HH Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), officially opened Louvre Abu Dhabi’s latest exhibition Japanese Connections: The Birth of Modern Décor on Wednesday September 5th. The opening of the exhibition was attended by HH Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, HE Saif Saeed Ghobash, Undersecretary of DCT Abu Dhabi, and a number of ambassadors to the UAE, including the French Ambassador Ludovic Pouille, Kanji Fujiki, Japanese Ambassador to the UAE, Mexican Ambassador Francisca Mendez, Fernando Ramon De Martinez, Ambassador of Argentina, Spanish Ambassador Jose Eugenio Salarich, Tunisian Ambassador Samir Manser, Oman’s Ambassador, Dr Khalid bin Said al Jaradi, and other officials and dignitaries.
In collaboration with Musée d’Orsay, the new exhibition showcases 50 paintings, prints and folding screens that explore the artistic and cultural dialogue between Japan and France.
Curated by Isabelle Cahn, General Curator of Paintings at Musée d’Orsay, the works of the 12 French and Japanese artists making up the exhibition have been assembled from the collections of Louvre Abu Dhabi, Musée d’Orsay, Musée national des Arts asiatiques – Guimet and Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD).
The exhibition will be accompanied by programming that celebrates Japanese arts and culture. The weekend of the exhibition opening will feature the Emirati-Japanese Kharsha Drums group, who will present traditional waikaido percussion performances played by Japanese and Emirati musicians. The programme will also offer film screenings curated by Hind Mezaina, a talk entitled ‘1,00o years of Manga’ exploring how Japanese traditions inspired the phenomenon, and a project with renowned street artist Myneandyours, whose collaboration with several UAE schools will be showcased in the museum. The programme culminates with a Big in Japan weekend including a spoken word event by award-winning Emirati Afra Atiq, and a performance by the Turntable Symphonograph Orchestra from Japan. The museum’s café will also feature a special Japanese-inspired menu.
