Louvre Abu Dhabi’s New Exhibition Looks at the People Saving Cultural History
When conflict puts a community’s history at risk, who protects it? Louvre Abu Dhabi’s next exhibition focuses on the people doing the work.
yapped Editors · Nov 13, 2026 · 3 min read
Quick facts
- Opening
- Wednesday 25 November 2026
- Final day
- Sunday 25 April 2027
- Where
- Louvre Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island
- Admission
- AED 70 adults; eligible visitors free
- Gallery hours
- Tue–Thu 10am–6.30pm; Fri–Sun 10am–8.30pm
- Closed
- Mondays
- Organisers
- Louvre Abu Dhabi and ALIPH
A damaged monument can be repaired. But what happens to the stories, skills and memories a community risks losing with it? That question is at the heart of Living Legacies: Protecting Heritage, Building Hope, opening at Louvre Abu Dhabi on Wednesday 25 November.
Organised with ALIPH, the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage, the exhibition explores how people in difficult and conflict-affected environments protect and restore cultural heritage. It is less about admiring treasures from a distance and more about understanding what it takes to keep a culture’s history alive.
The People Behind the Objects
Expect artefacts on loan from international cultural institutions and ALIPH-supported partners, but not a conventional row of objects with labels. The museum promises a multi-sensory experience, combining physical works with projections and first-person testimonies.
Those voices are the important part. Preservation does not happen in a vacuum. It takes communities, conservation specialists and organisations trying to safeguard objects, buildings and traditions in circumstances that can make even ordinary work difficult.
The exhibition’s official preview features a striking blue textile by Malian artist Abdoulaye Konaté, Tuareg Pattern on a Blue Background from the Sahel and the Sahara (2024). It is an apt visual starting point for a show about the cultural knowledge carried through materials and traditions.
“The story here is not just what survives a crisis. It is who does the work to make survival possible.”
Who Is Behind Living Legacies?
The exhibition is presented jointly by Louvre Abu Dhabi and ALIPH, which supports the protection of heritage at risk. It is curated by Magdalena Ruiz, Senior Curator at Louvre Abu Dhabi, with Dr Sandra Bialystok and Dr Bastien Varoutsikos of ALIPH, supported by Amaryllis Maria Georges.
The museum has also announced accompanying learning material, guided tours and talks as part of its 2026–27 programme. Check the programme for specific sessions before planning around them.
Dates, Tickets and the Practical Bits
Living Legacies runs from 25 November 2026 to 25 April 2027 at Louvre Abu Dhabi on Saadiyat Island. Adult general admission is currently AED 70, with free entry for under-18s and other eligible visitors.
The museum's galleries and exhibitions close at 6.30pm Tuesday to Thursday and 8.30pm Friday to Sunday, with last entry 30 minutes before closing. Monday is closed. The famous dome stays open later, but that doesn't mean you can visit the exhibition after the galleries close.
For a visit that goes beyond the familiar dome photograph, this is the exhibition to keep on your radar. See the exhibition listing or book admission directly with Louvre Abu Dhabi.