Arts & International Affairs: Volume 2, Issue 1 | Page 126

(TDIC). The cultural district is one part of a larger development that includes
a business district, residences, beach resorts, marinas, golf courses, schools,
and universities. It is just one component of a far-reaching urban planning
vision, called Plan Abu Dhabi ����. The Saadiyat Island cultural district will
be an “iconic precinct” (Abu Dhabi UPC ����:��) in the capital city, featuring
three museums: the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and
the Sheikh Zayed Museum, named for the founding President of the United
Arab Emirates, and focusing on the history and traditions of the UAE. None
of these museums has formally opened. The Louvre was originally scheduled
to open in ����, however that has been pushed back to ����. The Jean Nouvel
building is complete and an inaugural director was appointed in late ����.
Guggenheim construction is yet to begin. In the meantime, events are being
held to create buzz and anticipation about the eventual openings, including
public lectures by the architects and sample exhibitions in Abu Dhabi and
elsewhere.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi was established as a result of an agreement signed
between the Government of France and the Government of Abu Dhabi in
����. The Louvre Abu Dhabi is not intended to be “an outpost” of the Paris
museum. They will collaborate, but the Abu Dhabi Louvre will ostensibly
build a permanent collection that contains more twentieth century art
than its French cousin (Future ����). For the Guggenheim, the “Tourism
Development and Investment Company (TDIC), an independent company of
ADTA, will own the museum, while the Guggenheim Foundation will create
and manage the museum’s programs including collection development,
exhibitions, and educational projects” (Thompson ����:��).
Saadiyat Island is just one piece of a much larger story of Gulf state
participation in art markets (McClellan ����). The Qatari royal family has
become a major player. In recent years, it has broken records by purchasing
art works for hitherto unseen prices. (Paul Cézanne’s The Card Players for
$��� million in ����; Paul Gauguin’s When Will You Marry for $��� million in
����). They have also supported other initiatives, like a large-scale sculpture
by Richard Serra in the Qatari desert and built the Museum of Islamic Art,
designed by I.M. Pei. Sharjah, another Emirate, hosts a thriving gallery scene
and a biennial. It was also named the cultural capital of the Arab world by
UNESCO in ����.
Why have museums opened satellite branches?
As the previous section suggests, the various stakeholders in museum
satellites have different motivations. This is especially true for the public
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