Louvre Abu Dhabi

Exceptions are welcome in all climates. When it's chilly, it's warmer. The tropics are cooler. Works of art aren't any different. Louvre Abu Dhabi has been impacted by such simple observations. It aspires to create a peaceful and welcome world by blending light and darkness, reflection and serenity. It aspires to be a part of a country, its history, and geography without becoming a flat translation, the pleonasm that leads to monotony and conformity. It also tries to highlight the rare encounters. It's unusual to come across a man-made island in the water. It's even more unusual to see it sheltered by a parasol, which creates a light rain. It is both a calm and complex place. A contrast amongst a series of museums that cultivate their differences and their authenticities.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is the first universal museum in the Arab world, having been established as a result of an intergovernmental agreement signed on March 6, 2007, between France and the United Arab Emirates. It brings the Louvre name to Abu Dhabi and features ancient and modern works of historical, cultural, and sociological significance from throughout the world. The agreement involved thirteen French public cultural establishments under the umbrella of the Agence France-Muséums: the Musée du Louvre, the Centre Pompidou, the Public Establishment of the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF), the Musée du Quai Branly, the Réunion des Musées Nationaux – Grand Palais, the Musée et Domaine National de Versailles, the Musée National des Arts Asiatiques Guimet, the Musée d’Archéologie Nationale – Domaine National de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the École du Louvre, the Musée Rodin, the Domaine National de Chambord and the French Operator for Heritage and Cultural Building Projects (Oppic).

In 2017, the Louvre Abu Dhabi opened its doors. It is France's largest cultural endeavour outside of France, the outcome of an unusual partnership between France and the United Arab Emirates. It’s beautiful architecture, the wealth of its permanent collection (due to loans from the Louvre and other French museums), and the quality of its temporary exhibitions are the three cornerstones of its success.