Institut du monde arabe

Two voyages in one. Come and meet the Orient... And a jewel of contemporary architecture. As a result of a joint partnership between France and the Arab countries, the Arab World Institute (IMA) foundation deed was signed in 1980.

The initial project for the museum at the Institut du Monde Arabe was conceived as a museum of Arab-Muslim art and civilisation, and its itinerary was structured in three sequences, starting with the birth of Islam. A presentation of Islamic art, considered in its widest territorial extension, i.e. from Spain to India, was followed by a more ethnographic approach to life in society in the Arab world, and ended with contemporary Arab art. This organisation guided the creation of the collections from 1982 onwards. The ethnography and contemporary Arab art collections had yet to be created, while in the case of Islamic art, when the museum was inaugurated in November 1987, the corpus consisted mainly of works deposited in French national collections. Acquisitions in this field were nevertheless undertaken as soon as the museum was created, in order to supplement these deposits and anticipate their restitution, which took place in 1991.

Opening and closing times

Every day throughout the year between 10 am and 6 pm. Closed on Monday. Closed exceptionally on May 1st. 10:00-19:00 on weekend ans public holidays.

Cash register closing : 45 minutes before.

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