S P O T L I G H T
B
ritish Museum. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Uffizi Gallery. These are merely three renowned art ventures which have brought
cultural enlightenment to the people in their countries.
And soon to join these names will be the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the first museum of its kind in the Arab world.
Rising From The Sand
The tale of the world's newest cultural monument is tied to one of the world's oldest, the Louvre, though with different stories of
origin.
“It took 800 years for the Louvre to become the Louvre, and it only took 10 years for another Louvre to be born in Abu Dhabi,” Jean
Luc Martinez, Director of the Louvre, Paris, is reported to have said.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi officially opened its doors on 11th November, a little over ten-and-a-half years after the UAE and France
entered an unprecedented partnership to unite in a cultural exchange, with the newly-opened art establishment to be the crowning
jewel of this agreement.
Part of the agreement includes the loan of the Louvre name - which cost a reported $520m - for 30.5 years as well as loans of artwork
for 10 years, and temporary exhibitions for 15 years, including a provision of management expertise in the years to come.
Museum of the
world
A project ten years in the making, the UAE›s Louvre Abu Dhabi recently opened its doors at the end of 2017.
GLOSS took the grand tour to see if it lives up to the wait and hype.
Text By Sana Panjwani
Photographs Supplied