Jump to content

Louvre Abu Dhabi

Coordinates: 24°31′58.80″N 54°24′0.04″E / 24.5330000°N 54.4000111°E / 24.5330000; 54.4000111
This is a good article. Click here for more information.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

24°31′58.80″N 54°24′0.04″E / 24.5330000°N 54.4000111°E / 24.5330000; 54.4000111

Louvre Abu Dhabi
The Louvre Abu Dhabi
Map
Established8 November 2017; 7 years ago (2017-11-08)
LocationSaadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
TypeArt Museum
Visitors-----------+
DirectorManuel Rabaté
ArchitectJean Nouvel
OwnerAbu Dhabi Department of Culture & Tourism
Websitewww.louvreabudhabi.ae

The Louvre Abu Dhabi (Arabic: اللوفر أبوظبي, romanizedal-lūfr ʔabū ẓaby; French: Louvre Abou Dabi) is an art museum located on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It runs under an agreement between the UAE and France, signed in March 2007, that allows it to use the Louvre's name until 2047 [nb 1], and has been described by the Louvre as "France's largest cultural project abroad."[2] It is approximately 24,000 square metres (260,000 sq ft) in size, with 8,000 square metres (86,000 sq ft) of galleries,[3] making it the largest art museum in the Arabian Peninsula.[4] Artworks from around the world are showcased at the museum, with stated intent to bridge the gap between Eastern and Western art.[5] Louvre Abu Dhabi located in a place which is at the heart of Saadiyat Cultural District, which is rapidly evolving into a leading destination for art, history and culture.[6]

By 2019, the Louvre Abu Dhabi had already attracted 2 million visitors, making it the most visited museum in the Arab world.[2]

Location

[edit]

The museum is part of a US$27 billion tourist and cultural development for Saadiyat Island, planned to house a cluster of world-class cultural assets.[7]

In addition to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, these are to include: the Zayed National Museum, on a design by Foster and Partners; the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi contemporary arts museum by Frank Gehry, expected to be the world's largest Guggenheim;[8] a performing arts centre designed by Dame Zaha Hadid; a maritime museum with concept design by Tadao Ando; and a number of arts pavilions.[9] The Abrahamic Family House was later added to the cluster, with completion expected in 2022.

History

[edit]

Project development

[edit]
Model of the Louvre project and its surroundings, 2011
Aerial view of the museum location, early 2010s

In 2005 the United Arab Emirates put forward to the French government the idea of creating a museum in the Emirates bearing the name of the Louvre. Discussions were initiated in June 2005, when an Abu Dhabi delegation led by Sultan bin Tahnoon al-Nahyan, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage visited Paris and met counterparts at the Louvre. A month later, another delegation including Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, then Minister of Information and Culture of the United Arab Emirates, discussed the project with interlocutors in the French government, including Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy and Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres.[10] Also in the summer of 2005, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan sent a letter about the project to France's president Jacques Chirac. Formal negotiations on the project between the two countries started in the summer of 2006.[11]: 12 

Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi authorities in 2006 selected Jean Nouvel, known among other projects for having designed the Arab World Institute in Paris, as the building's architect. They initially commissioned his firm to design a generic museum of classical art or civilisation, without specific reference to the Louvre while discussions with the French authorities were still ongoing.[12][13] The choice of Nouvel had been first suggested by Thomas Krens, then the director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and adviser to Abu Dhabi on the development of Saadiyat Island.[14]

The negotiations and the project itself were publicly revealed by French daily Le Monde in September 2006.[10] The project initially generated controversy, including an op-ed and petition against it by curators Françoise Cachin, Jean Clair and Roland Recht [fr].[15][16]

Louvre director Henri Loyrette was also reported to have initially opposed the project, which in the early phase he did not defend or promote publicly. But the Louvre's position became more favorable in the course of the contract negotiation, as it managed to secure significant benefits for itself.[12]

The agreement detailing the partnership and licensing arrangements was signed on 6 March 2007 by respective representatives of the French and UAE governments.[17] That agreement was ratified by the French Parliament on 9 October 2007, after Jacques Chirac had been replaced as French President by Nicolas Sarkozy.[18] Even after leaving the presidency, Chirac remained a major supporter of the project.[19][20][21]

When announced in 2007, the museum was expected to open in 2012.[22] On 29 October 2011, the project managing agency, Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), announced that the museum's opening would be delayed but gave no new date.[23]

According to the UAE newspapers Gulf News and The National, the delay came from a review of the emirate's economic strategy.[24][25] In January 2012 it was announced that the Louvre Abu Dhabi's opening date would be 2015.[26]

Construction

[edit]
The dome under construction in January 2015
Platforms in the sea water under the Louvre's dome

Construction works at Louvre Abu Dhabi officially started on 26 May 2009. The piling and enabling works package was awarded to the German specialized company Bauer International FZE;[27] the total of 4536 piles in steel and reinforced concrete were completed on 3 August 2010.[28][29][30]

Construction on the main phase of the museum began in early 2013 by a consortium headed by Arabtec, Constructora San José and Oger Abu Dhabi, under a $653 million contract. This stage included waterproofing and the two basement levels, along with four concrete pillars that will support the 7,000-tonne dome.[31] Work on the construction of the gallery spaces and initial preparation for the dome began in the fourth quarter of 2013. On 5 December 2013, the first element of the museum's canopy was lifted into place.[32] On 17 March 2014 TDIC announced the completion of the first permanent gallery structure to mark the first anniversary of the start of construction. At this time, it was claimed that a total of ten million man hours had been worked and 120,538 cubic meters of concrete used.[33] On 22 September 2014, the final super-sized element in the canopy was fitted in place, marking a significant milestone in the museum's construction phase. In October, The Tourism & Development Investment Company announced that the Louvre Abu Dhabi was more than 50 percent complete.[34]

Prefiguration exhibitions

[edit]

The Louvre Abu Dhabi first started sharing its collection with the public through an exhibition at the Gallery One of the Emirates Palace, entitled "Talking Art: Louvre Abu Dhabi." It was inaugurated by Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Nicolas Sarkozy on 26 May 2009, the same day as the construction work officially started on Saadiyat Island. The exhibition presented the first 19 acquisitions for the institution, including a Mamluk Quran from the 14th century, a 5th-century Fibula from Domagnano, a Virgin and Child by Bellini, and Mondrian's Composition with blue, red, yellow and black from 1922.[26]

A second exhibition, "Birth of a Museum", opened at the exhibition space Manarat Al Saadiyat in May 2013, ending in August that year. The first large-scale preview of the collection, it featured 130 works acquired by the government of Abu Dhabi for the permanent collection. They included a never-before-seen work by Picasso, a Bronze Age terracotta statue from Cyprus, along with artifacts from Greece, Turkey, Japan and Syria.[35]

In May 2014, the Birth of a Museum exhibition, featuring works shown in Abu Dhabi and a number of new acquisitions, opened at the Louvre in Paris. A number of new works were presented, including Chirisei Kyubiki by the Japanese artist Kazuo Shiraga and painted in 1960.[36]

Inauguration and aftermath

[edit]

The museum was eventually inaugurated on 8 November 2017 by French President Emmanuel Macron, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince (and de facto ruler) Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and UAE Prime Minister and Emir of Dubai Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.[37] Other personalities present at the inauguration included Mohammed VI of Morocco and President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani.[38] The museum was opened to the public three days later. It welcomed more than one million visitors in its first full year of operations, of which 30-40 percent were UAE residents and 60-70 percent from abroad (mainly France, Germany, China, the UK, the US, India and the GCC countries); this made it the 77th most visited museum worldwide in 2018.[39]

In November 2019, the waterfront boulevard on which the museum is located on the eastern end of Saadiyat Island was named after former French President Jacques Chirac, in recognition of his role in the project and more generally in the development of links between France and the UAE.[40]

In February 2020, a Fouquet's restaurant opened as the main catering amenity inside the museum, with a menu created in partnership with celebrity chef Pierre Gagnaire.[41]

Design

[edit]
The central space under the building's dome, with Giuseppe Penone's Leaves of Light
Water and light under the dome

Architecture

[edit]

During the initial Concept Design phase in 2006-2007,[42] Jean Nouvel and his team designed the museum as a "seemingly floating dome structure"; its web-patterned dome allowing the sun to filter through. The overall effect is meant to represent "rays of sunlight passing through date palm fronds in an oasis."[43][44] The total area of the museum will be approximately 24,000 square metres (260,000 sq ft). The permanent collection will occupy 6,000 square metres (65,000 sq ft), and the temporary exhibitions will take place over 2,000 square metres (22,000 sq ft).[45][46]

Engineering

[edit]

The engineers were BuroHappold Engineering, who provided multidisciplinary engineering services across the project. Their structural engineers realised the "floating dome" from 7,850 aluminium stars of varying sizes, which tessellate over eight layers to create a perforated roof structure that allows sunlight through to the spaces below. A team of specialist geotechnical and water engineers designed a watertight basement and tidal pools within the galleries to give the illusion of a "museum in the sea" while protecting artwork, artefacts and visitors from the corrosive marine environment. Guests who visit the museum can discover the 55 buildings of which 23 are art galleries and are constructed to look like the low-rise home of the region.[47]

Wayfinding

[edit]

The three-languages wayfinding system for the Louvre Abu Dhabi was designed by Philippe Apeloig, and is implemented in both Arabic and Roman script. Frutiger LT typeface has been chosen for the Roman texts for its perfect readability for signage; while Lebanese typographer Kristyan Sarkis created an Arabic bespoke typeface, the LAD Arabic, based on the classic Naskh style and his Colvert Arabic font. The design of the pictograms was inspired by the museum's architecture, and particularly by the abstract shapes created by the rain of light filtering through the dome. Each pictogram is a combination of several of these shapes, creating silhouettes and objects.

Public art

[edit]
Detail of For Louvre Abu Dhabi, sculpture by Jenny Holzer: Cuneiform script, with a cast of Auguste Rodin's The Walking Man in front
Detail of For Louvre Abu Dhabi: Arabic script

Two works of public art have been commissioned for the building's opening:[48]

Permanent collections

[edit]

Questions have been raised as to the nature of the artworks to be displayed at the museum. However, according to The National: "the type and nature of the exhibits planned for the Louvre Abu Dhabi have been affected to no extent by the fact the new museum would be in a Muslim country, said Mr. Loyrette."[50]

Subjects and themes have been freely discussed with our partners in Abu Dhabi and no request to avoid such subjects has been made. The exhibition policy will be set up regarding excellence and high-standard quality. As a new museum we hope the Louvre Abu Dhabi will be part of the international community.

— Henri Loyrette[50]

It has been noted that the museum will showcase work from multiple French museums, including the Louvre, the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Musée d'Orsay and Palace of Versailles. However, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, the French Minister of Culture, stated at the announcement that the Paris Louvre "would not sell any of its 35,000-piece collection currently on display".

It will not be dedicated to occidental art but will show all kinds of artistic creations. It will set up a dialogue between west and east, between north and south. As such, art from the Middle East will be shown within the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

— Henri Loyrette[50]

In 2012, the Louvre Abu Dhabi started collecting photography, making its first acquisitions in the field, including works by Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey, Roger Fenton and George Wilson Bridges. The museum also acquired a sculpture of a Bactrian princess dating from the third millennium BC, a pavement and fountain set from the early Ottoman period, as well as the paintings Breton Boys Wrestling (1888) by Paul Gauguin and The Subjugated Reader (1928) by René Magritte.[51]

Further details of the museum's collection on opening were revealed in October 2014, with a number of important works to be loaned including Leonardo da Vinci's La Belle Ferronnière[52] and works by Henri Matisse, a self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh, Jacques-Louis David's Napoleon Crossing the Alps and Claude Monet's Gare Saint-Lazare.[53]

The Museum tweeted[54] 8 December 2017 that it was looking forward to displaying the Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci. The work was acquired, at a record price for a painting, by the Department of Culture & Tourism of Abu Dhabi for the museum. No date was set for the display of this work but in September 2018, the unveiling was indefinitely postponed[55] and a January 2019 news report indicated that "no one knows where it is, and there are grave concerns for its physical safety".[56]

Selected exhibits from the Louvre Abu Dhabi's permanent collection

[edit]
[edit]

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a national museum of the UAE, overseen by the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture & Tourism. As of 2019, half of the museum's staff were UAE nationals.[39]

Whereas the Louvre Abu Dhabi is an Emirati entity separate from the Louvre in Paris, the two are linked by a thirty-year agreement that was signed in March 2007 by the two governments and covers a number of areas, including the license of the Louvre name until 2037. The text of the agreement was published by the French authorities for its parliamentary ratification.[57] That agreement foresaw the establishment by the French side of a private-sector project entity, which was subsequently incorporated on 23 August 2007 and named Agence France-Muséums [fr] (AFM). AFM's shareholders include the Louvre, with over a third of equity capital,[11]: 23  and a number of other French cultural institutions: the Musée du Quai Branly, Centre Pompidou, Musée d'Orsay, National Estate of Versailles, Guimet Museum, Musée Rodin, Château de Chambord, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Opérateur du patrimoine et des projets immobiliers de la culture [fr], École du Louvre and Bibliothèque nationale de France.[11]: 55  The Musée de Cluny and Palace of Fontainebleau, while not shareholders of AFM, have also been among the project's beneficiaries.[58]

AFM was initially chaired by French financier and philanthropist Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière and led by Bruno Maquart, former head of the Centre Georges Pompidou, as its Executive Director.[59] In January 2008, AFM and Ministry of Culture Christine Albanel signed another agreement with Sultan bin Tahnoon al-Nahyan, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage.[60]

Under the March 2007 agreement, Abu Dhabi is to pay the following: €400 million for the use of the Louvre name, €190 million for art loans (ending in 2027), €75 million for special exhibitions (ending in 2032), €165 million for management advice and support, and €25 million for naming a space inside the Louvre in Paris after UAE founding father Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.[11]: 21 [45] With inflation taken into account, a French Senate report in 2017 estimated the total amount of payments over the duration of the contract (2007–2037) at €974.5 million.[11] As of 2017 (included), according to the French Senate, the cumulated payments had reached €477 million,[11]: 33  broadly in line with the initial agreement's provisions[11]: 20  despite the delays in project execution.

The March 2007 agreement prohibits the creation of any similar operation with the name of the Louvre in any of the other emirates of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, or Iraq.[57][61]

The space to be named after the UAE founding father was initially expected to be in a refurbished part of the Pavillon de Flore that was to display international art, but that project was later abandoned[12] and the Sheikh Zayed Center eventually opened in 2016 as a set of three rooms in the Pavillon de l'Horloge dedicated to the history of the Louvre Palace.[62]

In the project's early years, frictions appeared between the various French stakeholders, partly over the sharing of roughly half of total payments (€420 million in total) that were not unambiguously directed at the Louvre.[11]: 29  The conflicts led to the departure of AFM's first director Bruno Maquart in 2010, who was not immediately replaced.[12] Manuel Rabaté, formerly a senior administrator at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, was the agency's general secretary from 2010 to 2013, then chief executive from 2013 to 2016, and in September 2016 was appointed the Louvre Abu Dhabi's first director.[39] Also in September 2016, Hissa Al Dhaheri, a UAE national, was appointed the museum's deputy director; she had joined the project team in 2010.[63]

The Louvre Abu Dhabi has also been working with the Paris Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi to set up a master's program for museum professionals to train them and help them respond to local needs.[26] It also runs an ambassadors programme, where representatives include poet Shamma Al Bastaki.[64] It has developed a number of outreach initiatives to engage with new publics, including a Children's Museum, a roadside "Highway Gallery" on the Dubai-Abu Dhabi expressway,[65] and kayaking tours around the museum building.[39]

In 2023, the term of the March 2007 agreement was extended from 2037 to 2047.[66]

Influence

[edit]

In a late-2021 joint interview, Louvre President-Director Laurence des Cars and Centre Pompidou President Laurent Le Bon, both recently appointed to their positions, cited the Louvre Abu Dhabi as "the great model" for their planned endeavor to develop more initiatives in common between their respective institutions and the Musée d'Orsay, taking inspiration from the Abu Dhabi museum's seamless chronological approach across geographies, and moving away from the ring-fencing of different eras between the Louvre (pre-1848), Orsay (1848-1914) and Pompidou (after 1914).[67]

Controversies

[edit]

Motivations for the project

[edit]

The museum has sparked opposition to the expansion of the Louvre name in both artistic and academic circles in France. The opposition that has surfaced in France is led by art historian Didier Rykner, who is considered one of the most outspoken critics of the French–Emirati museum deal.[68] An online petition against the deal, signed by 4,650 curators, archaeologists and art historians, has insisted that French museums are not for sale.[69][70] Klaus-Dieter Lehmann, the president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, characterized the Louvre as behaving "like a corporation with a clearly-defined strategy: profit maximization."[46]

According to the New York Times, Henri Loyrette, the president and director of the Louvre, responded to the criticism of the museum's policy of establishing footholds abroad, arguing that the Louvre cannot ignore the "internationalization" of museums.[71] French minister of culture, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, defended the French government's decision to expand the Louvre to Abu Dhabi, explaining that it helps to enhance the image of France abroad while investing in French culture through revenues generated by the deal.[72] The United Arab Emirates president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan stated that the museum is a milestone in international cooperation and strengthens longstanding friendly ties between France and the United Arab Emirates.[43]

Treatment of construction workers

[edit]

Human Rights Watch reported issues during construction of Louvre Abu Dhabi including the confiscation of workers passports resulting in forced labour conditions.[73] High "recruitment loans" paid by migrant workers to construction companies still had not been repaid as of 2019, according to government-paid monitors. 86% of these fees were over $2,000.[74] The Human Rights Watch report welcomed improvements in the law made by the UAE since their previous report in 2009 such as the introduction of minimum standards for workers accommodation. However, they added "the true test lies in the impact of these changes on workers" and suggested that if the abusive recruitment fees were not reimbursed by construction companies or the UAE government, the responsibility to repay them lies with the foreign sponsors who gave their names to the project such as the Louvre.

Amid these reports, Jean Nouvel, the architect of Louvre Abu Dhabi defended the treatment of the construction workers, claiming that the conditions of construction workers were better than some European countries.[75]

Western curatorial bias

[edit]

The museum has been criticized for not fulfilling its stated intent of balancing western and eastern cultural and artistic perspectives, particularly in its collections of modern and contemporary art which exhibit a marked European focus. This bias, however, may erode over time as loans from French museums are gradually replaced by purchases made by the Louvre Abu Dhabi on its own.[4]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ In 2023, the term of the March 2007 agreement was extended from 2037 to 2047.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Rémy Jarry (October 2023), "Le Louvre Abu Dhabi : universel et local", Le Journal des Arts (618): 13
  2. ^ a b "The Louvre Abu Dhabi". Louvre. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  3. ^ "The Louvre Abu Dhabi – Louvre Museum – Paris". 6 September 2017.
  4. ^ a b Edwin Heathcote; Jan Dalley (10 November 2017). "The Gulf's blockbuster new Louvre arrives — and it's utterly original". Financial Times. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Vincent Van Gogh, Andy Warhol, Claude Monet and Henri Matisse in Louvre Abu Dhabi". Glammonitor. 21 October 2014. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  6. ^ Kumar, Ashwani. "Abu Dhabi: New rare artworks, cultural shows as Louvre turns 5". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  7. ^ "French Culture Minister heads delegation to UAE capital to seal Louvre Abu Dhabi operating framework". AME Info. 7 January 2008. Archived from the original on 30 October 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  8. ^ "Feu vert du parlement français au futur musée "Louvre Abou Dhabi"". AFP. Archived from the original on 9 June 2007.
  9. ^ "Louvre Abu Dhabi". Nafas Art Magazine. 2007. Archived from the original on 6 March 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
  10. ^ a b Jacques Follorou; Emmanuel de Roux (7 September 2006). "Des musées pour les émirs : le Louvre s'exporte dans le Golfe". Le Monde.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Vincent Eblé; André Gattolin (12 July 2017). "France-Muséums : une expérience unique ?" (PDF). Sénat.
  12. ^ a b c d Vincent Noce (12 April 2013). "Louvre Abou Dhabi : les mille et un ennuis". Libération.
  13. ^ Mara Corradi (15 February 2018). "Jean Nouvel: Louvre Abu Dhabi". Floornature Architecture & Surfaces.
  14. ^ Jean Nouvel (2019). Louvre Abu Dhabi : Histoire d'un projet d'architecture. Abu Dhabi: Louvre Abu Dhabi & Skira. p. 17.
  15. ^ Françoise Cachin; Jean Clair; Roland Recht (12 December 2006). "Les musées ne sont pas à vendre". Le Monde.
  16. ^ Seth Graebner (Summer 2014), "The Louvre Abu Dhabi: French Universalism, Exported", L'Esprit Créateur, 54 (2), Johns Hopkins University Press: 186–199, doi:10.1353/esp.2014.0019, JSTOR 26378905
  17. ^ Lin Noueihed (6 March 2007). "France signs deal to open Louvre in Abu Dhabi". Reuters.
  18. ^ Gilles Cuniberti (21 October 2007). "Choice of Law In Convention Establishing Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi". Conflicts of Laws.net.
  19. ^ "Louvre Abu Dhabi to be created within the Saadiyat Island Cultural District". Mena Report. 8 September 2008. Archived from the original on 15 April 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  20. ^ Heliot, Armelle (15 October 2007). "Le Louvre Abu Dhabi sous une coupole aérienne". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  21. ^ Gomez, Edward (2008). "A Louvre for Abu Dhabi? It's a done deal". SFGate.com. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  22. ^ "Le "Louvre Abu Dhabi" verra bien le jour". Le Figaro (in French). 9 October 2007.
  23. ^ "Statement by T.D.I.C., October, 29, 2011". Archived from the original on 9 November 2011.
  24. ^ Showcase projects yield to more urgent needs, Gulf News, 10 November 2011
  25. ^ "TDIC outlines new roll-out of museums". The National. Archived from the original on 31 October 2011.
  26. ^ a b c Sara Hamdan (26 September 2012). "After a Sputtering Start, the Louvre Abu Dhabi Project Gathers Pace". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  27. ^ "Bauer International FZE". www.baueruae.ae.
  28. ^ Eman Mohammed (26 May 2009). "Construction of historic Louvre Abu Dhabi museum starts". Gulf News. Archived from the original on 29 May 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  29. ^ Vogel, Carol (26 May 2009). "Abu Dhabi Gets a Sampler of World Art". New York Times. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  30. ^ "Louvre Abu Dhabi gets green light". Gulf News. 10 October 2007. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
  31. ^ James Langton (24 May 2013). "A modern marvel in the making". The National. Abu Dhabi Media. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  32. ^ Langton, James (10 December 2013). "Louvre Abu Dhabi chalks up another towering achievement". The National.
  33. ^ "From a patch of sand to the outline of a masterpiece". The National. 16 March 2014.
  34. ^ Langton, James (21 October 2014). "The story of the final piece of the Louvre Abu Dhabi". The National.
  35. ^ Emily Cleland (17 April 2013). "Sneak peek at treasures of Louvre Abu Dhabi". The National. Archived from the original on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  36. ^ Nick Leech (29 April 2014). "Abu Dhabi's Birth of a Museum exhibition opens at Louvre in Paris". The National. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  37. ^ Langton, James (8 November 2017). "Emmanuel Macron and UAE leaders formally open Louvre Abu Dhabi". The National. Archived from the original on 30 August 2020.
  38. ^ "Inauguration du Louvre Abu Dhabi, un musée "contre l'obscurantisme"". Le Point. 9 November 2017.
  39. ^ a b c d Anne-Lucie Chaigne-Oudin (14 June 2019). "Interview with Manuel Rabaté, Director of Louvre Abu Dhabi". Les Clés du Moyen-Orient.
  40. ^ Dajani, Haneen (11 November 2019). "Street named in honour of Jacques Chirac at Louvre Abu Dhabi ceremony". The National.
  41. ^ "From Paris to Abu Dhabi, a French culinary institution, Fouquet's, opens at Louvre Abu Dhabi". Groupe Barriere. 18 February 2020.
  42. ^ "Louvre Abu Dhabi / Ateliers Jean Nouvel". ArchDaily. 8 November 2017.
  43. ^ "Louvre, Abu Dhabi". Wallpaper. 7 May 2007. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  44. ^ a b "Riding, Alan". The New York Times. 7 March 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  45. ^ a b "Art in the Desert: 'Louvre Abu Dhabi' Gets Green Light". Spiegel Online. 3 July 2007. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
  46. ^ Digital, Traffic. "Architecture | Louvre Abu Dhabi". Architecture | Louvre Abu Dhabi. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  47. ^ Alyssa Buffenstein (14 November 2016). "Louvre Abu Dhabi Commissions Site-Specific Pieces by Jenny Holzer and Giuseppe Penone". Artnet.
  48. ^ "Opening press kit" (PDF). Louvre Abu Dhabi. November 2017.
  49. ^ a b c Bardsley, Daniel (19 August 2008). "Abu Dhabi's Louvre to get Middle East art". The National. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
  50. ^ Harris, Gareth (14 September 2012). "Louvre Abu Dhabi acquires its first photographic works". The Art Newspaper. Archived from the original on 21 September 2012.
  51. ^ Nick Leech (12 October 2014). "Louvre Abu Dhabi to be first museum in the Middle East to show a Leonardo Da Vinci painting". The National. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  52. ^ Anna Seaman (12 October 2014). "Van Gogh, Manet, Monet and Matisse among artworks to be lent to Louvre Abu Dhabi". The National. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  53. ^ Louvre Abu Dhabi (8 December 2017). "Louvre Abu Dhabi is looking forward to displaying the Salvator Mundi by Leonardo Da Vinci". Twitter.
  54. ^ Kamali Dehghan, Saeed (8 January 2019). "Louvre Abu Dhabi postpones display of Leonardo's Salvator Mundi". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2019. Delayed unveiling of world's most expensive painting adds to mystery shrouding its acquisition and authenticity
  55. ^ Brean, Joseph (8 January 2019). "Where in the world is Salvator Mundi, the most expensive painting ever sold?". National Post. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  56. ^ a b ""Projet de Loi adopté par le sénat, autorisant l'approbation d'accords entre le Gouvernement de la République française et le Gouvernement des Émirats Arabes Unis relatifs au musée universel d'Abou Dabi"". Assemblée Nationale. 2 October 2007.
  57. ^ Hannah McGivern (1 November 2016). "The lesser-known beneficiaries of the Louvre Abu Dhabi deal: Museums across France are making quick use of cash injections". The Art Newspaper.
  58. ^ "French cultural agency to steer work on Louvre Abu Dhabi". UAE Interact. 13 August 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
  59. ^ Robinson, Victoria (7 January 2008). "Abu Dhabi and Paris sign museam deal". MEED. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  60. ^ "Louvre Abu Dhabi's exclusive deal". de51gn.com. 30 July 2008. Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  61. ^ "The Pavillon de l'Horloge: Discover the Louvre". Louvre. 6 July 2016.
  62. ^ Danna Lorch (12 November 2017). "Hissa Al Dhaheri Frames the Momentous Opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi". Vogue.
  63. ^ "Shamma Al Bastaki – UAE Unlimited". Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  64. ^ "Louvre Abu Dhabi: Highway Gallery by TBWA\RAAD". The Drum. March 2018.
  65. ^ Rémy Jarry (October 2023), "Le Louvre Abu Dhabi : universel et local", Le Journal des Arts (618): 13
  66. ^ ""Agir ensemble" Rencontre avec Laurence des Cars et Laureent Le Bon, Propos recueillis par Adrien Goetz", Grande Galerie - le Journal du Louvre, 57: 60–61, Winter 2021
  67. ^ Farhat, Maymanah (27 March 2007). "The Louvre Abu Dhabi, Exploitation and the Politics of the Museum Industry". ZNet. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
  68. ^ Astier, Henri (7 March 2007). "Gulf Louvre deal riles French art world". BBC News. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
  69. ^ Krane, Jim (6 March 2007). "France's Louvre branching to Abu Dhabi". Boston.com. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
  70. ^ Van Gelder, Lawrence (9 January 2007). "Arts, Briefly". New York Times. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
  71. ^ Riding, Alan (13 January 2007). "Abu Dhabi Is to Gain a Louvre of Its Own". The New York Times.
  72. ^ "The Island of Happiness Revisited | A Progress Report on Institutional Commitments to Address Abuses of Migrant Workers on Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Island". Human Rights Watch. 21 March 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  73. ^ "The Louvre Abu Dhabi opens amid controversy over labour conditions". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  74. ^ "Architect defends treatment of workers at Louvre Abu Dhabi". The Guardian. 24 September 2017.

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]