China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Louvre Abu Dhabi prepares to unveil itself to the whole world
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — More than a decade in the making, the Louvre Abu Dhabi was scheduled to open its doors on Wednesday, bringing the famed name to the Arab world for the first time. Museum officials said it will serve as a cultural bridge between the East and West.
The opening came 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.
French President Emmanuel Macron will be among those attending the opening, along with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and leaders including Morocco’s King Mohammed VI.
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 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.
“Here at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, we’ve accomplished history,” Mohamed Khalifa al-Mubarak, chairman of Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, said.
“This museum is a lot more than just a museum.”
The Louvre Abu Dhabi is the first of three museums to open on Saadiyat Island, where the UAE plans to launch the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, designed by Frank Gehry, and the Norman Foster’s Zayed National Museum.
About 5 percent of the museum, which will open to the public on Saturday, is dedicated to contemporary and modern art.
The main focus, however, is on world history and religions.
‘A multipolar world’
Among the exhibits are a sixth century Quran, a gothic Bible and a Yemeni Torah, facing each other and open at verses carrying the same message.
Jean-Luc Martinez, president of the Louvre in Paris, said the new museum was designed “to open up to others, to understand diversity” in “a multipolar world”.
It 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 Gulf emirate has also spent years quietly building its own permanent collection.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi, the first museum outside France which bears the name of the famous Louvre museum in Paris, is displaying more than 235 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.
The authorities have put in place strict measures to protect the art from the heat in a country where summer temperatures soar well above 40 C.
The artworks are also guarded by Emirati forces in coordination with French experts.