship between the UAE and France, where culture and education continue to play a vital role.'He added, 'Thanks to this agreement, artisans, designers, and institutions from both countries will have the opportunity to share their knowledge, celebrate their expertise, and champion excellence, sustainability and creativity in craftsmanship. ADMAF and the Manufactures Nationales – Sèvres & Mobilier national will proudly help nurture an ecosystem where tradition meets modernity, and where new ideas can flourish. Together with the UAE, we are planting the seeds that will inspire a new generation of artists, makers, and cultural leaders.'France and the UAE share a rich tradition of creativity and craftsmanship in ceramics, textiles and design. This landmark partnership between ADMAF and the Manufactures Nationales aims to build on that legacy by fostering cultural dialogue, and connecting heritage with modernity through residencies, exhibitions, and educational programmes that promote innovation and the collaboration has launched with an open call for the inaugural Inspiration Residency in Paris, giving UAE designers the opportunity to immerse themselves in France's creative ecosystem through access to workshops and design archives.A jury will convene in August 2025 to select a winner, with the first residency taking place in September to coincide with Paris Design artistic exchange, the partnership will explore new approaches to craftsmanship that integrate technology and sustainable practices, while co-developing educational resources to inspire young audiences and ensure the vitality of the decorative arts for generations to come. This collaboration builds on ADMAF's longstanding mission to promote access to arts education, and foster the UAE's creative industries while providing a global platform to showcase the excellence of French decorative arts.
Al Etihad
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Etihad
ADMAF, UAE Pavilion hosts Abu Dhabi Festival's ‘Art @Embassies' Talk at Expo 2025 Osaka
16 July 2025 22:16 ABU DHABI (WAM)Held under the founding honorary patronage of His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Founding Honorary Patron of Abu Dhabi Festival, and the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, the 'Abu Dhabi Festival's Art @Embassies Talk' was presented at the UAE Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka on 15th by the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation (ADMAF) in collaboration with the UAE Pavilion, the panel brought together Emirati artists and their Japanese counterparts for a cultural dialogue exploring identity, materiality, memory, and pace of discussion is part of a broader series under ADMAF's Abroad Programme, promoting human connection through the of ADMAF and the Abu Dhabi Festival, Huda Al Khamis-Kanoo, said the initiative, now in its third year, is a continuation of ADMAF's mission to foster global artistic exchange.'In collaboration with the UAE Embassy in Japan and as part of the UAE National Pavilion programme at Expo Osaka, we present a dialogue featuring young Emirati artists Shaikha Al Ketbi and Sarah Al Mehairi, in conversation with Chiaki Soma of Tokyo University of the Arts,' she noted that the talk explored contemporary themes of place and memory, contrasting slowness and acceleration in life.'This initiative has previously travelled to London, Paris, and Seoul, and aims to deepen friendship, cooperation and cultural dialogue between artists from the UAE and Japan, this year's Guest Country of Honour,' she Ambassador to Japan and Commissioner General of the UAE Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Shihab Alfaheem, said art serves as a powerful medium of empathy, dialogue and praised the Art @ Embassies initiative for highlighting the UAE's creative spirit and strengthening international Commissioner General and Creative Director of the Pavilion, Shaikha Al Ketbi, said the space was dedicated to amplifying Emirati voices and celebrating the potential of cultural diplomacy through initiatives like Art @ panel reflected the UAE Pavilion's Earth to Ether theme, which emphasises how heritage informs Pavilion, situated in the Empowering Lives Zone, was designed by the Earth to Ether Collective—an international team led by the UAE Expo addition to the panel, ADMAF and the UAE Pavilion are hosting several cultural initiatives at Expo 2025 Osaka. In April, Emirati calligrapher, Mohamed Mandi, and Japanese master, Juichi Yoshikawa, created a collaborative work blending Arabic and Japanese calligraphy.A rolling residency titled 'Guest Artists Takeover' features Emirati artists Asma Al Remeithi, Aisha (Yoshi) Al Ali, Sarah Al Mehairi and Moza Almatrooshi, who are transforming the Pavilion's creative space through workshops and live August, ADMAF and NYU Abu Dhabi's The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award 2025 winners, Sara Farha and Khaled Shalkha, will lead innovation-focused workshops at the Pavilion, encouraging artistic experimentation and cultural dialogue. Through these programmes, ADMAF and the UAE Pavilion are showcasing the UAE's artistic voice and promoting Abu Dhabi's cultural vision to a global audience.
Korea Herald
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Jun So-jung, who explores divide between Koreas, looks at 'time of land'
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Artist Jun So-jung had arrived in Abu Dhabi late the previous night from Antwerp, Belgium, her flight delayed by Israel's attack on Iran earlier that day. She was in Antwerp for the opening of a group exhibition at M HKA, Museum of Contemporary Art Belgium where her video work 'Syncope' (2023) is being shown. In Abu Dhabi, she participated in a public program held as part of 'Layered Medium: We Are in Open Circuits,' a Seoul Museum of Art and Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation joint exhibition at Manarat Al Saadiyat. The exhibition, part of this year's Abu Dhabi Festival, came to an end June 30. Traveling is part and parcel of being an artist today. Artists often travel to find new inspiration; they also travel the globe, showing their work. Jun, whose works are in the permanent collection of leading art galleries and institutions around the world -- including the Han Nefkens Foundation; the Uli Sigg Collection; MMCA, Korea; SeMA; and Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art -- is often on the road, working on a project and attending exhibitions. 'I was curious in what context my work would be received, how an audience in a place with a very different historical context would respond to my work, especially given that my work is about North and South Korea,' Jun said in an interview with The Korea Herald on June 14, right after a panel discussion entitled 'Society as Medium — Objects as Anchors: Material, Narrative and Memory.' "'Early Arrival of Future' was made 10 years ago and it is also being shown at SeMA as part of an exhibition marking the 80th anniversary of liberation. It is sad. The work is being shown repeatedly like this because we remain divided,' she said, adding that she harbors complex feelings about this state of affairs. 'Early Arrival of Future' (2015) is a video work featuring two pianists — North Korean defector Kim Cheol-woong and South Korean Uhm Eun-kyung — performing a piece the two composed. The title of the song, 'Sinabeuro,' meaning 'unknowingly, little by little,' reflects the process by which the new music was written through dialogue between the artists, each selecting a popular song from their country as a starting point. Jun's other video works shown in Abu Dhabi likewise center on the state of the divided Korean Peninsula. 'Eclipse' (2020) shows North Korean-style gayageum and harp performed by a Korean Japanese and a South Korean, respectively, while 'Green Screen' (2021) shows the lush greenery of the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas. 'It ('Early Arrival of Future') has a simple structure, but passing of time adds to its depth,' Jun said, explaining something different is created when seen in a different setting, at a different time. Observing how the moderator of the panel discussion had added her story to 'Early Arrival of Future,' Jun said, 'It was very interesting how, rather than viewing the work just as an exploration of an issue between the two Koreas, she added her own narrative in discussing the work,' she said. 'If I were to make it now, I would not make it so simple, but there is power that such simplicity lends,' Jun said. The work might look simple, but making the video was a complex project. There were 12 stationary cameras surrounding the two artists, who were each playing on a grand piano facing the other. The setup could be used to show the relationship between the two Koreas and how inter-Korean issues or stories are read and dealt with within the geopolitical context, the artist thought. Even more complex was how the two musicians came up with the new composition. A good three to four months went into composing 'Sinabeuro,' involving extensive dialogue. Photographs showing excerpts of their conversations and music scores are on display at the SeMA exhibition 'Prelude: With a Heart Singing Stars,' running through Oct. 26. The conversations between the North Korean defector pianist, who had studied in Russia, and the South Korean pianist, who had studied in Germany, reveal their different backgrounds. 'For example, the North Korean pianist says, 'These are things that must be observed in North Korea, but you keep trying to override them.' The process of creating the music is quite interesting,' she said. Each had decided on a piece that was well known in their respective country — 'Yonggang Ginari,' a lively and joyous work from the North, and 'Eommaya Nunaya,' a plaintive lyrical song from the South. Both pieces share the pentatonic scale that imbues them with a particular mood. But that was where the similarities ended, and the musicians, over time, despite their differences, succeeded in creating a coherent new piece, giving Jun the answer she sought to the question, 'Could ideological conflict be overcome through art?' The video does not identify who is from the North or the South. 'When it was shown, many in the audience thought the woman was from the North. It reflects South Koreans' prejudiced image of North Koreans or North Korean defectors. They said the woman looked very sad, that she looked like she had a lot of stories and that she was very expressive,' Jun said. The opposite is true, however. 'The man was an elite, a graduate of a Pyongyang university. He had had a luxurious lifestyle,' said Jun. "For me, the audience's reaction was very interesting." 'Green Space' was shown in Piccadilly Circus in London in August 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea was to turn a very urban, highly commercial scenery into a green one. Jun began shooting in the civilian-controlled zone south of the DMZ in May 2021 and continued into July. It was 'very, very green,' she recalled. 'The vivid scent of the greenery struck my nose.' On screen, the untouched nature of the DMZ looks serene, but the reality is starkly different. 'It is very harsh there,' she said. There are frequent wildfires, many landmine explosions and wildlife are sometimes injured or killed by barbed wire fences, according to an environmental nongovernmental organization she consulted for the project. 'Eclipse' is a two-channel video work that explores the interaction of South Korea and North Korea through a Korean Japanese playing a North Korean gayageum and a South Korean harpist. The story of how gayageum player Park Soon-ah came to play the 21-string North Korean instrument has everything to do with contemporary history. The musician's grandparents had immigrated to Japan before the division of the Korean Peninsula. '(Following the division) North Korea provided a lot of assistance to these Joseonin, including traditional instruments,' Jun explained. Having grown up listening to cassette tapes of gayageum music from the North, Park went to North Korea to learn gayageum. There, she came to realize that she would have to go to South Korea to learn to play the authentic gayageum. In South Korea, the original 12-string gayageum is used, whereas North Korea created the 21-string version in the 1970s so that Western music could be performed, driven by Soviet influence. The music the two artists perform is rooted in the story of modern Korea. It is a newly composed piece inspired by the late Yun I-sang's 'Double Concerto,' written in 1977, which likens the division of the Korean Peninsula to two star-crossed lovers. Another motif of the new composition was Yun's use of Asian music elements in performing Western instruments. 'The idea was to use these motives to create a type of harmony or different rhythm with these two instruments,' Jun said. While all three video works shown in Abu Dhabi revolve around the two Koreas, Jun's greater interest lies in modernity. Jun recently went on a research trip to Almaty in Kazakhstan. 'I visit Europe frequently but I realized that I really don't know about the land in between,' she said. 'Some call it Eurasia. Historically, the Silk Road was here; astrologers journeyed the path as did travelers and pilgrims. I had an idea that it would be good to look at time through this land,' she said. 'Looking at the time of the land means dealing with history. And through that, we can look at the present anew,' Jun said. That initial thought led to yet another idea — to explore the history of migration of Goryoin, ethnic Koreans living in Central Asia. 'There is a very archaeological aspect to this current project,' said Jun, after explaining how her works are conducted with an 'anthropologist's attitude' and involve a lot of on-site research and interviews. The project she is working on lies somewhere between 'being archeological and being science fiction-esque,' she said. It would be a video work and something performative. Asked if she might be featured in the video playing the accordion — she is a member of a band, Black Night, composed of fellow artists — she dismissed the idea with a laugh. 'No, I won't be in it. It will feature local musicians.' khooran@
Korea Herald
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
'Opening doors of conversation, culture to culture'
Huda Alkhamis-Kanoo talks about the Abu Dhabi Festival, international cooperation and joint exhibitions with SeMA ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- Barely two years after a visit to Korea by one of Abu Dhabi's key cultural figures, internationally acclaimed Korean pianist Lim Yunchan performed to a packed concert hall in Abu Dhabi, the Korean National University of Arts Orchestra performed with young Emirati musicians in Abu Dhabi, and an exhibition of contemporary Korean art co-curated by the Seoul Museum of Art and the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation opened at the prestigious Manarat Al Saadiyat cultural complex. All this and more was set in motion by Huda Alkhamis-Kanoo, founder of ADMAF and founder and artistic director of the Abu Dhabi Festival, during her whirlwind visit to Seoul in May 2023, where she met with leading figures in Korea's cultural scene. Her timing was prescient. The World Health Organization had declared the end of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier that month and the world was slowly coming out of long isolation, ready to engage with each other. 'We went on a journey together, we dreamed together, we shared our vision together. We are on a mission to bring our cultures together, open doors of conversation, culture to culture, conversation to conversation,' said Alkhamis-Kanoo during an interview with The Korea Herald at her residence on June 13. 'But I don't own this conversation. You don't own this conversation. We open it,' she said. 'For me, the beauty of this conversation is that it started with a vision, it became a reality. Now, we are building a legacy. The legacy is moving forward together for a greater future,' she said. International cooperation is a key component of the Abu Dhabi Festival, and when it comes to international cooperation, the most important thing is relevance, Alkhamis-Kanoo pointed out. 'Relevance not only for us, but more importantly for our society, for our artists, our audiences and the relevance of the conversation that such international cooperation enables,' she continued. 'What is important to us is that every single international cooperation we engage in challenges, refines and expands our perspectives,' she said. Held as part of Abu Dhabi Festival 2025, 'Layered Medium: We are in Open Circuits,' which comes to a close Monday, is an example of such international cooperation. Featuring 48 works by 29 artists, the first large-scale exhibition of Korean contemporary art in the Middle East is also the first of two co-curated and co-produced exhibitions developed through a three-year collaboration between SeMA and ADMAF. Education is also a very important part of the Abu Dhabi Festival, especially given that the UAE is a relatively young country, formally established in 1971. 'We are a young nation but we come from a very old soul. This old soul with the energy of the young is the future. (Education) will always be a major element of the festival,' said Alkhamis-Kanoo, pointing out the educational function of the festival. She cited the example of the Korean National University of Arts Orchestra's open rehearsal, which was attended by public school children. 'Opening up to government schools is very important. Public schools all over the world are almost the underprivileged when it comes to liberal arts in all its forms, music included. We need to work more. Music creates empathy and happiness, joy. You know, that's the basis for the future,' she said. Meanwhile, the second co-curated and co-produced exhibition, 'Intense Proximities,' will run at SeMA from Dec. 16 to Feb. 22, 2026, bringing three generations of UAE-based artists from the 1980s to today. The partnership between SeMA and ADMAF also includes co-commissioned artworks, artist residencies, institutional exchanges and public programs in Seoul and Abu Dhabi. 'We see Korea not just as a partner but as a creative counterpart and even as something of a twin because we both have very rooted cultures and are very innovative. 'I don't think we have a finish line. We are building a process. I'd say our timeline is generational but the impact is already here,' Alkhamis-Kanoo said.
Al Etihad
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Etihad
Abu Dhabi Festival opens submissions for first ‘Abu Dhabi International Competition for Composition'
16 June 2025 14:14 ABU DHABI (WAM) Submissions are now open for the inaugural Abu Dhabi International Competition for Composition, launched by the Abu Dhabi Festival and organised by the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF).The new global platform, created to amplify rising voices in contemporary music, aims to nurture creative talent, elevate young composers and champion innovation that will shape the future of music on the world to emerging and established composers up to the age of 50 from around the world, submissions for the inaugural competition are now open until 15th September will be announced on December 15, 2025, with the first-place winner receiving Dh130,000, a professional recording opportunity, and a world premiere performance with world-renowned partner orchestras at the 23rd edition of Abu Dhabi Festival in April second-place winner will receive Dh50,000, along with a performance opportunity, global recognition and mentorship. The third-place winner will be awarded Dh25,000 and access to welcomes submissions from composers worldwide who must anonymously submit original, unpublished and unperformed works for consideration. Awards will be presented in two categories: orchestral compositions of up to 10 minutes, and solo works for piano up to 5 minutes, the featured instrument of the inaugural will be evaluated by a distinguished jury of renowned international composers and conductors across seven criteria, including originality, creativity and the ability to convey elegance, as well as intellectual depth. Technical proficiency, compositional technique, emotional impact and the integration of traditional instruments, melodies or rhythms from diverse musical heritages and styles will also be compositions will also be professionally recorded as part of the Abu Dhabi Festival Composers' Platform more than a decade and a half ago, the platform supports music composers from around the world in presenting their work in Abu Dhabi and on the global stage. To date, the platform has produced 36 original compositions and 80 co-commissions, creating high-quality recordings that preserve both traditional and contemporary music.
