As Abu Dhabi inaugurates a new chapter in the cultural consciousness of this great nation, the UAE has added another feather to its cap. The Louvre Abu Dhabi is an important milepost in the journey towards locating that awareness. It is at once Arab and international, local as well as universal.
Connecting us to the shared treasures of history and heritage, the glistening museum at Saadiyat Island is a key marker of the vision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
Giving a liminal feel between the elements of sand and water, the latest tourist attraction in the UAE capital has been conceived to inspire.
A platform for dialogue and conversation, it has been hailed as a cultural cornerstone that aims to serve as a viaduct, a link to the best of what the East and the West have to offer. The various sculptures, objects d’art, paintings and masterpieces at Louvre Abu Dhabi represent what has been ‘universal’ throughout the ages.
In a first of its kind of museums, visitors to the Louvre can trot through a global journey through 12 chapters, arranged chronologically from prehistory to the present day. It is an effort to showcase common threads that have run through different cultures and regions in all of history. There is an exclusive section dedicated to ‘universal religions’ that includes a Gothic Bible, a leaf from a 9th century Blue Quran, and a Torah.
With its cosmic dome and starry latticework, the great French architect Jean Nouvel has visualised a dream in the desert. Once beneath the vast cosmic dome, visitors are welcomed by shards of light that cast dapples across the facades of the building. If the idea was to showcase the best of humankind in a ‘new light’, it has been achieved in the modern and contemporary design of Louvre Abu Dhabi.
The museum’s collection of famed artworks, which range from pieces by Piet Mondrian, Edouard Manet, Pablo Picasso and Ai Weiwei will be exhibited alongside artefacts loaned from leading French cultural institutions.
Further firming up the soft-power status of the UAE, the stunning specimen sends a gentle message of global cultural exchange — with Abu Dhabi at the core of it. The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a proclamation that expresses what the UAE can bring to the world. It showcases a common legacy that we all can be very proud of.
