Press Release

Abu Dhabi, May 16, 2025 – O-Contemporary, founded by His Excellency Dr. Obaid Al Ketbi in 2024, and Baró Galeria, founded by María Baró in 1999, are proud to announce the launch of their new partnership in Abu Dhabi. This collaboration aims to foster cultural exchange and elevate contemporary art in the region, bringing together a diverse range of works by internationally acclaimed artists and emerging regional talents in 2025.

For the Grand Opening, the galleries invite you to The Other Side of the Moon, a group exhibition curated by Esmeralda Gómez Galera, Elena Belolípetskaia, and Mohammed Al Saqqa. The Other Side of the Moon marks the Grand Opening of a new cultural space in Abu Dhabi, inaugurated by Baró Galeria in collaboration with O-Contemporary. This group exhibition brings together artists from seven different countries, inviting visitors to follow a movement that shifts from the immediate landscapes around us to the distant realms of the cosmos.

Featuring works by artist such as Latifa Saeed, Adrian Pepe, Abdus Salaam, Mano Penalva, Jorge Rosano Gamboa, Tamara Kalo, Gary Hill, Mohammed Kazem, ChristopherBenton, Néstor García, Elias Crespin, Eduardo Kac, Rasheed Araeen, and more - The exhibition unfolds across three interconnected chapters: from the immediacy of sand, desert, and surrounding landscape, to the human experience of wonder and searching, and finally to the mysteries of the Moon and the universe beyond.

At the heart of the exhibition lies the concept of Insān — the human being as a seeker, defined by the constant quest for the unknown. Through sculpture, installation, video, and mixed media, the participating artists explore how this restless impulse shapes our relationship with the environment, memory, and the cosmos.

In the first chapter, visitors encounter works that engage directly with the tangible — the materiality of sand, the tension of gravitational forces, and the vastness of the desert. Asthe exhibition progresses, the focus shifts inward, toward human perception and longing:how we construct meaning through exploration, how absence, memory, and imagination shape what we see. Finally, the exhibition expands outward again, toward the sky — to the Moon as both a real celestial body and an enduring symbol of distance, dreams, and discovery.

Set in Abu Dhabi, under the light of the very Moon that has inspired poets, scientists, and dreamers for millennia, The Other Side of the Moon invites viewers to reflect on what connects the known and the unknown. The exhibition echoes, quietly but insistently, the spirit of exploration and reflection. In that subtle tension between technology and poetry, between outer space and inner gravity, it challenges us to reconsider what we choose to illuminate — and what we leave in shadow.

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Installation Views

Exhibition View: Group Exhibition, The Other Side of the Moon, Baró Galeria, (16 May - 28 October) Courtesy O-Contemporary & Baró Galeria.
Exhibition View: Group Exhibition, The Other Side of the Moon, Baró Galeria, (16 May - 28 October) Courtesy O-Contemporary & Baró Galeria.
Exhibition View: Group Exhibition, The Other Side of the Moon, Baró Galeria, (16 May - 28 October) Courtesy O-Contemporary & Baró Galeria.
Exhibition View: Group Exhibition, The Other Side of the Moon, Baró Galeria, (16 May - 28 October) Courtesy O-Contemporary & Baró Galeria.
Exhibition View: Group Exhibition, The Other Side of the Moon, Baró Galeria, (16 May - 28 October) Courtesy O-Contemporary & Baró Galeria.
Exhibition View: Group Exhibition, The Other Side of the Moon, Baró Galeria, (16 May - 28 October) Courtesy O-Contemporary & Baró Galeria.
Exhibition View: Group Exhibition, The Other Side of the Moon, Baró Galeria, (16 May - 28 October) Courtesy O-Contemporary & Baró Galeria.

Artists Exhibiting

Also Exhibiting at Baró

Address
Nahil Building - B - # 2
Tawi Ar Riwaydah
Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates
Opening Hours
Monday – Friday
By Appointment
(1)
Abu Dhabi Nahil Building - B - # 2, Tawi Ar Riwaydah
Baró
Nahil Building - B - # 2, Tawi Ar Riwaydah, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Opening hours
Monday – Friday
By Appointment
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