Louvre Abu Dhabi announces five new major shows

The museum's 2023-2024 cultural season features space-themed exhibitions for children, the influence of Islamic art on Cartier's designs and the history of fables

A 16th-century ceramic Iznik dish with a blue saz leaf, dotted tulips and roses. will be a part of the Cartier, Islamic Inspiration and Modern Design exhibition. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi

Cover of a pen box features in a coming Louvre Abu Dhabi exhibition that will show the influence of Islamic art on Cartier designs. Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Glass vessel in the shape of a mosque lamp by Joseph Brocard. The item will be exhibit as part of the Cartier, Islamic Inspiration and Modern Design exhibition. Photo: APF

Kalila wa Dimna, translated by Ibn al-Muqaffa in 1222, will be exhibited at Louvre Abu Dhabi next year. Photo: Bibliotheque nationale de France

Opening on March 20, Fables from East and West: from Kalila wa Dimna to the Fables of La Fontaine will highlight the influence of animal fables in the ancient world. Photo: Bibliotheque nationale de France

Kalila wa Dimna, translated by Ibn al-Muqaffa, whose influence in the Arab world was similar to Aesop's in the Greco-Roman region. Photo: Bibliotheque nationale de France

The Bear and the Garden Lover will be among the pieces exhibited as part of Fables from East and West at Louvre Abu Dhabi. Photo: Bibliothèque nationale de France

Letters of Light will be on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi from September 13 and will run until January 14. Photo: Bibliotheque nationale de France

Virgin and Child by 15th century Italian painter Giovanni Bellini. Photo: Louvre Abu Dhabi/Thierry Ollivier

Page of the famous Blue Quran, gold on dyed parchment, will be exhibited as part of Letters of Light. Photo: Louvre Abu Dhabi

A 17th-century celestial globe from Lahore, Pakistan. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi

Prince with a consort watching the moon, a drawing created in India in about 1650, will be among the works in Picturing the Cosmos. Photo: APF

Louvre Abu Dhabi has announced five new major exhibitions as part of its 2023-2024 cultural season, beginning with a space-themed show for children.

Picturing the Cosmos will open at Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Children’s Museum on July 18, running until June 2025. It will take young visitors on a journey of how space, with all its symbolisms, was represented in art.

The show will touch upon our primeval fascination with the cosmos and how the sky above has been a never-ending source of inspiration. Picturing the Cosmos also features a special mission that aims to instill the observational and analytical skills necessary for the space explorers of tomorrow.

Letters of Light will then be launching at Louvre Abu Dhabi on September 13, running until January 14.

The exhibition will explore the holy books of the three Abrahamic religions — the Quran, Christian Bible, and Hebrew Bible (Tanakh).

Held in partnership with Bibliotheque nationale de France and France Museums, it will explore the historical context in which the holy books emerged, their associated scholarly, talismanic and mystical practices, as well as their essential role in intellectual and artistic history.

The exhibition will emphasise the universal messages in the biblical, evangelical and Quranic texts, as well as the ethical dimension they possess by highlighting episodes and figures that are shared by all three.

Cartier, Islamic Inspiration and Modern Design will be the penultimate show opening at Louvre Abu Dhabi this year. The exhibition, running between November 15 and March 24, will highlight the influence of Islamic art on Cartier’s designs. It will feature more than 500 objects from jewellery and masterpieces of Islamic art to drawings, books, photographs and archival documents.

This show at Louvre Abu Dhabi is a reinterpretation of a travelling exhibition that was initially displayed last year at Musee des Arts Decoratifs and Dallas Museum of Art, with the support of Cartier.

Louvre Abu Dhabi’s final major show of the year is Art Here 2023. Running between November 21 and February, the exhibition will present works by artists shortlisted for the third Richard Mille Art Prize.

The museum and the Swiss watchmaking brand are holding the third iteration of their annual art prize under the theme Transparencies.

Taking place outdoors and under the dome for the first time, Art Here 2023 will provide artists the opportunity to present their work within one of the region’s most esteemed establishments. The prize is currently accepting entries for its next iteration. Contemporary artists from the UAE and GCC are invited to apply until May 31.

Opening on March 20, Fables from East and West: from Kalila wa Dimna to the Fables of La Fontaine will highlight the influence of animal fables in the ancient world.

The literary genre of animal fables, which first originated in India and Greece in the first century BCE, was spearheaded by Ibn al-Muqaffa in the Arab-Islamic world and Aesop in the Greco-Roman world. Over millennia, fables have continually transformed and adapted from one language to another, resulting in many new works being created in both the East and West.

Organised in partnership with Bibliotheque nationale de France and France Museums, Fables from East and West will examine the roots and evolution of this genre through a showcase of illustrated manuscripts, paintings, contemporary works and more.

More information about Louvre Abu Dhabi’s 2023-2024 cultural season is at louvreabudhabi.ae.