MARSEILLE.- Long-standing partners, the City of Marseille and the Louvre Museum Public Institution are taking a new step in their collaboration by co-organizing a unique exhibition dedicated to the relationship between Marseille and Aden—two port cities with intertwined destinies. Presented at the Centre de la Vieille Charité from November 21, 2025 to March 29, 2026, the exhibition is built on an ambitious scientific partnership and showcases exceptional archaeological collections held in Marseille and at the Louvre.

This rich and well-documented exhibition features around twenty Yemeni works donated to the City of Marseille at the turn of the 20th century by the Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes and the Riès family, merchants specializing in the coffee trade in Aden. These pieces are being presented in dialogue with artifacts and archival materials on loan from the Louvre, as well as from other prestigious international institutions, including the British Museum (London), the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna), the Vorderasiatisches Museum (Berlin), the Arthur Rimbaud Museum in Charleville-Mézières, and several private collections.

By placing Marseille and its museums at the heart of the narrative, the exhibition also highlights the role of the Mediterranean port in the commercial, scientific, and diplomatic exchanges of the 19th and 20th centuries. It sheds light on the richness and complexity of the circulation of objects and imaginaries, while also examining the historical and ethical context in which public collections were formed.

The presence of Marseillais in Aden from the 1870s— facilitated by the opening of the Suez Canal—is a particular focus, as is the history of Yemenis who, over time, settled in Marseille. Testimonies and contemporary works by Yemeni artists living today in the city extend the narrative into the present, emphasizing the enduring vitality of the ties between the two communities and the richness of Yemen’s pre- Islamic heritage.

Through this event, the Centre de la Vieille Charité reaffirms its role as a leading venue for research, conservation, and cultural outreach focused on global heritage.
The exhibition also underscores the urgent need to preserve cultural heritage, now highly threatened by ongoing conflict in Yemen, and celebrates the richness of South Arabian civilization — particularly that of the Kingdom of Saba.