Abu Dhabi is a city that has been mentioned more frequently in the  ‘culture’ sections of international publications for the last two years because of its announced construction of Saadiyat Island.  This island is designed to become the ‘culture hub’ of the Gulf, if not the Middle East; it will be  home to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, a Guggenheim museum, performance art  centers, hotels, etc.

 The New York Times has written another update on the upcoming Louvre  Abu Dhabi, set to be opening in 2013.   (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/arts/design/27louv.html?th&emc=th) Here it is, yet another newly developing structure/ project/  initiative, that is based on an entirely European foundation.  In Abu Dhabi,  a new art museum is filling its spaces with pieces purchased and borrowed from the Louvre, a quintessentially Parisian museum, in all its branding, symbolism, controversy, and indeed culture, history, and simply art.   The pride Abu Dhabi oozes about acquiring pieces ranging from late 1800’s Manet to the post-Bauhaus colour blocks of Mondrian is a definitive sign of a continuous Eurocentricity in the Gulf’s developing ‘culture’, and now cultural industry. 

The problems with this are varied.  Abu Dhabi seems confident that it is worth their while that $555 million is spent for the name of the Louvre, plus a $56 million per year is spent on developing a “World” art collection, specifically from France and the United States, to “to help educate our people” (as Chairman for the Abu Dhabi Authority on Culture and Heritage put it).  But the price that is being paid here is not really that in the millions, but more the price of losing indigenous artistic inspiration as education for future creative’s in the region.

Having looked into other write-ups about the Louvre Abu Dhabi, it seems that this focus on Occidental art has been questioned by many.  In response, the president of the Louvre (Paris) replied that this will be a museum showcasing works from all over the world, and that the French Agence Musee, a team put together to direct the first stages of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, will ensure that there is a dialogue created between the Eastern and Western works.  So there you have it, the French team will ensure that there is Middle Eastern art in the Middle Eastern museum. 

I once went to a panel discussion on the progress of the art industry in the Middle East.  Panelists spoke about education, foundations, scholarship, and support through regional collections in the region itself.  I am glad to say that nobody suggested that a European art collection would do good in enhancing the art scene.  But unfortunately, when a Dubai gallerist, Sunny Rahbar, said that a new art industry model should grow organically and establishments within the industry should not imitate any known model from other parts of the world, a certain British gallery owner responded that there is only one model: the European one.  What’s worse is that he has been proven right by the ‘initiatives’ taken to develop this newly constructed cultural hub.  

CG of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, architected by Jean Nouvel

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