Louvre Abu Dhabi announces an exhibition of its latest acquisitions at Manarat Al Saadiyat

In mere weeks the public will be able to see the latest additions to the permanent collection of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, which is still under construction.

The pieces will be shown this summer across two themed mini-exhibitions to be hosted in Manarat Al Saadiyat, the exhibition space already on the island.

The first show, Louvre Abu Dhabi Stories: Al Qalam, which opens during Ramadan, will focus on the art of the written word. The primary piece, which Mohamed Abdulla Al Mansoori, a researcher with the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the curator of the exhibition, describes as “the hero”, is a bifolio or folded page of the Quran in Kufic script from the late ninth century.

“It is a mesmerising piece, not just because of its quality and illumination, but also because of its relation to the holy month of Ramadan, the time when the exhibition will be displayed,” says Al Mansoori.

Also on display will be a collection of Indian miniature paintings from Lucknow that are inscribed with calligraphy and delicately finished on gauche paper and a French manuscript of Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers. Al Mansoori describes this text as extremely important not only because it translated from the original script by a Syrian scholar, but also because it went on to become the first printed book in England. “It highlights the transfer of knowledge between different cultures,” he says.

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Louvre Abu Dhabi announces an exhibition of its latest acquisitions at Manarat Al Saadiyat