How Louvre Abu Dhabi is expanding its educational impact on youth of the UAE

Through storytelling and gamification, the museum aims to be a continuation of what happens in the classroom

Marcus, seven, was one of 45,000 schoolchildren who visited Louvre Abu Dhabi last year. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Louvre Abu Dhabi is integrating its offerings into the UAE's educational curriculum, museum bosses have revealed.

With the aim to grow into a nucleus where culture and education meet, the museum looks to become a continuation of the country's classrooms.

“One word, impact, it’s everything,” Ugo Bertoni, a director at the museum, tells The National. “When I see the impact across all generations, the impact of the museum visit, I know it can be a life-changing point in your life. The first thing you see in a museum, it's an emotional interaction with an artwork.”

Part of that impact will be Louvre Abu Dhabi's digital curriculum handbook, soon to be released within the teacher community in the UAE. The handbook will include lesson plans to encourage students to learn more about works in the permanent collection, in tandem with the subjects and topics taught at school.

For example, if a teacher wants to educate students about geography, history or literature, they would use the filters in the handbook to reveal which works in the museum are connected to that particular topic. The handbook will be available in English and Arabic for all UAE schools.

This approach to learning through the museum, Bertoni says, has an effect on students and the wider community. Fostering pupils’ relationship with the institution is an important way to create a thriving ecosystem where arts, culture and education feed off each other.

“We are passionate about education because we know we have an impact,” Bertoni adds. “Not only do we have an impact, we are also part of I would say a bigger vision and strategy of fostering arts and culture in Abu Dhabi. We know we are part of this long-term vision and this is fascinating for us.”

The Children's Museum, which is part of its permanent offerings, is currently hosting the Picturing the Cosmos exhibition. It takes children on a journey through four themes curated as a narrative of a space mission, to see how artists from diverse backgrounds throughout history have been fascinated by the cosmic world. The exhibition also features digital characters that guide young visitors through in a gamified way.

Another engaging way Louvre Abu Dhabi has created a sense of curiosity among young visitors, while also changing the perception of what a museum can be, is by harnessing the power of storytelling through gamification.

The Secret of the Dome Stars is a new mobile game, which encourages youngsters to develop critical observational skills while learning about art through storytelling, quizzes and puzzles. Designed like an educational treasure hunt, users are tasked to uncover and collect 12 stars, each connected to one artwork hidden in one of the museum's 12 galleries.

“Here is a way to bring families to the museum, it’s something that they can do as a family activity, or kids can do it on their own,” Bertoni says. “It goes back to the idea of the intergenerational element of the museum, to make sure it’s a place for people across generations to come together.”

Since opening its doors on Saadiyat Island in 2017, the museum has welcomed more than five million visitors. Last year alone more than 1.2 million walked through the 12 spaces that make up the permanent galleries.

The various stories of the works, the ways they connect with each other and the world, are stories that Bertoni says the museum is passionate about sharing. Louvre AD has more than 6,000 pieces as part of its permanent collection. While not all pieces are exhibited at the same time, the collection on show is always varied ranging in diversity from thousand-year-old monumental sculptures including Greek and Egyptian antiquity, to influential paintings and wall hangings from the 18th century and masterpieces from the 19th and 20th centuries that reflect the impact of colonialism, the industrial revolution and technology.

“When you’re at most traditional museums everything is mostly segmented,” Bertoni says. “What we do at Louvre Abu Dhabi is the opposite. We explain to people basically that we are connected, and we have been connected from day one.”

Last year, Louvre Abu Dhabi welcomed more than 45,000 students and teachers who engaged with the content of the museum through various initiatives and programmes. And while various demographics in the UAE are important for the museum, Bertoni points out that cementing a relationship with students in particular is crucial for their personal development and for their own perception of the world.

“When you bring your class to the museum, and for some of the kids it's the first time they have visited a museum or Louvre Abu Dhabi, it's already a success for us,” Bertoni says. “Once people step foot inside the museum, there's a chance they will come back, especially with kids. We know they are the best ambassadors for the Louvre. They will convince family and come back with them either to visit the children's museum, but also the permanent galleries and the temporary exhibitions.”

In parallel to this, the museum also conducts training twice a year for teachers to support and expand how they can use the museum's material to teach their pupils. Another programme launched last year is titled Classroom at the Museum, which, as the name suggests, lets teachers hold on-site classes, integrating artworks and elements of the museum into lessons.

“Sometimes we call a visit to the museum as a field trip – I tried to change this naming because it can feel disconnected from when you learn and what you teach in school,” Bertoni says. “The opportunity for me is to really make sure that the museum is perceived as a clear continuum or continuation from what you're teaching at school.”

Bertoni says the intention is to position itself as relevant beyond art and humanities but also in mathematics, physics, biology and more, delivering opportunities for a more integrated and holistic educational ecosystem from all aspects. “My goal is to make sure every student in the UAE visits the Louvre Abu Dhabi one day and not only once,” he says.

As Saadiyat Cultural District continues to grow into a hub for art, culture and education, Bertoni believes now is the time to engage with future museum professionals and cultural enthusiasts starting with every school year. Merging the two ecosystems of culture and education, he believes, is important.

“It is our responsibility to make sure that, for teachers and classes of all ages, they know we are the continuation of the school,” he says. “It's not a challenge, it's a new opportunity to make sure they see us as an obvious place where they can learn and teach through.”