Louvre Abu Dhabi opens Spices and Wonders on 14 October

Louvre Abu Dhabi opened Spices and Wonders: Sailing the Indian Ocean on 14 October 2026, bringing a new exhibition about maritime exchange to Abu Dhabi. The show runs until 14 February 2027 and connects the museum's galleries with the sea routes that linked Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

The exhibition is presented in partnership with the National Museum of Asian Arts - Guimet in France. Its subject stretches from Antiquity to the seventeenth century, covering trade, movement and cultural exchange through spices, textiles, ceramics and other goods carried across the Indian Ocean.

Spices and Wonders maps the Indian Ocean's connected cultures

The programme follows the movement of objects and ideas between societies rather than treating maritime trade as a story belonging to one region. It places the Gulf within a wider network that reached from eastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula towards South Asia, Southeast Asia and Europe.

The exhibition is curated by Dr Guilhem André, Louvre Abu Dhabi's director of scientific, curatorial and collections management, and Dr Claire Delery, curator of the Chinese Ceramics collection at the Guimet. The museum's season announcement lists spices, textiles and ceramics among the material presented in the galleries.

The opening date and the full exhibition period are set out in the official season programme. A second edition is scheduled for the Guimet in Paris from 12 May to 6 September 2027, extending the exhibition's route beyond its Abu Dhabi presentation.

Louvre Abu Dhabi places the exhibition beneath Jean Nouvel's dome

The museum opened to the public in November 2017 on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi's cultural district. French architect Jean Nouvel designed it as a museum city inspired by an Arab medina, with galleries and other buildings arranged beneath a large metal dome.

Promenades overlook the sea beneath the roof, where a complex pattern of metal stars filters daylight into the space. That setting gives the Indian Ocean exhibition a direct architectural connection to its subject: maritime movement is examined inside a waterfront museum whose design is shaped by light, shade and the surrounding Gulf landscape.

The Louvre press background describes the building's location, architect, museum-city design and collection galleries. The permanent collection brings together art and artefacts from different periods and regions, providing a broader setting for an exhibition about connections between cultures.

Visiting Louvre Abu Dhabi: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• Spices and Wonders: Sailing the Indian Ocean runs from 14 October 2026 to 14 February 2027 at Louvre Abu Dhabi on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi.
• The exhibition is part of the museum's public 2026-2027 programme. The announced programme also includes curator-led talks, a symposium, film screenings, performances, specialised guided tours and learning paths.
• The museum is in Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Cultural District. The site is beside the water, and its promenades pass beneath the dome and between the museum's buildings.
• The building's visit involves galleries and outdoor or semi-open promenades under the dome. The exhibition's subject can therefore be encountered alongside the architecture and waterfront setting rather than in a separate city-centre venue.

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Frequently asked questions about Louvre Abu Dhabi

When does Spices and Wonders take place at Louvre Abu Dhabi?

The exhibition runs from 14 October 2026 to 14 February 2027.

Where is Louvre Abu Dhabi and how do you get there?

The museum is on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Cultural District, beside the water and beneath Jean Nouvel's dome.

What is Louvre Abu Dhabi?

It is a museum that opened to the public in November 2017, presenting art and artefacts from different periods and regions in a building designed as a museum city.