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Anniversary Talks

This November, Louvre Abu Dhabi Presents: Anniversary Talks, an exclusive live series celebrating a momentous chapter in the museum’s story across the past five years and its collection of artworks from around the world.

Join as we take an in depth look at every stage of the museum’s evolution through the voices of our partner institutions, artists, historians and, most importantly, the artworks.

We invite you to explore the inner workings of a universal museum across the varied and inspirational viewpoints that will showcase Louvre Abu Dhabi's aspirations as a living, breathing universal museum.

Talking Art - Global Interests
Topic: “North and South, East and West in the Early Modern World. Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Collections.”
Speaker: Jerry Brotton, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London
Moderator/Introductory remarks: Souraya Noujaim, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Robert Kilroy, Louvre Abu Dhabi.
Date: 29.11.2022
Location: Dome Stage
Time: 18.00
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: Free | booking is required
Language: English

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Over the last two decades, the intellectual map of the boundary between the medieval and Renaissance periods has been torn up. New research into the artistic and material exchanges between cultures loosely described as ‘eastern’ and ‘western’ has shown the limitation of these two designations. Along with debates around the origins of our current moment of globalization, scholars and curators beyond Europe are recounting new and compelling stories about contact and exchange between cultures that are redrawing the map of the early global world, c. 1200-1600 AD. In this talk Professor Jerry Brotton will draw on a wealth of materials, including artworks within the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s collection, to explain how a new account of this period is beginning to emerge. This story is centered not on London, Paris or Rome, but Istanbul, the Gulf States, Goa and Beijing.

 

The Special Loan
Topic: “A Moving Masterpiece: Leonardo da Vinci’s Saint John the Baptist.”
Speaker: Vincent Delieuvin, Art historian and Chief Curator, Musée du Louvre
Moderator/Introductory remarks: Alia Saeed Al Shamsi, Louvre Abu Dhabi
Date: 08.11.2022
Location: Auditorium
Time: 18.00
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: Free | booking is required
Language: English

 

Living Artists
Topic: "A Place for the Present: Contemporary Art in the Universal Museum."
Speakers: Nujoom AlGhanem, Pei-Ming Yan, Michelangelo Pistoletto
Moderator/Introductory remarks: Donatien Grau, Head of Contemporary Programs, Musée du Louvre; Aisha Al Ahmadi, Louvre Abu Dhabi
Date: 15.11.2022
Location: Auditorium
Time: 18.00
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: Free | booking is required
Language: English and French (simultaneous translation will be available)

Contemporary art has been an integral component of the Louvre Abu Dhabi project since its inception. Works by living artists are key to Louvre Abu Dhabi’s unique comparative approach. By connecting the past to the present, they give form to a universal memory that is understood as multiple and shared. This talk gathers together the contemporary artists who have helped realise this ambition. Their works have become cornerstones of the building itself, foundational pieces which connect Jean Nouvel’s feat of architectural wonder to its geographical environment, providing an equilibrium between the museum and its territory, between the art works and their public. Each work is the product of an artistic practice that is singular and unique. And yet, this difference is the bedrock of a shared commitment: a desire to harness the power of the present moment, a collective effort to include the contemporary visitor as an active agent in the Louvre Abu Dhabi story.

 

International Partners
Topic: "Collecting the Past, Sharing the Future: Louvre Abu Dhabi's Shared Collections and International Partners."
Speakers: Laila Alfaddagh, Director of the National Museum of Saudi Arabia (online), Dr. Fadi Balaawi, Director General Department of Antiquities of Jordan (in person), Elizabeth L. Gustilo, Senior Director, Arts and Culture, Ayala Foundation, Inc. (online), Lee Seunghye Curator at Leeum Museum of Art (online), Mariam Al Dhaheri, Louvre Abu Dhabi (in person)
Moderator/Introductory remarks: Mariam Al Dhaheri
Date: 22.11.2022
Location: Auditorium
Time: 18.00
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: Free | booking is required
Language: English

Louvre Abu Dhabi’s message of universality is communicated through a unique comparative approach which, by establishing silent exchange between extraordinarily diverse objects, highlights the co-existence of civilisations and cultures. This dialogue reminds us that, beyond difference and distance, we have more in common than we know. What makes this model possible is a diverse collection built through collaboration between several international institutions. Of particular importance is Louvre Abu Dhabi’s connection to its regional cultural environment, a close partnership that allows innovative curatorial approaches to be realised. Bringing together voices from different museums in the region, this discussion examines how the sharing of museum resources marks a new direction for collecting and exhibiting in the 21st century. In the process, it will shed light on how the universal museum becomes a reality through concrete relationships of mutual trust between cultural partners.


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