Sketches of world’s largest sculpture unveiled in capital
MASTABA, A TRAPEZOID SHAPED STRUCTURE, BEING PLANNED IN AL GHARBIA
Images of the Mastaba, the world’s largest sculpture planned to be built in Abu Dhabi, were unveiled at the US embassy on Sunday evening. Madeleine Albright, former US Secretary of State, inaugurated the exhibition in the presence of artist Christo Vladimirov Javacheff, and Barbara Leaf, US Ambassador to the UAE.
Mastaba, designed by Javacheff and the late Jeanne-Claude Marie Denat, is a trapezoid-like structure that is planned to be built in the desert in Al Gharbia near Liwa, approximately 160km south of Abu Dhabi city.
The art pieces are on longterm loan to the US embassy.
Albright and Leaf praised UAE-US relations and thanked Javacheff and his late partner for their contribution.
“What makes it great is that it is a celebration of the UAE and it will remain here,” she said referring to the planned structure.
Albright told the audience that she had visited the planned location near Liwa with Javacheff and “had never had as much fun as in the last few days”.
Albright said: “It was wonderful to go out in the desert and spend time with Christo and have him explain the importance of the Mastaba to the whole area.
“The Mastaba
is
basically
a historic shape and to have it here and to have it in the setting of the desert it will also create jobs and I think it can be a very vibrant part of the Expo.”
Leaf told Gulf News that the US embassy hosted the event as part of its cultural diplomacy.
“We have a programme in the embassies, which brings together US embassies and missions and artists and galleries and cultural institutions,” she said.