The Philippines joins the world’s interconnected cultural history, with two golden artifacts that are now on display at the Louvre Abu Dhabi! In line with the museum’s 5th anniversary, this collaboration among Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Philippine Embassy in the UAE gives residents a special 50% discount through the promo code: PE50%22
From the entrance at the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s “Grand Vestibule”, visitors will see the “Gold Mask” first discovered in Butuan, Agusan Del Norte. Meanwhile, in Wing 2, visitors will see the “Gold Cup” excavated from Nabua, Camarines del Sur. Both artworks date back to the 10th-13th century, and are part of Ayala Museum’s permanent exhibition, titled GOLD OF ANCESTORS: Pre-Colonial Gold from the Philippines. The two artifacts will be on a loan to the Louvre Abu Dhabi for a limited time period.
Manuel Rabate, Director of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, stated that this marks the museum’s first collaboration with a museum outside Europe, as well as the region’s first-ever tie-up with an Asian museum.
“This is what Louvre Abu Dhabi is about: Connecting cultures, knowing and understanding each other. In the UAE, the presence of the Philippines is so important. We have so many residents who are Filipinos and so many Filipinos traveling to the UAE so I think these two artworks are very, very important for all the Filipinos who will visit the museum. It’s a way to look at culture with something that will resonate with what you are, and then you can go inside the galleries of Abu Dhabi and see the story of the world,” said Rabate.
During a media visit organized by the Philippine Embassy, half-Filipino, half-Emirati blogger Alawi Enoc shared that he felt proud that the Philippines is now part of the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s curated historical artifacts that tell the story of the world’s multiculturalism for the past centuries.
“On behalf of my kabayans, I felt really honored to witness Philippine history being made at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. It was also a wonderful opportunity to have met Her Excellency Quintana and listen to the background of how such wonderful pieces of gold from 10th century travelled from the Philippines and is now displayed at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. I feel really proud as a Filipino when I saw these two artifacts shine amongst the world’s treasures,” said Al Kaabi.
