Abu Dhabi to host two new museums in addition to Guggenheim and Zayed
Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT), announced yesterday that the emirate plans to establish two new museums in addition to the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi designed by Frank Gehry and the Zayed National Museum designed by Norman Foster, scheduled for completion by 2025, The arts journal reports. Al Mubarak revealed the news on November 17 during the Abu Dhabi Art 2021 preview.
Although he offered few details, Al Mubarak confirmed that the new institutions were already under construction and that they differ from two earlier planned projects, respectively designed by Tadao Ando and the late Zaha Hadid, which were originally planned for the neighborhood. culture of Saadiyat before being scuttled. . Abu Dhabi has been stranded for much of the past two years, during which time, Al Mubarak said, the emirate made “a very clear and conscious decision to invest in culture, and investing in culture is not not just buildings. We invest in infrastructure, both soft and hard, whether it is institutions, music programs or school programs.
The new museums will join the already completed Louvre Abu Dhabi, designed by Jean Nouvel, on Saaidayat Island. To date, the construction of the three famous museums – the Louvre, the Guggenheim and the Zayed – has been arduous. However, the region is poised to benefit from a global shift away from the West-centric collection; Furthermore, Abu Dhabi has struggled to cope with its reputation as an expensive and socially conservative emirate that does not freely offer visas to artists.
“We will always be involved in large-scale projects, but we are also able to encourage and subsidize different artists and create opportunities for them here, not only from UAE but regional artists, from Lebanon or Jordan. “noted Al Khalifa (eliminating the fact that Abu Dhabi recently announced the cessation of visas for Lebanese nationals). “We organize creative visas, golden visas [visas unattached to employment], creating a space for artists in residence. We are involved at all levels, we even talk to developers of an affordable residential product to help these artists settle in Abu Dhabi.