{"id":44587,"date":"2017-09-11T13:09:29","date_gmt":"2017-09-11T11:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.area-arch.it\/en\/louvre-abu-dhabi\/"},"modified":"2017-09-11T13:26:44","modified_gmt":"2017-09-11T11:26:44","slug":"louvre-abu-dhabi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.area-arch.it\/en\/louvre-abu-dhabi\/","title":{"rendered":"Louvre Abu Dhabi"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cLouvre Abu Dhabi will open in two months. After several years of studies and construction, guests will be able to enter this place of light, this revelatory meeting place of a number of planetary cultures beyond the seas and centuries. It is an architecture that is protective of its treasures, it is a homage to the Arab city, to its poetry in geometry and light, and, under the large cupola, it is an evocation of the temporalities which inexorably punctuate the hours, days, and the passing of our lives.\u201d<\/em> Jean Nouvel<\/p>\n

Louvre Abu Dhabi today announced it will open its doors to the public on 11 November 2017. It is the first museum of its kind in the Arab world: a universal museum that focuses on shared human stories across civilisations and cultures. The opening celebrations will include a wide range of public programmes, including symposiums, performances, concerts, dance, and visual arts by renowned contemporary and classical artists.
\nLocated in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Pritzker Prize winning French architect\u00a0Jean Nouvel<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0has designed a museum city (Arab medina<\/em>) under a vast silvery dome. Visitors can walk through the promenades overlooking the sea beneath the museum\u2019s 180-metre dome, comprised of almost 8,000 unique metal stars set in a complex geometric pattern. When sunlight filters through, it creates a moving \u2018rain of light\u2019 beneath the dome, reminiscent of the overlapping palm trees in the UAE\u2019s oases. On display will be the museum\u2019s important collection of artworks, artefacts and loans from France\u2019s top museums. These span the entirety of human existence: from prehistorical objects to commissioned contemporary artworks, highlighting universal themes and ideas and marking a departure from traditional museography that often separates according to origin. In addition to the galleries, the museum will include exhibitions, a Children\u2019s Museum, a restaurant, a boutique and a caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n

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photo by Mohamed Somji<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Louvre Abu Dhabi forms one element of Abu Dhabi\u2019s cultural strategy, which safeguards our rich heritage and catalyses creativity. Investment in a vibrant cultural ecosystem supports the UAE\u2019s economic diversification and development as a modern, dynamic society. Louvre Abu Dhabi will inspire a new generation of cultural leaders and creative thinkers to contribute to our rapidly-changing and tolerant nation. Louvre Abu Dhabi\u2019s story will begin in the \u201cGreat Vestibule\u201d, where visitors are introduced to important themes such as maternity and funerary rituals. The dialogue between works from different geographical territories, sometimes far apart, highlights similarities between the canons despite each having its own mode of expression. The galleries will be both chronological and thematic, and subdivided into 12 chapters. Displays include works from the earliest empires, including the first figurative representations, such as the Bactrian Princess<\/em> created in Central Asia at the end of the 3rd Millennium BCE, funerary practices of ancient Egypt illustrated by a set sarcophagi of Princess Henuttawy, and the creation of new economies with a Decadrachm<\/em> coin of Syracuse signed by the artist Euainetos. A gallery dedicated to universal religions will feature sacred texts: a Leaf from the \u201cBlue Quran\u201d<\/em>, a Gothic Bible, a Pentateuch<\/em> and texts from Buddhism and Taoism. The artistic exchanges on the trading routes during the Medieval and Modern periods are brought to the fore through a important number of ceramic works. Between Asia and the Mediterranean and then between Europe and America, guests will appreciate how the world\u2019s horizon gradually expanded.<\/p>\n

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photo by Mohamed Somji<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A set of screens from the Japanese Namban demonstrate the dialogue between the Far East and Europe. From the image of the Prince throughout the world, illustrated by an important Ottoman Turban Helmet<\/em> to a more intimate vision of a new art of living, the museum presents an exceptional chest of drawers made in Red Chinese lacquer by Bernard II Van Risenburgh (BVRB, 1696\u20131766), created in France. In a section about Modernity are Edouard Manet\u2019s (1832\u20131883) the Gypsy<\/em>, Paul Gauguin\u2019s (1848\u20131903) Children Wrestling<\/em>, Piet Mondrian\u2019s (1872\u20131944) Composition with Blue, Red, Yellow and Black<\/em>. On show will be a monumental work by the artist Ai Weiwei (1957) and his questioning of globalisation. Louvre Abu Dhabi\u2019s first site-specific works installed in the outdoor areas by renowned contemporary artists, interact with the spirit of the museum and the fabric of the architecture. American artist Jenny Holzer (1950) has created three engraved stone walls named For Louvre Abu Dhabi <\/em>(2017). These cite important historical texts from Ibn Khaldun’s Muqaddimah<\/em>, the Mesopotamian bilingual (Akkadian \/ Sumerian) Creation Myth tablet<\/em>, and the 1588 annotated edition of Michel de Montaigne’s Les Essais<\/em>. Italian artist Giuseppe Penone (1947) has produced several works specifically for Louvre Abu Dhabi. Leaves of Light<\/em> (2017) is a vast bronze tree with mirrors placed in its branches to reflect the \u2018rain of light\u2019. Propagation<\/em> (2017) is a wall of porcelain tiles that depict hand-drawn concentric circles originating from the fingerprint of Sheikh Zayed, the UAE\u2019s founding father. It was produced in collaboration with the workshops of S\u00e8vres \u2013 Cit\u00e9 de la c\u00e9ramique in France.<\/p>\n

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photo by Mohamed Somji<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Endowed with an innovative scientific and cultural project combining the expertise of 13 French museums and institutions steered by the Agence France-Mus\u00e9ums, the Louvre Abu Dhabi will indeed offer visitors a unique experience: a brand new journey through major works of art from different civilisations, mirrored to reveal our common humanity. The Louvre Abu Dhabi therefore carries a message of tolerance and peace and stresses the unwavering commitment of our two countries to promote culture and education as a shield against extremism. The inauguration week will also feature two prestigious events coproduced under the French-Emirati Cultural Programme, that was initiated over a year ago by our two countries and supported by the creative momentum generated by the Louvre Abu Dhabi. I have the hope that the Louvre Abu Dhabi will always bring this energy further, inspire new callings, promote mutual understanding, and always reinforce the strong bonds uniting the United Arab Emirates and France.\u201d<\/p>\n

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photo by Mohamed Somji<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the galleries, important artworks on loan from 13 leading museums in France will be presented. Highlights include Leonardo da Vinci\u2019s (1452\u20131519) La Belle Ferronni\u00e8re (on loan from mus\u00e9e du Louvre); Vincent van Gogh\u2019s (1853\u20131890) self-portrait (mus\u00e9e d’Orsay et de l’Orangerie); a rare ivory saltcellar from the Benin Empire (mus\u00e9e du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac); a Globe by Vincenzo Coronelli (1650\u20131718) of Biblioth\u00e8que nationale de France; a pair of gui vessels (Mus\u00e9e national des arts asiatiques Guimet); Jacques-Louis David\u2019s (1748\u20131825) Napoleon Crossing the Alps (Ch\u00e2teau de Versailles); Auguste Rodin\u2019s (1840\u20131917) Jean d\u2019Aire from the group the Burghers of Calais (Mus\u00e9e Rodin); a 13th century reliquary chest (Mus\u00e9e de Cluny – Mus\u00e9e national du Moyen \u00c2ge); a Chinese ewer of Persian shape<\/em> (Mus\u00e9e des Arts D\u00e9coratifs); a Breastplate of Marmesse (Mus\u00e9e d’arch\u00e9ologie nationale – Saint Germain en Laye); the Apollo Belvedere statue by Primatice (1504\u20131570) from Ch\u00e2teau de Fontainebleau; and Standing Woman II by Alberto Giacometti (1901\u20131966) from Centre Pompidou. The inaugural special exhibition, From One Louvre to Another: opening a museum for everyone<\/em>, opens on 21 December 2017, and traces the history of Mus\u00e9e du Louvre in Paris. Divided into three sections, the exhibition will look at the royal collections at Versailles under King Louis XIV, followed by the residency of the Academy and Salons in this palace for artists, and conclude with the creation of the modern Mus\u00e9e du Louvre. It will feature aproximately 145 significant paintings, sculptures, decorative arts and other pieces from the collections of Mus\u00e9e du Louvre and Ch\u00e2teau de Versailles. The exhibition is curated by Jean-Luc Martinez, President-Director, Mus\u00e9e du Louvre, and Juliette Trey, Curator, Prints and Drawings Department, Mus\u00e9e du Louvre.<\/p>\n