Louvre Abu Dhabi’s show displays the universal language of inspiration
21 Feb 2021
Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer
Abstraction and Calligraphy Towards a Universal Language, Louvre Abu Dhabi’s first international exhibition of 2021 (Feb. 17 – June 12), invites visitors to explore the dawn of modern abstraction through sign and symbol, traces its origins to Asian and Arabic calligraphy and charts sites of mutual inspiration and art and cultural exchange around the world.
Curated by Didier Ottinger, assisted by Marie Sarré and sponsored by Montblanc, a maison whose innovative craftsmanship continues to influence the culture of writing, the exhibition marks a second major collaboration between the Centre Pompidou and Louvre Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi: The Louvre Abu Dhabi’s first international exhibition of the year Abstraction and Calligraphy Towards a Universal Language is set to open on Wednesday.
The exhibit invites visitors to explore the dawn of modern abstraction through the exploration of signs and symbols, and traces their origins to Asian and Arabic calligraphy, and to sites of mutual inspiration around the world.
The exhibition will run until June 12, and will bring together 86 pieces, including 80 on loans from partner institutions like the Centre Pompidou, a house for modern and contemporary art in Paris. It will showcase how 20th century abstract artists like Paul Klee, André Masson, Wassily Kandinsky, Cy Twombly, Lee Krasner, and Jackson Pollock felt the need to establish a new universal, visual language that was inspired by calligraphy. The show will also focus on 20th and 21st century Arab artists from Dia Azzawi and Anwar Jalal Shemza, to Ghada Amer, Shirazeh Houshiary, Mona Hatoum and oth