A universal museum in the Arab world

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is located on Saadiyat Island, some 500 metres off the coast of Abu Dhabi (which, if you don’t know yet, is also an island in the UAE).

Saadiyat Island is Abu Dhabi’s cultural district devoted to culture and the arts. The district is being developed by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority-held Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC).

The drop-off area is a mere five to 10minute walk to the main entrance of the building but I can already feel sweat trickling down my back as I walk under the hot sun.

The first thing that struck me is that there is no queue to enter the building unlike in Paris, where it can take you up to five hours to get into the Louvre there.

“There must be one inside,” I tell myself. Surprisingly, there is none. The cool blast from the air conditioner is a welcome respite as I open the door for access into the building.

The walls inside the buildings are painted white, as pristine as the Kandura (anklelength white shirt woven from wool or cotton) worn by the male Emirati staff manning the information and ticketing counters. The ladies are in their black abayas. The security officials are in their black suits.

You can either purchase the tickets online or you can get it at the ticket machine or the ticketing counter. Backpacks are not allowed in, so you will have to check it at the bag counter. Handbags will be checked by the security officials and you’ll be told that you’re not allowed to use selfie sticks while in the museum.

From afar, the roof dome of the Louvre Abu Dhabi looks as if it is floating above water. But it is not.

In fact the dome — weighing as heavy as France iconic structure, the Eiffel Tower, at 7,500 tonnes — rests on four permanent piers, each 110m apart and hidden within the museum. The roof dome is definitely the centrepiece of the museum.

Inspired by the cupola, a distinctive feature in Arabic architecture, the design is a geometric structure of 7,850 stars, repeated in various sizes and angles and in eight layers.

When the sun shines through it, the effect is simply magnificent. It creates a rain of light, reminiscent of sunlight filtering through palm fronds, into the dome. It is little wonder that many visitors to the Louvre Abu Dhabi spend more time exploring outside the museum.

Designed by French architect Jean Nouvel and constructed by engineering firm Buro Happold, the Louvre Abu Dhabi is 24,000 square metres in size and 8,000 sq m of gallery space, making it the largest art museum in the Arabian Peninsula.

There are 55 stand-alone “buildings” that visitors can meander in and out. Waterways run through the museum, mimicking Abu Dhabi’s historic falaj irrigation system.

It was in 2007 that the Abu Dhabi and French governments signed an agreement that envisioned 30 years of art loans, management