The relationship between Korea and the Gulf countries is longer and more complex than it may seem. These ties have shifted from oil and construction to culture, and the exhibition “Proximities” at Sema, the contemporary art museum of Seoul testifies that.
I saw the exhibition and reviewed it (in Italian) for il Manifesto.
Here is the link to the article
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I wrote a piece for ArtAsiaPacific on the Parisian art fair AsiaNow. What clearly emerges from the fair, is how the economic dynamism of the Middle East is fostering new connections between the Gulf and other thriving art scenes, from Korea to Southeast Asia.
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There’s nothing quite like a biennale to help us take stock of the art world — not just artistic trends, but also the currents of thought flowing through culture at large. And 2024 has given us plenty of international biennales to do just that.
In the West, the Venice Biennale dominates the cultural conversation. But in Asia, two South Korean biennales serve as litmus tests for the state of contemporary Asian art.
The first takes place in the city of Gwangju and is considered — rather hyperbolically — the Venice Biennale of Asia. The second is the Busan Biennale (originally called the Busan Youth Biennale), which these days is open to both young and not-so-young artists.
I wrote the article for Plural Art Mag
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My latest piece about Seoul for an Italian architecture and design magazine I started collaborating with, called IFDM design. The piece is about architecture, heritage, the coolest neighbourhoods and best spaces for art in the Korean capital.
Here is the link to the article
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Reporting from South Korea. My article on the Gwangju Biennale and the Busan Biennale is on Il manifesto, with a little extra: an interview with Nicolas Bourriaud, curator of the Gwangju Biennale.
It has been really cool to report on most of my recent trips to Asia this year for Il Manifesto – It has become a little tradition of sorts: picking up on Saturday the art supplements of the newspaper, get to my “third place” Zazie and read the issue in front of a steamy cappuccino.
Here is the link to the articles (in Italian)
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Naima Morelli is an arts writer and journalist specialized in contemporary art from Asia-Pacific and the MENA region.
She has written for the Financial Times, Al-Jazeera, The Art Newspaper, ArtAsiaPacific, Internazionale and Il Manifesto, among others, and she is a regular contributor to Plural Art Mag, Middle East Monitor and Middle East Eye as well as writing curatorial texts for galleries.
She is the author of three books on Southeast Asian contemporary art.
Reach out: contact [at] naimamorelli.com
