From Kalīla wa Dimna to La Fontaine: Travelling through Fables

A showcase for the power of fables from different cultures and eras, providing “the opportunity to explore the universal themes and lessons found in these stories and understand the significance they hold in shaping our world”. It’s divided into three main sections – Travelling Tales, Telling Stories, and The Fables Today – with more than 132 artworks on display, an eclectic collection of rare manuscripts, paintings, contemporary works, and more pieces from France, Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates.

Curated by Annie Vernay-Nouri, Former Chief Curator, Oriental Manuscripts Department, Bibliothèque nationale de France, the exhibition is held in partnership with Bibliothèque nationale de France and France Muséums and is supported by Van Cleef & Arpels.

The exhibition traces the origins of the genre in India and Greece, following its evolution through the contributions of two key figures: Aesop in the Greco-Roman world and Ibn al-Muqaffa in the Arab-Islamic world. Says curator Annie Vernay-Nouri: “For the first time, visitors have a unique opportunity to witness and compare rare and precious artworks representing three distinct traditions of fables. The Eastern and Western traditions, rooted in a shared universal heritage, have evolved independently without direct contact, each charting its own course. It is only through the works of the eminent fabulist Jean de La Fontaine that these traditions have finally converged and united in a singular collection showcased at Louvre Abu Dhabi.”

Notable loans from Louvre Abu Dhabi’s partners include one of the oldest illustrated manuscripts of Ibn al-Muqaffa’s Kalīla wa Dimna from the Ayyubid dynasty (1171-1250 CE); ‘The Two Adventurers and the Wondrous Writ’ illustrated by the noted French Rococo painter, tapestry designer, and illustrator Jean-Baptiste Oudry with engraving by Bonaventure Louis Prévost; an engraving of Emile Bayard’s nineteenth century Portrait of Jean de La Fontaine; and La Fontaine composant ses fables by François Vayron, engraver.

For the first time Louvre Abu Dhabi is utilising artificial intelligence within the mediation devices for this exhibition, allowing visitors to create their own fable by selecting characters and a moral, which they can download by scanning a QR code. Visitors can customise their fables. There’s also an accompanying range of cultural and educational programmes; and as a final killer point, admission to the museum is free for children under the age of 18 …

To 21 July.

Above: Ibn al-Muqaffa‘ (c.720-756), Kalīla wa Dimna. Photo: Bibliothèque nationale de France