The creation of a new wing dedicated to Islamic art at the Louvre represents a decisive phase in the architectural history of the palace and in the development of the museum. The design and installation of these new galleries is the museum’s single largest expansion project since I. M. Pei created the now-famous Pyramid twenty years ago. The new department will soon be home to one of the most exceptional collections of Islamic art in the world, owing to its geographic diversity, the historical periods covered, and the wide variety of materials and techniques represented.
Rendering of the Louvre’s new Islamic Art pavilion © M. Bellini / R. Ricciotti / musée du Louvre
This unprecedented project grew out of one of the first observations made by Henri Loyrette upon his appointment as the Louvre’s president and director in 2001: the museum’s collection of Islamic art, due to its existence as a mere section of the Department of Near Eastern Antiquities, lacked sufficient space to reveal the full measure of its wondrous treasures to the public. From its inception, the resulting project received the unwavering support of Jacques Chirac, then president of France, who viewed it as a way for the Louvre to “solidify its mission as a universal cultural institution, while underlining for France and the rest of the world the essential contributions made by Islamic civilizations to our culture,” to encourage a dialogue of cultures and civilizations, and thus was instrumental in ensuring that the Louvre could reinstall the museum’s collection of Islamic art in a space where its indisputable richness and diversity could be more readily appreciated. On July 16, 2008, at the ground-breaking ceremony for the Louvre’s new galleries dedicated to Islamic art, current President Nicolas Sarkozy in turn emphasized the importance of this project as a way to promote understanding between peoples and cultures.
More than 2,500 works will be exhibited in the future galleries, including works from the Louvre’s own collection, supplemented by major permanent loans from the collection of the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs. The new department will cover the entire cultural reach of the Islamic world, from Spain to India, and will span its full chronological range, from the seventh to the nineteenth century. These works, many of which will be on public view for the first time, have also been the focus of a comprehensive and prodigious restoration plan.
The building of this new wing at the Louvre dedicated to Islamic art has been made possible through the generous support of the museum’s exceptional sponsors and donors. Our first and main sponsor, actively involved from the project’s very inception, is His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, who was the guest of honor at the ground-breaking ceremony in July 2008. Several national governments subsequently signed on to lend their support to this major project: His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco, His Highness Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, in the name of the State of Kuwait, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said al-Said, Sultan of Oman, and the Omani people, and the Republic of Azerbaijan.
In summer 2012, once all of the collections have been installed, the opening of the Department of Islamic Art’s new galleries will mark the culmination of a project lasting nearly four and a half years. – www.louvre.fr