From Indian Ocean voyages to contemporary art: Louvre Abu Dhabi reveals new season line-up
A year-long journey across cultures, histories and artistic expressions
ABU DHABI – Louvre Abu Dhabi has announced its 2026-2027 season, presenting a year-long calendar of exhibitions and programmes that explore the connections between cultures, histories and artistic expressions across continents.
The upcoming season will bring together ancient discoveries, maritime exchanges, heritage preservation efforts and contemporary creativity, reflecting the museum’s focus on presenting the shared stories that shape humanity.
The programme will feature four major exhibitions, beginning with a family-focused exploration of board games at the Children’s Museum and continuing with displays that trace centuries of movement across the Indian Ocean, contemporary artistic perspectives from the GCC and India, and global efforts to protect cultural heritage in challenging environments.
The season will combine archaeological objects, historical narratives, immersive experiences and modern artistic voices, highlighting how ideas, traditions and creative practices have travelled across borders over generations.
A Board Game Adventure (18 July 2026 – April 2027)
The 2026-2027 season will open at the Children’s Museum with A Board Game Adventure, an exhibition dedicated to the universal appeal of games as tools for learning, imagination and social interaction.
The exhibition will explore how board games have developed across cultures and centuries, tracing the journeys of well-known games including chess, carrom, ludo and mancala. Through these examples, visitors will discover how games travelled between societies, adapted to different communities and became part of shared human experiences.
Featuring around 30 objects from Louvre Abu Dhabi’s collection alongside regional and international loans, the exhibition will present early examples from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. The display will examine the role of play in human history, showing how games have reflected social connections, strategic thinking and cultural exchange.
A Board Game Adventure is curated by Amine Kharchach, Interpretation and Creative Content Section Head at Louvre Abu Dhabi, and Orlane Lefeuvre, Interpretation and Creative Content Officer.
Spices and Wonders: Sailing the Indian Ocean (14 Oct 2026 – 14 Feb 2027)
The museum will next present Spices and Wonders: Sailing the Indian Ocean, organised in partnership with the Guimet – National Museum of Asian Arts in France.
The exhibition will explore more than 1,000 years of maritime exchange across the Indian Ocean, revealing how ancient societies from Africa, the Middle East and Europe connected with South and Southeast Asia through trade, navigation and cultural movement.
Spanning from Antiquity to the 17th century, the exhibition will showcase the movement of valuable goods and materials, including spices, textiles, ceramics and other cargo that crossed one of the world’s most important maritime networks.
The display will highlight the Indian Ocean as a meeting point of cultures, where merchants, travellers and communities exchanged knowledge, craftsmanship and traditions. It will examine how maritime routes shaped relationships between regions and contributed to the development of interconnected societies.
The exhibition is curated by Dr Guilhem André, Director of Scientific, Curatorial and Collections Management at Louvre Abu Dhabi, and Dr Claire Déléry, Curator of the Chinese Ceramics collection at the Guimet in Paris. It is supported by Dr Andrea Rozsavolgyi, Senior Curatorial Assistant at Louvre Abu Dhabi, Dr Lucie Chopard, Curatorial Assistant at France Muséums, and Fakhera Alkindi, Senior Curatorial Assistant at Louvre Abu Dhabi.
A second edition of the touring exhibition will be presented at the Guimet from 12 May to 6 September 2027.
Art Here 2026 and the Richard Mille Art Prize (11 Nov 2026 – 28 Feb 2027)
The sixth edition of Art Here will continue Louvre Abu Dhabi’s focus on contemporary artistic voices, with the exhibition organised in partnership with Swiss luxury watchmaking brand Richard Mille.
The 2026 edition will accept proposals from contemporary artists from GCC countries, including nationals and residents, as well as Indian nationals. The exhibition will be curated by Kamini Sawhney, founding director of the Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), one of the first digital art and photography museums in Bengaluru, India.
Titled Confluences, the exhibition will explore how histories, cultures and migrations influence identities, communities and everyday life. The theme reflects the movement of ideas and traditions, particularly across the Indian Ocean, and examines culture as an evolving exchange shaped by different encounters.
Works by shortlisted artists will be displayed as part of Art Here 2026 from November, while the winner of the Richard Mille Art Prize will be announced at a later stage.
Living Legacies. Protecting Heritage. Building Hope (23 Nov 2026 – 25 April 2027)
Closing the season will be Living Legacies. Protecting Heritage. Building Hope, organised in partnership with the ALIPH (International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage) Foundation.
The exhibition will focus on efforts to protect, restore and safeguard cultural heritage in some of the world’s most complex environments. Through artefacts, projections and personal testimonies, visitors will explore the experiences of communities working to preserve historic sites, traditions and cultural identities.
The exhibition will include objects loaned from international cultural institutions and ALIPH’s grantee partners, creating a multi-sensory experience that highlights the importance of heritage protection.
The exhibition is curated by Magdalena Ruiz, Senior Curator at Louvre Abu Dhabi, and Amaryllis Maria Georges, Senior Curatorial Assistant at Louvre Abu Dhabi, with support from Dr Sandra Bialystok and Dr Bastien Varoutsikos from the ALIPH Foundation.
Alongside the exhibitions, Louvre Abu Dhabi will present a wide programme of cultural and educational activities designed to deepen engagement with the museum’s collections and displays.
Visitor programmes
The upcoming season will feature curator-led talks, a symposium, film screenings, performances and events focused on encouraging dialogue and discovery. These initiatives will continue the museum’s object-based learning approach, allowing visitors to explore artworks through observation, discussion and interpretation.
Each exhibition will be supported by catalogues available in three languages, specialised guided tours, podcast episodes, learning paths for children and families, and work booklets focused on themes including materiality and heritage preservation.
Weekly workshops for adults will also continue, alongside established initiatives such as Book and Easel, Drawing at the Museum, the Quantum Dome Project and Art in Scents. These programmes will provide opportunities for creative exploration through different artistic and sensory experiences.
Visitors will also be able to experience We Are Not Alone, an audio tour beneath the museum’s dome created in collaboration with international artists. Available in multiple languages, the experience explores the relationship between the museum’s architecture, its surroundings and the wider environment.
Digital content, including recorded talks and podcasts, will extend access to Louvre Abu Dhabi’s exhibitions and collections beyond the galleries, allowing audiences to engage with the museum’s stories through online platforms.