Culture

From 18 February to 5 July 2026, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs presents "A Day in the Eighteenth Century, Chronicle of a Hôtel Particulier" — an immersive journey through an aristocratic Parisian residence of the 1780s, on the eve of the French Revolution. From rising to retiring, everything here follows the rhythm of the clock. This exhibition lets itself be breathed in like a long-vanished perfume, a small miracle of that Enlightenment art de vivre in which each of the 550 objects scattered along the route tells one and the same story: that of a vanished time whose refined aesthetics elevated Paris to the rank of European capital of fashion and the arts… a title seldom contested to this day.

At the heart of the City of Light, amidst archives, sculptures, bolts of fabric and thimbles, there vibrates a house where the fragrance of May roses seizes the olfactory memory of its visitors. A house where past and present hold dialogue. Since the fertile shadow cast by John Galliano and the arrival of Jonathan Anderson, a new reading of the Dior legacy seems to be emerging: more conceptual, more artistic, yet profoundly faithful to the spirit of the house founded in 1946. A Study in Form It was at the Musée Rodin, that marvel of Auguste's sculptures, that this new chapter revealed itself. Following the haute couture show during the last week of January 2026, the installation Grammaire des Formes opened to the public beneath the ephemeral marquee where the collection had first been presented to the world. Fifteen silhouettes by Anderson held conversation there with nine historic creations by Monsieur Dior and several ceramics by Kenyan sculptor Magdalene Odundo.

Eyes circled in black, pure, stormy, contrasting. Beautiful enough to drown in. Dominic Harrison, alias Yungblud, rushes onto the stage and screams his fauvism at the top of his lungs. A life of rage, grandeur, and self-confidence acquired and now alchemizing. Each of his gestures is a flash; each of his movements, a fire. He doesn't just perform his songs. He lets them explode with fire. The pit ignites as soon as he appears. The bass rumbles like thunder. My daughter and her friend are a little further away, I'm in the back. Every vibration in the air passes through us. Then he emerges. Body sculpted under the spotlights, animal presence, blue eyes made up like a storm. Yungblud bursts onto the stage, he is a wild fire. A cigarette between his fingers, which he will light later, and already the heat is unbearable.

Museums in Iran play a key role in supporting the country’s political and diplomatic strategy. They are also crucial for preserving and showcasing the treasures of Persian civilization. The National Museum of Iran stands as the country’s foremost archaeological and historical museum. It highlights the richness of Persian heritage and houses invaluable collections spanning Iranian history – from the Paleolithic era through the Medes, Elamites, Achaemenids, Parthians, Sassanids, and into the Islamic period. Within its walls, the official narrative of “Iran” is articulated: a continuous thread running from Elam and the Achaemenid Empire to the Islamic Republic, represented by over 300,000 objects that weave together the nation’s millennia-spanning history.

Since the increase in regional tension, the strikes targeting Iran in 2025, and the latest popular uprising in Iranian cities, authorities have multiplied emergency measures around museums. The aim was to protect invaluable heritage from the risks of bombing, sabotage, or even looting. Concretely, this translated into prolonged closures, reduced hours, meticulously supervised visits, and the discreet transfer of some major pieces to secret reserves. This bunkerization reflex is part of a deeper and older climate of tension and crisis, marked for decades by a tightening of the cultural space throughout the country.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi is one of the most iconic landmarks of the United Arab Emirates. A true architectural masterpiece, it welcomes nearly 7 million visitors a year, 82% of whom are international tourists. Beyond its grandeur, the mosque serves as a platform for interfaith dialogu and the promotion of universal human values. The mosque’s story begins in the 1980s, when Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding father of the United Arab Emirates, envisioned a place of worship that would symbolize the moderation of Islam. His vision was clear: to create a building that promotes tolerance and cultural exchange while blending the cultural diversity of the Islamic world with both historical and contemporary architectural and artistic values.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi sits at the heart of a deliberate strategy to establish the Emirate as an international cultural hub. The museum embodies Abu Dhabi’s ambition to position itself as a bridge between civilizations, aiming to transcend the image of an Emirati society seen as “purely oil-driven” and to assert an identity firmly oriented towards global culture. It is a major art institution, conceived as a universal museum, highlighting the interactions of human creativity across cultures, civilizations, religions, eras, and prejudices. Layout and Scenography At the Louvre Abu Dhabi, artworks are displayed according to a distinctive curatorial approach that emphasizes universal narratives – such as creation, religion, power, and exchange – rather than rigid geographic divisions. This represents an unsual approach for an art museum.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a universal art museum located on Saadiyat Island, the aptly named 'Island of Happiness', which aims to become the new cultural center of the UAE. With its temporary exhibitions co-organized with major French museums and its 'universal' discourse, the museum contributes to the soft power of the United Arab Emirates and to the redefinition of the Arab world's place in international art and heritage circuits. The origins The Louvre Abu Dhabi is the result of an intergovernmental agreement between France and the United Arab Emirates, which allows the latter to use the name "Louvre" until 2047.

The looting of Iraq’s National Museum in 2003 led to the loss of priceless artefacts and triggered a domino effect, manifested in the widespread plundering of archaeological sites across the country. This, in turn, fueled the international trafficking of antiquities and severely hampered scientific research in the field. The episode has since become an emblematic case of the political responsibility borne by occupying forces in wartime, the emergence of an economy built around the illicit antiquities trade serving organized crime and terrorism, and, in parallel, the development of a “recovery diplomacy” involving international cooperation to secure the return of stolen objects.

In our previous articles, we briefly explored the construction of the Grand Egyptian Museum and highlighted its major role as a research center. We also reviewed some of the extraordinary treasures it houses. But what of its economic, cultural, and national significance for Egypt? One of the Grand Egyptian Museum’s (GEM) primary roles is undoubtedly economic. It aims to attract tourists from across the globe, thereby playing a central part in the country’s economic dynamism. Situated near the Giza pyramids, the GEM is a cornerstone of Egypt’s new tourism strategy, with the goal of drawing up to 30 million visitors annually by 2030. This would place it among the world’s most visited cultural institutions. Such an influx is expected to revitalize ancillary sectors such as hospitality, catering, transport, and even small local businesses, creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs.