09 November 2017
H.E Shaikha Mai Attends Louvre Abu Dhabi Inauguration Ceremony
President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA), Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, attended on 9 November 2017, the official opening of the "Louvre Abu Dhabi" Museum, upon an invitation bestowed on H.E by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and a number of important personalities.
Commenting on the event, H.E Shaikha Mai expressed delight at participating in the opening of the museum described as a "cultural and architectural monument that it embodies the concept of investment in cultural projects in the UAE.”
H.E added saying that : “ Governments should give priority to supporting the cultural and artistic movement, as well as establishing a suitable cultural infrastructure in the region to create a sustainable cultural tourism, adding that such projects give long-term benefits for the region which is keen on diversifying its sources of income.”
The "Louvre Abu Dhabi", which will be open to public on November 11, will enhance Abu Dhabi’s international cultural role. Built to house artwork, the building of the Louvre Abu Dhabi has itself become known as a stunning piece of art on the capital’s landscape. It has been designed by Jean Nouvel, a French architect who has been awarded the Pritzker Prize, a top recognition in the field of architecture. Inspired by the medina (the old walled part of a town) and low-lying Arab settlements, Nouvel designed the Louvre Abu Dhabi as a ‘museum city’ in the sea with its contrasting series of 55 white buildings. Its highlight is a 180 meter-wide and eight-layered dome that includes a complex pattern created from a geometric design. The dome allows sunlight to penetrate through various angles, creating a ‘rain of light’ effect within the museum.
In addition to art galleries, the Louvre Abu Dhabi also features a temporary exhibition space, a children’s museum, a 200-seater-auditorium, a restaurant, a cafe, and retail space.the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, will showcase hundreds of works of art from around the world. In 2007, the Louvre Museum in Paris signed agreement to allow the government of Abu Dhabi to use the "Louvre" name for its new museum for 30 years, and for management advice and assistance. The agreement is worth more than $1 billion. The agreement includes the loan of the Louvre Museum’s name for 30 years and six months, its temporary exhibitions for 15 years, and loans of artwork for a decade. The museum, one of four planned for the capital’s Saadiyat Island, will be the first to open.
The 97,000-square-metre facility has collected more than 600 artworks to date, including Ottoman daggers, Hindu figurines, and works by French painter Edouard Manet and Ottoman art expert Osman Hamdi Bey. Many of these will be exhibited alongside 300 works on loan from 13 leading French institutions that have partnered with Louvre Abu Dhabi, such as the Orsay Museum and modern art institution, Centre Pompidou. Among the loaned artworks are pieces by Leonardo da Vinci "Portrait of a Woman" and Napoleon himself — a portrait of the emperor crossing the Alps on a rearing white horse, by Jacques-Louis David and Vincent Van Gogh.
