Free like a bear

Using a quote of Sheikh Zayed that you can read at bus stops or on billboards all over Abu Dhabi seems to be an interesting way to start this article.

“A country is not measured by the size of its area on the map. A country is truly measured by its heritage and culture”.

 

Quite a beautiful and noble cause to promote culture, but I am not sure Sheikh Zayed expected his country to “buy” culture from other countries to achieve this! It indeed sounds like an admission of weakness to build museums for the only sake of attracting visitors. It is even more questionable when it is to exhibit pieces of art of foreign cultures that you “rent” for a lot of money…

As I mentioned before, Abu Dhabi currently develops a museum neighbourhood on Saadiyat island. As an architecture fan, I must admit I am quite excited by the project. The planned buildings are indeed very futuristic and designed by some of the best contemporary architects.

• Guggenheim-Museum Abu Dhabi / Frank O. Gehry

 

• Sheikh Zayed National Museum / Sir Norman Foster

• Performing Arts Center / Zaha Hadid

• Louvre Abu Dhabi / Jean Nouvel – the only finished museum up-to-date, designed – what a coincidence – by a French architect…

 

Whereas the Louvre Abu Dhabi museum is the first Louvre “franchise” out of France, the Guggenheim museum has already experience selling its name abroad. To be honest, I don’t think it does make much sense to construct a museum in the middle of a desert which requires complex architecture for an adequate art conservation climate. But I guess the number of zeros of the money transfer to France was too attractive to think about art…! Isn’t this oddly similar to the attribution of the football world cup 2022 in Qatar?

I had a nice – and long – direct bus ride from my couchsurfer’s place to the museum. After driving on the city highway surrounded by bustling life, the bus crossed a bridge… to arrive in the middle of nowhere… or better said in a huge area under development! There were construction sites all around, and some high buildings at the horizon. I looked up this area on Google Maps satellite and there was nothing! Google cannot update its satellite images fast enough here. There are entire cities emerging out of the sand. At this point, we were only a few people in the bus. At the final stop, the museum, I was alone… The only tourist who ever took this bus?! haha!

 

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is one of the few finished buildings in this area and looks a bit lost in the middle of the construction chaos. It is constructed over the sea and stands out with its huge silver dome. It is nicely integrated in the environment, impressive but not overwhelming. The building was inspired by a souq and consists of many little white houses covered by this huge umbrella-like dome.

 

The dome structure produces great light and shadow effects on the surroundings. Elements of traditional Islamic architecture like the mashrabiya were used as well. What is a bit confusing though is that there is no guiding thread through the museum and one feels lost between all these little houses, with many courtyards and dead-ends.

 

 

The building is obviously completely over-dimensioned for the scope of the exhibition of about 200-300 pieces. However, thanks to this space, the objects are perfectly exhibited and can come into their own. Unlike most of the museums in the world showing an historical collection, this collection was man-picked. It’s a selection of pieces from Ancient Egypt to contemporary art, from all the continents. It is perfect to get an art history crash course in 2-3 hours. “Less is more” is the motto; and the small selection has to my opinion a better educational value than piles of objects.

 

After visiting, I deserved a lunch break and had a delicious savory croissant at the beautiful outdoor café, surrounded by French tourists. I felt a bit like home for a while… haha!

 

On a sad note, I am quite concerned about the construction quality of the building. Although it was opened 1 year before my visit, there were already a lot of cracks and reparation works on-going. I guess constructing a building on the open sea, with a roof opened to the winds is not the smartest idea if you want to save maintenance costs…!