UAE signs Louvre Abu Dhabi deal

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French Culture Minister and the head of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnun al-Nahayan, sign a controversial agreement to build an annex of Paris' famed Louvre art gallery in Abu Dhabi.

France and the UAE have signed an unprecedented 30-year deal to build a branch of the Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi.

The deal is thought to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars - a fraction of the original $1bn estimate - and is part of the emirate's aim to raise its profile as a world-class cultural destination.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi museum will be created within the capital's new cultural district of Saadiyat Island. Abu Dhabi officials want the Louvre to be one of five satellite art museums, which will also include a branch of the Guggenheim.

"We have decided to create together a museum destined to foster cultural dialogue between East and West by exhibiting works of major importance from all the domains of the history of art," said French Minister for Culture and Communications Renaud de Vabres.

The French government has faced criticism from protesters warning that French museums "could be selling their souls" by loaning too many works to museums abroad.

An online petition signed by several prominent members of the French art scene has questioned whether the government is turning the country's rich artistic heritage into a commercial brand.

The Abu Dhabi branch of the Louvre is expected to open in 2012 to exhibit major artifacts in archaeology and fine arts from all historic periods, but pre-dominantly classical. It is thought that nude images and certain religious artifacts will not be displayed.

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The Louvre
Posted by Wim Bearwulf, Netherlands on Thursday 8 March 2007 at 02:55 UAE time


Well, maybe they can hang some replicates over there so the collection will keep the same size at both places. For the normal people it wouldn't make a differentse.

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