Arab World Institute
The Arab World Institute (abbreviated "AWI"; French: Institut du Monde Arabe, abbreviated "IMA") is an organization founded in Paris in 1980 by eighteen Arab countries with France to research and disseminate information about the Arab world and its cultural and spiritual values. The Institute was established as a result of a perceived lack of representation for the Arab world in France, and seeks to provide a secular location for the promotion of Arab civilization, art, knowledge, and aesthetics. Housed within the institution are a museum, library, auditorium, restaurant, offices and meeting rooms.