Crosscurrents: Masterpieces of Mughal, Safavid, and Ottoman Art from the Musée du Louvre

Musée du Louvre presents its expansive collection of Islamic art in Southeast Asia for the first time ever at Singapore’s Asian Civilisation Museum. The exclusive exhibition, titled Crosscurrents: Masterpieces of Mughal, Safavid, and Ottoman Art from the Musée du Louvre, brings together over a hundred ancient treasures from the royal collections of the Mughal, Safavid and Ottoman empires, collectively known as the “Gunpowder Empires”, alongside later acquisitions.

Beyond just a showcase of extraordinary craftsmanship and beauty, the incredible display of art also offers a glimpse into these powerful forces that dominated West and Central Asia between the mid-16th and early 18th centuries. The objects chart their rise and fall, including their impact on architecture, art, religion, the military and more. Their rich history and stories are paired with ACM’s own collection of jewels to reveal the empires’ influence on distant shores like Southeast Asia, which came during a time when European ambition was escalating and the global trade networks were expanding.