Louvre Abu Dhabi has appointed Souraya Noujaim as its new director, bringing an Islamic art specialist back to the institution she helped build. The Department of Culture and Tourism — Abu Dhabi announced the appointment on October 7, succeeding founding director Manuel Rabaté, who announced his resignation in February after leading the museum since its 2017 opening. Rabaté has since become director of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in New Delhi. Noujaim's connection to the museum runs deep. She served as its first scientific, curatorial and collections management director from February 2018 until April 2023, playing an integral and public role in shaping its early vision and building its permanent collection. She spearheaded initiatives including Art Here, the contemporary art exhibition that accompanies the annual Richard Mille Art Prize, and organised exhibitions such as the 2025 show Mamluks: Legacy of an Empire, co-curated with Carine Juvin. Born in Beirut, Noujaim holds a PhD in Islamic Art History and Archaeology from Paris Nanterre University. Before joining Louvre Abu Dhabi she was director of the Department of Islamic Arts and chief of the French Grand Department of Islamic Art Heritage at the Musée du Louvre in Paris, overseeing a collection of 18,000 Islamic artworks. She returns as the museum prepares to mark its tenth anniversary in 2027. The first institution to open on Saadiyat Island's cultural district and the first universal museum in the Arab world, it was created under a 2007 France-Abu Dhabi agreement later extended to 2047, governing the name and loan-sharing with Agence France-Museums. Noujaim said she was honoured to lead the museum into its next chapter, describing it as a place where cultures meet.