Louvre Abu Dhabi has unveiled a new publication, Birth of a Collection, that looks back over the museum's first decade and the rapid growth of its holdings. Co-published with the art publisher Skira, the volume brings together 240 selected objects in illustrated essays, tracing how an ambitious cultural vision became one of the world's most distinctive universal collections.

The book draws on the voices of 42 curators, historians and scholars, and is edited by Guilhem Andre, the museum's director of scientific, curatorial and collections management. Its essays set out the founding idea behind the institution: a universal museum in which the history of human creativity unfolds as a continuous story of exchange, with objects from major civilisations placed in dialogue rather than separated by geography or period.

Since the museum opened in 2017, its collection has expanded from around 600 artworks to more than 6,000. Among the works examined in the volume are a bronze Winged dragon from China, dated to 475-221 BCE; a Male praying figure from around 2400-2300 BCE, offering insight into Sumerian religious life; and a Monumental lion dated to 1100-1200. Together they illustrate the breadth of a collection that now spans millennia and continents.

The publication also reflects on Abu Dhabi's emergence as a centre for cultural exchange, creativity and dialogue, and on how quickly the young institution has built a collection of international standing. Birth of a Collection is published in Arabic, English and French, in line with the museum's trilingual publishing mandate, and is available to buy at the Louvre Abu Dhabi boutique.