Culture: A “Flying Carpet” for Islamic art at the Louvre

A “flying carpet” straight out of the Arabian Nights will soon float over the Louvre’s collection of Islamic art, one of the most spectacular in the world but currently relegated to a very confined exhibition space. Such is the spectacular originality of the development project for the Louvre’s new department of Islamic Arts, a design project selected by France following an international architectural competition and made possible through the generous sponsorship of an Arab prince.

Announced by the French Presidency and unveiled to the general public, the winning project was designed by Italian architect Mario Bellini and French architect Rudy Ricciotti (already overseeing the construction of the new Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations in Marseilles). The two architects imagined an “iridescent cloud” over the Cour Visconti - the site selected for the new gallery - that will leave the 17th and 19th century façades of the courtyard visible. An unprecedented architectural feat that is forcefully affirmed: the courtyard will not be covered and will remain visible, thus becoming the only section of the museum with direct access to the outside. The treasures of Islam will be displayed on two levels, covered by “a luminous veil that will diffuse light, and float delicately over the museography”.

The completion of this ambitious project has been made possible thanks to an “outstanding” donation of 17 million euros made by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, grandson of the founder of Saudi Arabia. This gift - one of the highest contributions ever made by an individual in France and unprecedented in the Louvre’s long history - represents nearly one third of the project’s global cost of 56 million euros: 26 million of which will be provided by the French state, 4 million by petroleum company Total, and the remainder by French corporate sponsors.

The decision to create an eighth art gallery in the Louvre dedicated to the Arts of Islam was announced in early 2003 by French President Jacques Chirac, in order to “highlight the universal vocation of this prestigious institution” and to serve as “as a reminder to France and to the rest of the world of the essential contribution of Islamic civilisations to our culture”. This decision, which has far-reaching cultural, artistic and political implications, will be followed up with a project to reorganise the museum’s exceptional collection of Islamic art by giving it “the exhibition space it merits”. The department of Islamic Arts was created by decree on 1 August 2003. An international architectural competition was launched in July 2004 and in February 2005 seven finalists were selected out of the 52 proposals received.

Using the 2,050-square-metre Cour Visconti, a vacant outdoor courtyard located at the centre of the Louvre’s south wing, will increase fourfold the exhibition area dedicated to the Arts of Islam and accommodate the Louvre’s 10,000-piece collection, of which only 1,300 pieces are currently displayed over an area covering 1,100 square metres. The collection’s highlights are its masterpieces from medieval Iran and Arabia and from the Ottoman Empire, as well as an important archaeological collection and papyrus archives dating back to the first centuries of Islam. Some 3,000 pieces will be added to the new display spaces, in addition to one of the world’s most prestigious collections of tapestries, belonging to the Museum of Decorative Arts (currently being relocated to the Louvre’s Marsan wing) and which have not been shown to the public for some twenty years.

Combining the collections of both museums, which were constituted during the same period (essentially from 1880 to 1940) and comprise various items, such as miniatures and bindings, from the same manuscripts and albums, will provide a dazzling showcase for the entire cultural breadth of Islamic civilisation, spanning 13 centuries, from the 7th century to the end of the 19th century, and three continents, from Spain to India. This will make the collection “one of the most beautiful collections in the world, along with the Metropolitan Museum’s collection in New York”, adds Louvre president Henri Loyrette.

Determined not to close off the Cour Visconti with a roof-level glass ceiling, the two architects have designed “a project that opens onto the sky rather than the façades”. The collections will be displayed over 3,500 square metres of floor space on two floors, a courtyard level and a lower ground level, covered by a veil of glass discs that will refract light and is likely to change colours according to the light, like “a glass skin”, explains Mario Bellini. French architect Rudy Ricciotti likened it to “a roof floating like a flying carpet”, six metres above the ground at its highest extremity, while Bellini evoked “a floating, iridescent cloud” that provides an “artistic, aesthetic and scientific experience” and offers visitors “a poetic stroll”.

The courtyard level room, which will house the pieces requiring light, such as the ceramics and gold or metal objects, “will not touch the walls and will be enclosed by glass windows that expose the stone and let the day light filter in”. The lower ground floor will include the collection’s most delicate pieces, such as the precious tapestry and miniature collections. “As in an aquarium, there will be no partitions, just low walls and showcases”, in which the objects themselves will appear to be “levitating”.

The iridescent veil will be visible both from the museum’s upper floor - a view that promises to be especially spectacular at night when the glass veil is illuminated - and from the lower ground floor, via the openings placed at the corners of the courtyard.

The collections will be presented chronologically, with “topical digressions”, such as the art of writing, geometry and the science of numbers, the art of the book, and the urban context, as well as a “Keys Chamber” - an informational and educational area for increasing one’s knowledge - in which literary figures will offer keen visitors seven keys to open seven doors...

Claudine Canetti

Last updated: 18.01.2006