Louvre Abu Dhabi is hosting a quartet of art exhibitions over the coming months, so you know where to go for your new season art fix
Culture vultures are in for a treat this season at Louvre Abu Dhabi with not one, but four international and regional exhibitions coinciding with the UAE’s Golden Jubilee. Running from now until 12 February 2022, Dragon and Phoenix – Centuries of Exchange between Chinese and Islamic Worlds explores a history of mutual exchange and fascination, unfolding over five chapters and featuring immersive scenography chronicling the 8th to the 18th centuries.
The inaugural Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here 2021 – a joint collaboration with Swiss watchmaker Richard Mille featuring all shortlisted, UAE-based artists’ proposals for the recently announced Richard Mille Art Prize – is also running until 27 March 2022 in the Forum, with one talented winner set to take home a reward of $50,000. Kicking off next year as the first international exhibition of 2022, Versailles and the World (26 January – 4 June) is being held in partnership with the Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon. Telling the story of the French city as a central diplomatic instrument that solidified the prowess of the French royal court, expect an eclectic array of objects, from Chinese and Japanese lacquerware to wallpapers and porcelain.
Finally, delving into the one medium that’s crucial to both artistic production and communication, Stories of Paper (April – July 2022) will trace the origins of paper in all its forms, from ancient China and the Islamic world to contemporary global societies. Organised with the Musée du Louvre, this exhibition is curated by Xavier Salmon, director of the Drawings and Prints department at the museum, and Victor Hundsbuckler, curator at the same department, and sounds utterly fascinating to us. Buy tickets
