As Louvre Abu Dhabi approaches its 10th anniversary, the museum is entering a new chapter with the appointment of Souraya Noujaim as its new director.

For Noujaim, the appointment is also a return. An art historian and curator specialising in Islamic art and archaeology, she previously played a defining role in the museum’s development, helping shape its intellectual and curatorial vision before becoming its first Scientific, Curatorial and Collections Management Director in 2018. She remained in that position until 2023.

Her experience extends beyond Abu Dhabi. Most recently, Noujaim served as director of the Department of Islamic Arts at the Louvre Museum in Paris, where she oversaw a collection of around 18,000 Islamic artworks.

Now back on Saadiyat Island, she will lead an institution that has grown into one of the region’s most significant cultural destinations. Since opening in November 2017, Louvre Abu Dhabi has welcomed more than eight million visitors and presented 22 temporary exhibitions, while continuing to expand its permanent collection and programmes in research, conservation and education.

Noujaim’s return arrives at a particularly symbolic moment. As the museum looks towards its second decade, her mandate will encompass its collection, exhibitions, research, conservation, education, public programmes and visitor experience — while continuing to develop its position as a space for cultural exchange.

At the heart of her new chapter is a museum built around connections: between cultures, histories and artistic traditions. With Noujaim returning to an institution she helped shape from its earliest years, Louvre Abu Dhabi’s next decade begins with a familiar figure — but with a new horizon.