| 26 Jan 2012 |
|
Abu Dhabi Sets Opening Dates For Stalled Museums After Review
- Text size
Thursday, Jan 26, 2012
(This story was originally published Wednesday.)
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Abu Dhabi's Tourism Development and Investment Co., or TDICTDIC
, the main developer of Saadiyat Cultural District, said the new delivery dates for the Louvre Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will now be between 2015-2017 following a review by the government.
TDICTDIC said in an emailed statement that Louvre Abu Dhabi will open in 2015, Zayed National Museum in 2016 and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi in 2017.
The three museums, initially estimated to cost $1.27 billion, were planned to open between 2013-2014, but TDICTDIC
said last year they were all to be delayed till further notice due to the magnitude of the work involved. TDICTDIC added that new timeline has been finalized in close coordination with its partners and advisors, Agence France Muséums, The British Museum, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.
Earlier this week, Abu Dhabi's Executive Council said it approved the budgets and opening dates for three museums after a review.
TDICTDIC said substantial work has already been completed on the museums and "detailed architectural designs have now been finalised, as well as all foundation and piling work."
Oil-rich Abu Dhabi, looking to diversify its revenues away from oil, has been trying to promote itself as a world center for culture as well as business. The emirate had planned to invest about $500 billion in all types of non-oil industry, tourism and culture. However, budgetary tightening last year led to the shelving of at least $30 billion worth of projects as the government weighed the need for such projects in light of the global economic downturn.
Designed by Jean Nouvel, Louvre Abu Dhabi is set to be the first "universal" museum in the Arab World, and will showcase art from different civilisations and cultures, TDICTDIC said. Zayed National Museum will tell the story of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan's life and explore the history and culture of the U.A.E., while Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will be a transnational platform for contemporary art.
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
26-01-12 0400GMT
Zawya is a distributor (and not a publisher) of content supplied by third parties and subscribers. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by those third parties, including information providers, subscribers or other users of the Service, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and not of the Company. The Company neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made on the Service by anyone other than authorized Service employee spokespersons while acting in their official capacities. The Company is not responsible for any infringement of intellectual property rights or breach of any applicable law or regulation, including regulation in relation to financial services or the distribution of financial products, defamation, data protection, telecommunications (including regulations relating to excessive use, spamming or other abusive activities) or obscene, offensive or illegal content). Under no circumstances will the Company be liable for any loss or damage caused by a member's reliance on information obtained through the Service. It is the responsibility of member to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through the Service. Please seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding the evaluation of any specific information, opinion, advice or other content.
Read the full Member Agreement
http://www.zawya.com/legal/NewsLetter.cfm?name=disclaimer
Post a Comment
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.