[media-credit name=”Creative Commons” align=”aligncenter” width=”300″][/media-credit]The Louvre in Paris is well known for a variety of different things, especially the Mona Lisa.

Something that it has never been known for before is Islamic art. However, on Sept. 22, 2012, the Louvre opened up their new exhibit: the Islamic Art Wing.

This addition brought about a lot of controversy because France is a country with a long history of secularism.

Despite this history, however, the Louvre put a lot of effort into this project. In fact, $130 million and 11 years were spent on the new wing.

The goal of the new addition is to “foster understanding between the West and the Islamic world,” according to m.ibnlive.com.

“Since 9/11, it is the duty of all Muslims to explain to the West what real Islam is like and how peaceful the religion is,” said Prince Waleed Bin Talal of Saudi Arabi in an interview with BBC News. Talal was the biggest donor to the exhibit, giving 17 million euros, the equivalent of approximately 22 million US dollars.

Carlmont student Luisa Zepeda was happy about the addition. “I thought it was pretty cool that something so significant in the past is still treasured today,” she said.