Art & Culture

Museum-Monument: The Louvre Abu Dhabi

Splendour and prestige: the dazzling capital of the Emirates is increasingly developing into a hub of international art. A local look at its showpiece project, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and a glimpse into a (cultural) rich future.
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It’s all about making a lot of money and not a lot of spills - anyone who has ever visited the flourishing emirate on the Persian Gulf and its capital of the same name, Abu Dhabi, knows that superlatives are not enough to do justice to the metropolis, which is partly on the offshore island and partly on the mainland. Where in the 1960s the desert was still mostly barren, art is now also budding in addition to business and tourism. Thus, the art and culture scene has found a new, magnificent home here. Those who speak of blossoming will doubtlessly use charming understatements because as usual, there are no half measures. A prime example and a clear indication of the seriousness of the project is without doubt the Louvre Abu Dhabi opened in 2017, which was created in cooperation with its Parisian counterpart and is now enthroned on the Saadiyat Museum Island.

The palace for the Arts

A ten-lane motorway takes you on a twenty-minute journey to the very island that has been chosen as a Mecca for culture and on which the French star architect Jean Nouvel has created a monument of imposing dimensions to art, the emirate’s glory and, last but not least, to himself. 55 ashlar buildings with a total of 6,400 square meters house over 600 exhibits, half of which come from the museum’s own collection. “The Louvre Abu Dhabi literally embodies an extraordinary program: it is intended to express what is universally valid. Its architecture makes the new Louvre a place where the sky, sea horizon, and desert meet and interact,” the architect says. The roof construction alone, which looks so filigree and consists of 7850 metal stars, weighs around 7500 tons, almost as much as the Eiffel Tower. Incidentally, know-how from Austria was also used in its construction, as the local steel construction company Waagner-Biro was involved in the elaborate design. “Cathedral and dome vaults shape the space in the consciousness of time and moment through an atmospheric light that has its very own spirituality,” says Nouvel about the crowning glory of his vision.

Salvator Mundi (c) Photo Kirsty Wigglesworth_AP.jpg
Sword of Duke of Milan.jpg
(1) Crowd puller: Already in the opening year over one million people visited the museum temple, whose new acquisitions include “Salvator Mundi” by Leonardo da Vinci. (2) Varied programme: Currently on the programme as a special exhibition is “Furusiyya: The Art of Chivalry between East and West”, followed by “Charlie Chaplin: When Art and Cinema Met”.

Appreciation and value creation

The exact cost of the prestige project is unclear - the media speculate that construction, licenses, and works are likely to add up to 1.5 billion euros. But that’s not all, because insiders speak of an annual purchase budget of 40 million euros. Just to make a comparison with reality: the MMK in Frankfurt has, without taking into account additional funds from sponsors and other support funds, only a total budget of 525,000 euros from 2019 to 2022, which is borne by its home town. To assume that money is not an issue would nevertheless be a false assumption. The rich investment is also a provision for the future of tourism, which can thus stand out clearly from the neighboring Emirates. The museum was able to attract one million visitors in the first year after opening. And there is no shortage of big names that are regarded as crowd pullers. Among the new acquisitions of recent years is “Salvator Mundi” by Leonardo da Vinci, and the list of loans reads like a who’s who of art history. At the beginning of 2020, the museum’s trump card was a cooperation with the Centre Pompidou and the exhibition “Rendezvous in Paris: Picasso, Chagall, Modigliani & Co. (1900-1939)”, closely followed by “10,000 Years of Luxury”, which was created in cooperation with the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Furusiyya: The art of chivalry between East and West” will be shown until 18 October, followed by “Charlie Chaplin: When art and cinema met”.

Louvre Abu Dhabi, Photography Mohamed Somji (2).jpg

Establishment and expansion

An end to the cultural upward trend is not in sight. The artificially expanded island is already living up to its claim to be a cultural district of international standing but is set to grow even further. For instance, an offshoot of the Guggenheim Museum is also planned, albeit with an as yet unknown opening date. The Louvre Abu Dhabi can also be expected to make major contributions to the art scene, which is pointing the way forward in this respect. “The Louvre Abu Dhabi is the United Arab Emirates’ gift to the world,” said His Excellency Mohamed Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture & Tourism Abu Dhabi and the Tourism Development and Investment Company. An extremely generous one, as one can add without exaggeration.

Photos: Louvre Abu Dhabi/ Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, “Sword of Duke of Milan”/ Louvre Abu Dhabi, “Salvador Mundi”/ Louvre Abu Dhabi/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Louvre Abu Dhabi/ Mohamed Somji

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