"…perhaps it’s a museum, perhaps it’s a sanctuary, maybe a ribbon composed of the dreams of all the eras and civilisations that have ever existed… like a mirror, art reflects the image of humanity for the eyes of the future…" For its third anniversary, the Louvre Abu Dhabi has produced a forty-minute film, The Pulse of Time. Using a number of masterpieces in the museum’s collection, the film weaves a poetic narrative on art and its meaning. A journey through time and space, which retraces various historic moments and depicts numerous civilisations, narrating the history of creativity from the dawn of time up to today and revealing, in a stunning way, just how much the Earth’s inhabitants have in common. The script of the video is by French author and dramaturge Stéphane Michaka, the original soundtrack is by French composer Jonathan Morali and the piece was directed by Mohamed Somji of the creative studio Seeing Things of Dubai. The film is available in three versions - Arabic, English and French - and the narrative voices are those of the actor, producer and television host from the United Arab Emirates, Saoud Al Kaabi; by the British actor, screenwriter and director Charles Dance and Swiss-French actress Irène Jacob.
The Zayed National Museum will open in December 2025 (TBC) in Abu Dhabi, in the expanding Saadiyat Cultural District. The building, designed by Foster + Partners, features five tapered steel towers inspired by the wings of a falcon, a symbol of Emirati identity, and is poised to become a new architectural and cultural landmark in the region.
Down to Earth 2025 at Dubai’s Jameel Arts Centre turns the Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park into a community laboratory where nature, art and sustainability converge. Through urban gardens, markets, workshops and performances, the festival highlights everyday gestures as ecological and poetic practices.
At Leila Heller Gallery in New York, the exhibition Crowns & Leaves: The Blue Season marks Reza Derakshani’s return to the international art scene with a cycle of eleven paintings exploring themes of memory, power, and nature.
The exhibition “Moments of Hope” by Sirian artist Besher Koushaji at Firetti Contemporary explores with sensitivity and strength the enduring presence of hope within a context marked by conflict, memory, and transformation.