The Institut du monde arabe (French: [ɛ̃stity dy mɔ̃d aʁab], Arab World Institute; abbr. IMA) is an organisation founded in Paris in 1980 by France with 18 Arab countries 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 civilisation, art, knowledge, and aesthetics.