UAE | Heritage and Culture
Specialists laying groundwork for Abu Dhabi's Louvre museum
French experts working on policies, programmes for grand project.
- By Eman Mohammed, Abu Dhabi Deputy Editor
- Published: 23:13 May 29, 2009
- Image Credit: Supplied picture
- The Louvre Abu Dhabi, when completed in 2013, will occupy 24,000 square metres of area, and artwork from around the world will be showcased at the museum.
Abu Dhabi: A team of experts from the famed Musée du Louvre in Paris are working on policies that will govern the management of Abu Dhabi's own Louvre museum that is expected to open in 2013.
"We are working on a policy just to give a start to the project. The French contribution for Louvre Abu Dhabi is mainly curatorial at the moment," said Laurence des Cars, Chief Curator and Head of Curatorial Department at Agence France-Muséums told Gulf News.
Des Cars leads a team of experts overseeing the Abu Dhabi project by virtue of a 30-year agreement between the nation's capital and the French government. Des Carse spoke to Gulf News on the sidelines of a a recent two-day panel discussion of issues affecting the cultural and arts project which was held at the Emirates Palace.
She said the 24,000 square metre Louvre Abu Dhabi, which will rise on the Saadiyat island complex, will open by September 2013.
"The construction work will be very quick. September 2013 is not far technically and [while] we build the actual building and get the collection together, we have to work on the cultural and educational programme," Des Cars said.
Artwork from around the world will be showcased at the museum, with particular focus placed upon bridging the gap between Eastern and Western art.
Des Cars said the 30-year pact is aimed at letting the grand museum project take root and bear fruit in the UAE community. "It's a very interesting time; it is more than one generation and a museum needs time to get its roots in the community and prepare people to get used to it and grow with it," she said.
"The museum is part of the community and city life in a place like Abu Dhabi which will serve the education of people coming from different cultures" she said. A pre-opening space for Louvre Abu Dhabi will start later this year where lectures and conferences will be held as part of run-up activities to the 2013 opening.
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