DUBAI: In honor of Louvre Abu Dhabi’s third anniversary, the cultural institution has teamed up with New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) for the first time on a virtual symposium open to the public entitled “Reframing Museums.”
Taking place from Nov. 16 - 18, the two-day event will bring together global thought leaders to address the future of museums and tackle issues of sustainability, race and the pandemic.
In addition to key conversations focusing on the new responsibilities and challenges facing museums today, the event is also set to showcase innovative opportunities.
The symposium will focus on three main pillars: Collection, building/site and people.
The first looks at acquisition practices and collection building and sharing, while the second pillar considers the importance of a museum’s physical space in light of closures and travel restrictions amid the health crisis. The third discussion pillar focuses on the civic role of the museum, who it represents and how it serves its communities.
Manuel Rabaté, Director of Louvre Abu Dhabi, said in a statement: “We acknowledge that now, more than ever, museums are vital in providing comfort, empathy and understanding to communities during difficult times. Necessary conversations around sustainability, accessibility, education as well as diversity and inclusion, compel museums to question the status-quo and to revisit the cultural canon.”
According to Rabaté, these challenging questions and conversations will be addressed by “rising and renowned art historians, scholars, curators, and industry experts from across the world,” including Sheikha Hoor Al-Qasimi, founder of the Sharjah Art Foundation, president of the Musee de Louvre Jean-Luc Martinez, Max Hollein, art historian and director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as British-Ghanaian philosopher, cultural theorist, and novelist Kwame Anthony Appiah, among others.
Registration to the virtual symposium, which is open to the public, is live online.
