This paper focuses on the dissemination of religion in The Louvre Abu Dhabi (LAD), opened in 2017. The paper highlights how the Louvre puts religion at the centre for a history of world civilisations. However, this exhibitionary layout is arguably not Islam-centred, as could be expected in the Gulf, nor Eurocentric as the Louvre mother museums and similar Western museums would be. Rather, different religions and cultural geographies are exhibited together, in the same rooms, ie. Islamic tombstones with a sculpture of Mary and Jesus as well as figure of a dancing Shiva Hindu Goddess. Critical questions has been raised (eg. Wakefield 2020) on how this reflects a postcolonial legitimization of the Louvre mother museum and other ‘old’ world museums. I suggest, however, that the narrative at LAD may open, indeed may have opened, new horizons for museums in the Gulf as well as, potentially, on a global scale. At the same time the narrative may also be furthered, at LAD not least in the sections on contemporary art which are arguably still West-focused. The exhibitions speak to a Gulf society where religion is important but also a society and an institutional embedding where Islam is not the only religion in focus. While the aspirations for local inclusiveness may well be debated, as several scholars have already done, the universalization of the exhibition narrative can also be an inspiration to other world museums, old and new. Thus the Louvre Abu Dhabi and other new, international museums in the Gulf are not only ‘franchises’ but may speak back to their mother institutions and other world museums.