Part of a linkup between the Emirate and France, the museum – the Arabian Peninsula’s largest – aims to unite western and eastern art worlds. Housed in a spaceship-shaped, Jean Nouvel-designed venue looking out across Saadiyat Island’s waterfront, the Parisian mainstay’s Middle East venture boasts more than 600 items across 6,400sq m of gallery space, offering a cultural journey through the ages. To mark the opening the museum is hosting a series of concerts, while revered efforts from Rene Magritte, Pablo Picasso, Cy Twombly and Ai Weiwei, among a long list of others, should be enough to intrigue visitors to this part of the desert.

Visit the website

Credit: Louvre Abu Dhabi