LOUVRE ABU DHABI- SEE HUMANITY IN A NEW LIGHT

GALLERY ONE: THE FIRST VILLAGES

Some 10,000 years ago, when most of the world’s population were still hunter-guttered, the First villages appeared in the Levant and Mesopotamia, and later on, China and America. In these regions, communities settled while agriculture and animal husbandry developed. At the same time, new beliefs appeared and hierarchical order began to arise in societies. This new form of organization led to the emergence of technological innovations. these phenomena are referred to as the Neolithic Revolution.

GALLERY TWO: THE FIRST GREAT POWER

In the 4^th millennium BCE, a key stage occurred in the history of humanity-the urban revolution or the appearance of the first towns in southern Mesopotamia and other regions of the world. This phenomenon was accompanied by major innovations such as invention of writing and also the rise of the first sovereigns. Against this backdrop, the arts and crafts, and metallurgy in particular, became more sophisticated and trade increased. The use of horses, which were gradually domesticated, and displays of sporting and military prowess spread throughout the major civilizations.

GALLERY THREE: CIVILIZATION AND EMPIRES

The earliest civilizations appeared in the 1^st millennium BCE. Certain societies, like the Achaemenid empire in Persia, the Greek civilization on the shores of the Mediterranean, and the Olmec culture in Central America, extended their control over territory and exerted a cultural influence across extensive areas. Several centuries later, these cultural areas passed in to the hands of major powers like the Roman empire and the Qin and Han dynasties in China which unified and extended them, and imposed their own political, economic and social systems.

GALLERY 4: UNIVERSAL RELIGIONS

From Late Antiquity to the 15^th century, “Universal” religions made their mark. Buddhist appeared in India in the 5^th century BCE, Christianity became the state religion of Roman empire in the 4^th century, and Islam came into being in the 7^th century in Arabia. These religions had certain founding principles in common and were to have a far-reaching influence on the societies which adopted them. artistic output subsequently developed a religious dimension.

GALLERY 5: ASIAN TRADER ROUTES

From the 5^th to the 15^th centuries, trade between Asia, the Islamic world and Europe developed significantly using Central Asian land routes and Indian Ocean sea routes. China and Islamic worlds made their mark as key players in trade, transporting raw materials, manufactured goods, textiles, items made of gold, and incense. This large-Scale movement of goods promoted the spread of currents of thought, techniques and decorative schemes. Islamic and European artistic output was therefore informed by a variety of influences.

GALLERY 6: FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN TO THE ATLANTIC

Over a period of ten centuries, the Byzantine empire, Christine Europe and the Islamic world presided over artistic exchanges and trade in Mediterranean basin: the powerful Byzantine world influenced European and Islamic aesthetic; ancient learning was circulating via the Muslim-controlled Iberians Peninsula; and the first financial markets developed in Europe. But these three worlds were also political and religious rivals. This era came to an end in the late 15^th century, as a new chapter in history began with the discovery of the New World and the exploration of the African coasts.

GALLERY 7: THE WORLD IN PERSPECTIVE

Between the 15^th and 18^th centuries, the circulation of people, goods and ideas intensified. Chinese porcelain fascinated the Islamic world just as much as Europe and America. Whilst everyone set out to imitate these works, artists very soon began to adapt the ceramic motifs to their own aesthetics. In Europe, ways of thinking refocused on human kind, and a desire for naturalism increasingly came to the fore in all of the arts. To reinforce their identities, the great empires drew upon references to a past that was seen as a golden age. Antiquity became an ideal of beauty

Gallery 8: THE MAGNIFICENCE OF THE COURT

from the 17^th century onwards, ceremonial portraits, especially royal portraits, played an important role in disseminating an image of power. This phenomenon was found in major courts all over the world. During the same period, the powerful, whether royalty or merchants, displayed their taste and culture through their art collections. The rich materials and decorations on weapons and armor enhanced the prestige of those portrayed wearing them.

GALLERY 9: A NEW ART OF LIVING

In the 18^th century, major centers of trade developed around the world, promoting the emergence of the bourgeois class and new lifestyle focused on the individual. The era was also marked by developments in art and technology, which laid the foundations of modern science. Artists of the period conveyed the fears of a society in the midst of upheaval. In the second half of the century, numerous political, social and economic changes occurred, leading to a return to a more austere approach, which was expresses in the arts by the development of neoclassicism.

GALLERY 10: A MODERN WORLD?

In the 19^th century, the Industrial Revolution was at its height, bringing with its tremendous technological advances, including the invention of the railways, Industrialization also gave rise to a new social class of workers, who settled in major cities like London and Paris, which became the centers of power in this modern age. The first World’s Fairs, or Universal Expositions, meanwhile, offered Europeans the opportunity to discover exotic cultures. And photography, with its ability to fix reality in place, engendered a sense of ownership of the world; this new medium would have a lasting influence on painters.

GALLERY 11: CHALLENGING MODERNITY

As the century was profoundly marked by, the two world wars, followed by decolonization, the modern Western values that once dominated much of the world were shaken, in the first part of the century in Paris. With the advent of Second World War, many artists took refuge in America, and New York quickly became the world’s new artistic capital. Western artists of the 20^th century also took inspiration from creations from all around the world.

GALLERY 12: A GLOBAL STAGE

Globalized trade, intensifying migration, continuous circulation of information, environmental issues on a planetary scale ... the 21^st century has turned the Earth into a globalized village. The West is no longer the Centre of the world, and we now talk in terms of a “multipolar” world. Artist have become witnesses to this new context. Their works reflect the issues that confront our societies; collective identity, the self, the world.