Louvre Abu Dhabi has appointed Souraya Noujaim as its new director, after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) museum’s founding director, Manuel Rabaté, announced his resignation in February.
Noujaim served as the museum’s first scientific, curatorial and collections management director from February 2018 until April 2023, playing an integral and public role. She spearheaded a number of initiatives, including Art Here—the contemporary art exhibition that accompanies the annual Richard Mille Art Prize—and curated exhibitions such as the 2025 show Mamluks: Legacy of an Empire.
Before joining Louvre Abu Dhabi she was the director of the Department of Islamic Arts and the chief of the French Grand Department of Islamic Art Heritage at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. Noujaim, who was born in Beirut, also has a PhD in Islamic Art History and Archaeology from Paris Nanterre University.
“Having had the privilege of contributing to the museum’s development over many years, I am honoured to return to Abu Dhabi and lead this remarkable institution into its next chapter,” Noujaim said in a statement. “The museum has established itself as a place where cultures meet and where stories from across the world are presented through shared human experiences.”
Louvre Abu Dhabi was the first institution to open in the city’s Saadiyat Cultural District and has been operating for nine years. France and Abu Dhabi initially signed a contract that led to the creation of the museum in 2007, with a 30-year agreement later extending further to last until 2047. The agreement largely governs the name as well as loan-sharing between Agence France-Museums and the Louvre Abu Dhabi, providing material for many of the UAE museum’s temporary exhibitions as well as its permanent collection.
However, particularly in the permanent collection, the balance between French loans and the museum’s own holdings has shifted through the years. On its opening around a third of the museum’s initial hang came from Louvre Abu Dhabi, with around 70% on loan from France. Now nearly two-thirds of the work on display is from the Louvre Abu Dhabi own collection, signalling a greater independence for the growing museum.
Rabaté, who was director from the museum’s opening in 2017, is now the director of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) in New Delhi.
