louvre abu dhabi gears up for launch
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

To The Arab World For The First Time

Louvre Abu Dhabi gears up for launch

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Louvre Abu Dhabi gears up for launch

The museum currently has some 300 pieces on loan, including an 1887 self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh and Leonardo da Vinci's
Abu Dhabi - Arab Today

More than a decade in the making, the Louvre Abu Dhabi opens its doors this week, bringing the famed name to the Arab world for the first time.

French President Emmanuel Macron is set to attend the Wednesday inauguration on his first visit to the United Arab Emirates since taking office in May.

For the next 10 years, 13 of France's top museums will lend works to the UAE at their discretion and for a maximum of two years each.

The museum currently has some 300 pieces on loan, including an 1887 self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh and Leonardo da Vinci's "La Belle Ferronniere".

The oil-rich emirate, which has made no secret of its push on soft power, has also spent years quietly building its own permanent collection.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is displaying more than 250 works of art from the Emirati collection, including Edouard Manet's "The Gypsy" and works by Dutch abstract artist Piet Mondrian and Turkey's Osman Hamdi Bey.

- 'More universal than Louvre' -

The UAE government is promoting the museum as the first of its kind, a 23-gallery "museum city in the sea" on Saadiyat Island off the Abu Dhabi coast.

Some five percent of the museum is dedicated to contemporary and modern art, including a monumental piece by China's Ai Weiwei.

The main focus, however, is on world history and religions.

Among the exhibits are a sixth century Koran, a gothic Bible and a Yemeni Torah facing each other, open at verses carrying the same message.

Jack Lang, who was France's culture minister when the Louvre in Paris received its controversial pyramid, said the Abu Dhabi museum would be "much more universal than the Louvre in Paris".

"It is a chance to open the idea of a museum to different continents and different civilisations," he said.

"It joins the art of the Louvre (and) the Musee d'Orsay, in a space that is much more open and less separated."

The opening comes a decade after France and the UAE agreed to a 30-year partnership initially reported to be worth $1.1 billion, including nearly half a billion dollars for the rights to the Louvre brand alone.

Emirati and French officials declined to disclose the final cost of the project.

The museum design, by France's Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, conjures up the image of an Arab medina as seen through the eyes of a contemporary cinematographer.

A silver-toned dome with perforated arabesque patterns appears to float over the white museum galleries, creating what Nouvel describes as a "rain of light".

To reach the ground, each ray of light must cross eight layers of perforations, creating a constantly shifting pattern that mimics the shadows cast by palm trees or the roof of a traditional Arab market.

- Climate control, counter-terrorism -

Authorities have taken serious measures to protect the art from the heat during transport and storage, in a country where summer temperatures soar well above 40 degrees Celsius (more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit). 

The art is also guarded by Emirati forces in coordination with French experts including civil defence and terrorism security forces.

The museum initially sparked heated debate in France, where criticism erupted in the early years of the project over the sale of a French name to an Arab state.

Questions of labour rights have also hung over the project, linked to the overall status of migrant workers in the Gulf.

Notably, Human Rights Watch has raised the alarm around conditions for migrant workers employed to build the museum.

It documented rights violations connected with the museum in 2015, after the UAE introduced improved labour rights laws.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is the first of three museums to open its doors to the public on Saadiyat Island, where the UAE plans to launch the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, designed by Frank Gehry, and the Norman Foster-designed Zayed National Museum.

A spokesperson for the Guggenheim in New York told AFP a contractor had not yet been selected for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and that construction was still on hold.

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

louvre abu dhabi gears up for launch louvre abu dhabi gears up for launch

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

louvre abu dhabi gears up for launch louvre abu dhabi gears up for launch

 



GMT 10:06 2012 Saturday ,28 July

Querrey advances at ATP LA Open

GMT 21:15 2017 Thursday ,01 June

Trump condemns deadly Kabul explosion

GMT 02:15 2017 Thursday ,24 August

Is your country on the Qatar free entry list of 80?

GMT 19:48 2016 Monday ,03 October

Controversial boxing champ Tyson Fury retires

GMT 08:20 2015 Tuesday ,08 December

PC market woes show no sign of easing

GMT 17:27 2017 Tuesday ,25 April

20 Yemeni soldiers killed, injured in explosion

GMT 11:52 2017 Saturday ,30 December

OIC condemns Mar Mina Church attack

GMT 00:03 2017 Saturday ,25 March

Arab Meeting to Examine Anti-Corruption Methods

GMT 13:12 2017 Thursday ,20 April

Deputy premier meets Arab League chief

GMT 14:13 2014 Friday ,10 January

Opel Astra GTC

GMT 18:27 2016 Tuesday ,02 August

Turkish Foreign Minister arrives in Islamabad

GMT 11:27 2016 Tuesday ,13 December

Saudi woman arrested for challenging social norms

GMT 19:56 2017 Thursday ,09 March

Qatar Pavilion Opens at ITB Berlin

GMT 23:34 2013 Thursday ,07 February

New BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo

GMT 12:57 2017 Friday ,13 October

JPMorgan open to digital money if regulated

GMT 04:38 2017 Friday ,10 March

ADNOC opens fifth ADNOC Xpress

GMT 10:30 2017 Friday ,10 November

BDF military contingent honoured

GMT 17:37 2017 Tuesday ,24 January

China jails former Sinopec president for graft

GMT 19:34 2017 Sunday ,14 May

Austria centre-right calls for snap elections

GMT 14:54 2014 Saturday ,29 November

Wall cladding, wallpaper, fabric and wood!
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday