Inside Louvre Abu Dhabi – Biggest museum in the Arab world

It’s a city that rose, literally from the sands of the desert, floated on a sea of petro-dollars and an unshakeable desire by its rulers to become the global meeting point between East and West and Louvre Abu Dhabi may be the symbol of that.

Soon it will become a global cultural centre in its own right.

Dubai might have the tits and the glitz, but Abu Dhabi, the seat of government for the United Arab Emirates, has always opted for the finer touch, which explains the biggest museum in the Arab World, which shortly will be joined by the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum; the massive interfaith Abrahamic Family House and the Zayed National Museum in the re- claimed land dubbed the Saadiyat Island Cultural District.

Louvre Abu Dhabi

The Louvre Abu Dhabi owes much to its Parisian parent, but still holds its own. In the first two years – before Covid – it became the most visited museum in the region too, racking up one million visitors a year in its first two years.

It’s different in many ways A million visitors yeArly biggest museum in ArAb world Louvre Abu Dhabi a landmark to its namesake, but there are many references to the original in homage to its iconic status. The rationale behind the Louvre Abu Dhabi is to tell the story of the world’s development in 12 different chapters through the art of the world’s major faiths.

It does this by putting them in the same room and in the same discussion every time, whether exploring the use of light and imagery in Islam, Christianity and Buddhism or a very subtle depiction of motherhood using historic artefacts from Egypt, Nigeria and France.

Some of the artefacts have been bought by the museum but many others have been loaned, by the Louvre itself and other major institutions.

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All of them are displayed within large airy rooms that are seamlessly inter-lead, much like the original in Paris.

An innovation is the interactive displays that go way beyond listen- ing to an audio clip of a particular exhibit or watching a video, but cleverly allow the visitor to trace and feel the texture and shape of it, without actually touching – and potentially damaging the exhibit.

Another hat-tip to Paris is neither the Mona Lisa, nor a copy of it, but rather the eponymous Portrait of African Woman done in 1560, 40 years after Leonardo da Vinci finished his work, but with the same directness of gaze. The building’s architecture does credit to the exhibits within.

The air-conditioned exhibition rooms lie beneath a lattice-type dome that allows the air of the Persian Gulf to flow through the complex, which also includes the Abu Dhabi branch of Paris’s world-famous Fouquet brasserie, as well as open-air amphitheatres that run down to the sea below with stages that can be suspended over the water from which performers can perform.

The design, feel and look definitely set the Louvre Abu Dhabi apart from the rest of the capital. But that’s what building something for 10 years on a budget of $1 billion (about R18.6 billion) will get you.

It goes without saying that the museum of the millennium, it’s definitely selfie-heaven too for the millennials and Gen Z, Alphas and anyone else with a smartphone.

UAE has opened a centre housing a mosque, church and UAE’s first official synagogue to promote interfaith coexistence.

Yas Viceroy Hotel is built across the F1 Yas Marina Circuit. It is known as one of the icons of Abu Dhabi and has a very futuristic design.

Museum of the millennium, it’s definitely selfie-heaven too For the rest, it’s a wonderful place to wander through and when the artefacts begin to overwhelm you, take a seat in one of the many areas; look out over the sea and process.

Or you can race though, grab another 10 selfies and post them in the time it takes you to catch a bus to Yas Island with its Ferrari World, Water World and even Warner Bros World never forgetting that is, the Yas Marina F1 track. You can do selfies there too.