It is a museum for the world, which connects us all together. -H.E. Mohamed, Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman, Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism1

The Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum opened in November 2017 to wide acclaim. Organized into 12 chronological chapters, the Louvre Abu Dhabi has 23 galleries that span prehistory to today. Rather than presenting its collection based on geography or civilization, the Arab World's first universal museum employs chronology as its organizing principle. By placing artifacts and art works from different cultures in dialogue based on shared aesthetics and techniques, the Louvre Abu Dhabi reveals common threads. "The museum celebrates cultural exchange and highlights how interconnected we've always been," according to Director Manuel Rabate.2

"Culture and education are indispensably linked," explains UAE Minister of State Zaki Nusseilbe. "Today, it's not enough to take a child into a school that is first rate if he or she doesn't also have a museum that he can go to or music that he can listen to or a book fair that he can attend or translated work that he can read."2

We must take to heart this message for ourselves now. Our education continues always. We are inextricably linked to all humanity. And though most of us will not have the opportunity to visit Louvre Abu Dhabi, we can still partake of its magnificent purpose-a museum of the world for the world. How might this vision of cultural exchange enrich our practice and our personal lives?

Museums deal with ideas, images, artifacts, concepts, things of the mind, things of the heart. What we need now is a greater understanding for one another and a wider field for our humanity to play in. A museum like Louvre Abu Dhabi could be pivotal in reminding people that humanity is, finally, one. Beauty serves nothing if it does not serve humanity. -Ben Okri1

Read the Louvre Abu Dhabi's story and view its stunning architecture and galleries in the following link: http://www.aramco.com.

Saudi Aramco, the oil company born as an international enterprise more than 80 years ago, distributes Saudi Aramco World to increase cross-cultural understanding. The magazine's goal is to broaden knowledge of the cultures, history, and geography of the Arab and Muslim worlds and their connections with the West. Back issues from 1960 onward can be read in full online and downloaded from http://www.aramcoworld.com.

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