Learn as you drive to Abu Dhabi
Highway gallery will give motorists glimpse of stunning Louvre artworks, radio lessons
In the first-ever initiative of its kind in the world, an immersive, artistic experience awaits every motorist travelling towards Abu Dhabi along the Shaikh Zayed Road for the next month – a glimpse of some of the most stunning exhibits at the Louvre Abu Dhabi as well as a 30-second radio lesson in appreciating these great art works.
As part of UAE Innovation Month, Louvre Abu Dhabi launched the Highway Gallery yesterday, showcasing 10 magnificent artworks and artefacts from its collection on 8x6-metre billboards alongside E11, Shaikh Zayed Road, from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.
The artistic stretch begins from Seih Shoaib and ends at Al Rahba — about 100 kilometres and in the direction of Dubai to Abu Dhabi only.
Motorists can tune in to Radio 1FM (100.5FM), Classic FM (91.6FM) or Emarat FM (95.8FM) for a 30-second voice-over on each piece as they approach the artworks.
Allaying fears about drivers being distracted on the busy highway, Manuel Rabate, director of Louvre Abu Dhabi, told Gulf News that the audiovisual experience is safe.
You don’t need to drive to an art gallery to see masterpieces; you can now do so while driving to Abu Dhabi along Shaikh Zayed Road.
In the first-ever radio-guided highway art gallery experience of its kind, the Louvre Abu Dhabi has installed iconic masterpieces along the highway as portrait installations, the details of which will be offered on radio frequencies that motorists can tune in to in their vehicles.
The Highway Gallery showcases 10 artworks and artefacts from the museum’s collection on 8x6-metre billboards along Shaikh Zayed Road — starting from Seih Shoaib and ending at Al Rahba. It covers a stretch of about 100km in the direction of Dubai to Abu Dhabi.
The giant portraits, erected just like billboards, will be spaced about 6km from each other.
Drivers tuned in to Radio 1 FM, Classic FM and Emarat FM will be able to hear a 30-second voice-over giving them details of each art work as they approach it. The initiative is part of the UAE’s Month of Innovation.
The gallery was launched in Abu Dhabi yesterday and will be on show for a month.
At the launch ceremony, Noora Mohammad Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development and chair of Abu Dhabi Media, said: “We have built an advanced platform that provides the public with a variety of categories and interests, by providing them with rich and diverse content that contributes to our mission in transferring culture and knowledge.”
Mohammad Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism-Abu Dhabi, said: “Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Highway Gallery makes art and culture accessible to people.”
Allaying fears about drivers being distracted on the busy highway, Manuel Rabate, director of Louvre Abu Dhabi, told Gulf News that the audiovisual experience is safe. “It’s designed to make a very safe experience, which was embedded in the programme from the start. Motorists only get a glimpse of the billboards once. A short audio clip of 30 seconds is like a flash commercial, so in the attention of the driver, it’s business as usual,” he said.
The installation adheres to municipality and police regulations, he added.