Louvre Abu Dhabi unveils Mamluks: Legacy of an Empire, a landmark exhibition exploring the splendour and influence of the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517), one of the most powerful dynasties in Islamic history. Bringing together more than 270 masterpieces from 34 leading museums and institutions across 13 countries, the exhibition reveals the artistic and cultural sophistication that flourished under Mamluk rule through metalwork, glass, ceramics, manuscripts, textiles, and more.
Curated by Dr Souraya Noujaim, Director of the Department of Islamic Art at the Musée du Louvre, and Dr Carine Juvin, the exhibition builds on its acclaimed presentation at the Louvre in Paris earlier this year. In this conversation, Dr Souraya Noujaim (S.N.) reflects on the making of Mamluks: Legacy of an Empire, tracing the artistic, political, and spiritual dimensions that defined the Mamluk era.
How did you approach sourcing works from both regional and international collections, and what were some of the challenges or surprises in assembling over 250–270 artefacts for this show?
S.N: Major works related to artistic production under the Sultanate and belonging to well-known collections are well documented by specialists. Our contribution consisted of selecting items from these collections, searching for previously unseen works and bringing together coherent groups that are representative of Mamluk aesthetics and the various, often overlooked aspects of society under the Sultanate, which flourished for two and a half centuries. The challenge then was to convince the institutions to lend us these objects. But the exceptional nature of such an exhibition devoted to the Mamluks, which had not been held in Europe for decades, greatly contributed to the fact that most of the institutions contacted were very enthusiastic about the idea of seeing some of their works exhibited at the Louvre and interacting with others, some for the first time.
The first surprise was what the objects still reveal, according to the new perspectives we wanted to adopt in this exhibition, particularly on the place of women and minorities. The second surprise was the dazzling effect created by the display of these objects, even though I was familiar with the subject and had spent months working on the preparation of the exhibition. This emotion undoubtedly echoes what the artists wanted to convey and what their contemporaries must have felt when they discovered these works in the palaces, mosques, madrasas, maristans and homes of the sultanate’s major cities.
Women’s roles and the contributions of minority figures in Mamluk society are less frequently discussed in popular histories. What compelled you to foreground voices like Shajar al-Durr, Sitt Hadaq, and others, and how do their stories reshape our understanding of that era?
S.N: It is impossible to discuss society without acknowledging the importance of women and minorities in any civilisation, regardless of whether their role in public life is significant or minimal. In addition to presenting a unique model of government by an exogenous military elite, Mamluk society was rich, diverse and complex. Ignoring this complexity would have given a false image of the sultanate. The evocation of figures such as those you mention also allows us to tell beautiful stories that help us to envisage Mamluk society, the power relations at play within it and the destinies it enabled in all their richness. They also help to counter certain preconceptions by showing women patrons, experts in hadith and religious science, scholars and poets, as revealed by written sources and artefacts.
As for non-Muslim populations, the dhimma made them real interlocutors with the sultan, providing a legal framework for their existence in the sultanate, despite the zeal shown by the Mamluks at various times to convert them. Visitors to the exhibition are often surprised by the aesthetic porosity evident in certain works. They recreate a sultanate where Jews and Christians, the latter through their various churches, added to the mosaic already provided by Turkish, Circassian, Mongol, Roums and Armenian Mamluks, depending on the period and the regions from which slave soldiers were recruited.
How would you define the Islamic Golden Age, and what distinguished the Mamluks as a key part of it?
S.N: Since ancient times, the concept of a golden age has been linked to that of a world of peace, virtue, and abundance. In the Islamic world, the Mamluk Sultanate stood out for its remarkable stability, its artistic flourishing thanks to patronage, and its blossoming of science, literature, and religious scholarship. Despite tensions between Mamluk factions, which were sometimes settled in bloodshed, the sultanate never descended into civil war, kept its enemies at bay and managed to maintain and even extend its influence depending on the period and events. The wealth generated by the Silk Roads and maritime trade undoubtedly contributed to this longevity. None of the power brokers had any interest in chaos interrupting trade and the influx of wealth into the sultanate.
The corps spirit in which the Mamluks were raised and the qualities (diplomatic, military, leadership) that were necessary to attain and maintain power probably, also contributed to this stability. The sultanate would eventually succumb only to the momentum of the rapidly expanding Ottoman Empire. But the 16th century also marked the era of the Age of New Discoveries and the moment when the sultanate began to lose its central position as a transit zone for trade and exchange between Europe and Asia.
Given that the Mamluk Sultanate ruled from 1250 to 1517, when we look at their surviving artworks today, do you see any similarities or recurring themes that resonate with contemporary Arab art?
The name “Mamluk” still has a great evocative power today in architecture and in graphic art. The mamluk culture and its specific design, based on a very broad, trans-regional viewpoint embraces the many rich exchanges between the Mamlouks and other civilizations in Asia, Africa, and Europe. This fascination has endured through the centuries, and was renewed through Orientalist painters and a veritable “Mamluk mania” that took hold of Cairo in the second half of the 19th century. The corpus of motifs is extraordinary complex and varied, included nowadays in furniture, precious objects, carpets, textiles and graphic art. The rhythm created by motifs, shapes and colours has inspired furniture makers and designers, reflecting or transposing in present time the richness and refinement of the Mamluk Art, with using stylistic references, without falling into pastiche.
In fact, one of the most striking elements is the place given to architecture, since the Mamluks were great builders, and their traces are still visible today. Not to mention the graphic elements, as well as precise and sometimes theatrical lighting, that shaped Mamluk art and paved the way to an abstract modern language.
Location: Louvre Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Date: 17 September 2025 until 25 January 2026
About Dr Souraya Noujaim
Dr Souraya Noujaim is the Director of the Department of Islamic Arts at the Musée du Louvre in Paris, where she oversees curatorial strategy and collection development, ensuring the museum’s narratives engage diverse audiences. Formerly the first Scientific, Curatorial and Collections Management Director at Louvre Abu Dhabi, she shaped its curatorial vision, exhibition programme and research agenda, and played a key role in launching the Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here exhibition and the Richard Mille Art Prize. With a PhD in Islamic Art History and Archaeology, Dr Noujaim has collaborated with leading institutions and curated landmark exhibitions connecting audiences to Islamic art’s enduring legacy.