Louvre Abu Dhabi Evolves from Borrower to Lender, Showcasing Global Art Contributions

Over five centuries ago, Mamluk Cairo's workshops crafted an exquisite wool carpet adorned with three medallions. This carpet, highly valued across the Mediterranean, was sought after by Europe's elite, commissioned by popes, and used as a diplomatic token. This rare piece, now part of the Louvre Abu Dhabi's permanent collection, was recently displayed at the Louvre in Paris as part of a significant exhibition on the Mamluk dynasty and its artistic heritage. While this loan might appear as a standard museum exchange, it highlights the remarkable progress of the Louvre Abu Dhabi since its 2017 opening, a time when many of its displayed artworks were on loan from international institutions and private collectors.

"We began as a borrowing institution, but we are transitioning into a lending institution as well," stated Guilhem Andre in an interview with The National. "Since our inception, we have loaned numerous masterpieces internationally." Andre, who joined the Louvre Abu Dhabi project in 2012 and played a key role in developing its collection and Asian art program, currently serves as the museum's director of scientific, curatorial, and collections management. His edited book, Birth of a Collection, meticulously documents the museum's journey, featuring contributions from 42 scholars, curators, and historians who analyze 240 objects, ranging from ancient artifacts to contemporary art.

The artworks exhibited at Louvre Abu Dhabi represent only a portion of its story. Andre noted that the museum began lending works even before its 2017 inauguration, with this activity significantly increasing in recent years. Since opening, it has lent 42 works to exhibitions within the UAE, the Gulf region, and internationally, including to prestigious institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, and the Galleria Borghese in Rome. He further indicated that outgoing loans have more than tripled since 2021.

Concurrently, visitors to Louvre Abu Dhabi are increasingly viewing works from the museum's own collection. Andre explained that upon opening, approximately 30 percent of the artworks in its permanent galleries were owned by the museum. By 2021, owned works surpassed loans for the first time, with their share projected to reach 56.8 percent by 2025. The collection has expanded dramatically from around 600 works at opening to over 6,000 today, including those in storage or conservation. This growth is detailed in Birth of a Collection, a follow-up to Birth of a Museum (2013), which introduced the founding collection and the vision for a universal museum in the Arab world. The new book, released nine years after the museum's opening, reflects a substantially larger collection and a decade of curatorial expertise.

"The more you progress, the more you identify gaps. It's an unending process, collecting," Andre commented. "Private collectors understand this. However, as a museum, our approach is at a very high level, focusing on masterpieces, which makes the book essential for showcasing the collecting process."

Acquisitions of Asian, African, and Oceanian art have helped address previous underrepresentation in the museum's holdings, as noted by Andre. He emphasized that the museum's objectives extend beyond merely expanding its collection. "Our purpose is not to display endless lists of artworks, but to highlight cross-cultural relationships and artistic production across more than 10,000 years of history."

Among the acquisitions featured in the book is an ornate ivory casket, crafted around 1543 in the Kingdom of Kotte (modern-day Sri Lanka). This casket, embellished with gold, rubies, and sapphires, is part of a small group of objects sent by the rulers of Kotte to the Portuguese royal court as diplomatic gifts. Acquired by Louvre Abu Dhabi in 2024, the casket exemplifies the compelling narratives Andre aims for the museum's collection to convey, with galleries designed to unite artworks from diverse civilizations and explore often-overlooked artistic and cultural connections.

"While the term 'universal museum' might suggest collecting everything, our mandate is distinct: to showcase diversity, cross-cultural relationships across time, and encounters," he explained. "We focus not only on the artworks themselves but also on the immaterial relationships between them, as we place them in dialogue."

Looking forward, Andre envisions a future where the museum's permanent galleries are entirely populated by its own collection, achieving full autonomy. "This will allow us not only to achieve full autonomy but also to lend more of our masterpieces internationally and share our story with global audiences," he concluded.