A powerful new agency, represented by some of the most prominent cultural personalities in France, has been formed to steer the development of the planned Louvre Abu Dhabi, which is to be built in the Cultural District of Saadiyat Island - just 500 metres offshore the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
The French Museums agency, will operate in collaboration with the Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) which is behind the transformation of Saadiyat Island and will be chaired by leading French financier and member of the country's Academie des Beaux Arts, Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, publisher of the intellectual periodical Revue des Deux Mondes with Bruno Maquart, the former Executive Director of Centre Pompidou acting as Executive Director.
"The French Museums agency comprises some of the finest minds in the French cultural arena," said His Excellency Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) and TDIC Chairman.
"Working closely with the Tourism Development & Investment Company, the French Museums agency members will be responsible for most aspects of planning of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, including the scientific and cultural program, advising on the architecture, design and acquisitions, handling loans, temporary exhibitions, management support, visitor development and services. Together we have formulated a world-class team which will deliver a truly outstanding facility of international appeal."
Agency stakeholders comprise representatives of the Louvre, Musée du Quai Branly, Centre Pompidou, Musée d'Orsay, Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF), Musée Guimet, Domaine national de Versailles, Domaine national de Chambord, Réunion de musées nationaux, Ecole du Louvre and the capital projects organization EP de maitrise d'ouvrage des travaux culturels.
The agency includes Henri Loyrette, Chairman and Director of the Louvre and former director of the Musée d'Orsay who will chair its Scientific Committee, Laurence des Cars, the former curator of Musée d'Orsay who will act as Scientific Director and Sylvie Aubenas, Curator of the BNF's Engraving and Photography Department who will also serve on the Scientific Committee.
Under its management support jurisdiction, the agency will supply expertise in the fields of restoration, curatorship, exhibition design as well as provide the required training for the Museum Operating Body that will be in charge of the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
"Our long-term ambition is to see UAE nationals fully trained in these specialist fields and we intend to activate a series of art and cultural education initiatives to ignite within young Emiratis a determination to take up vocations in these sectors," said Sheikh Sultan. "A dedicated training action plan will be rolled out within 18 months with training sessions to be held in France and Abu Dhabi."
Planning for the Louvre Abu Dhabi, for which the French award-winning architect Jean Nouvel delivered the concept design, follows a 30-year cultural accord sealed earlier this year between the governments of Abu Dhabi and the Republic of France.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi is one of several iconic museums and arts centres being planned for Saadiyat Island's Cultural District. Others include: the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi modern and contemporary art museum, a Maritime Museum, the Sheikh Zayed National Museum, a performing arts centre and a Biennale Park with a host of museum clusters. Together they make up the world's largest cultural destination.
Jean Nouvel's design concept for the Louvre Abu Dhabi is currently on show in an exhibition devoted to Saadiyat Island's Cultural District which is open daily to the public in the UAE capital's Emirates Palace Hotel.
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About Saadiyat Island
Saadiyat Island - which translates from Arabic as Island of Happiness - is the largest single mixed-use development in the Arabian Gulf. The 27 square kilometre natural island - half the size of Bermuda - lies only 500 metres offshore Abu Dhabi island - the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. Saadiyat Island is being developed into a complete visitor and residential destination.
Saadiyat Island represents one of the most important development opportunities in Abu Dhabi's history. The island, which has 30kms of water frontage and boasts many natural eco-features including mangrove forests, is being developed as a strategic international tourism destination and marks a new era in the rapid evolution of Abu Dhabi, the largest of the seven emirates which form the UAE Federation.
Saadiyat Island will be developed in three phases with total completion scheduled for 2018. The masterplan envisages seven highly individual districts and includes 29 hotels, including an iconic 7-star property, three marinas with combined berths for around 1,000 boats, museums and cultural centres, two golf courses - one the UAE's first Gary Player Signature course and the first in the Arabian Gulf with beach-front holes - civic and leisure facilities, sea-view apartments and elite villas.
Saadiyat Island is expected to be home to a community of more than 150,000 people - the same population size as Chang Mai in Thailand, Oxford in the UK or Hollywood in the USA.
Saadiyat Island will be linked to the main Abu Dhabi island and the Abu Dhabi mainland via two, 10-lane freeways making the destination easily accessible to Abu Dhabi International Airport, which will be just a 25 kilometre drive away.
Saadiyat Island is being developed by the Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), an independent public joint stock company of which Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority is the sole shareholder. TDIC's strategy is to dispose of development land on the island to private investors who will each develop their sites in accordance with the masterplan and supporting planning regulations and design guidelines.
About Tourism Development & Investment Company
Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) is a public joint stock company established under Law No: 12 of 2005 as decreed by the Abu Dhabi Ruler and UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. TDIC is an independent organisation empowered to manage the tourism investment zones of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), which directs and implements strategy for the expansion of the emirate's tourism sector. TDIC will develop the real estate assets that support ADTA's mission of assisting UAE economic diversification through tourism development.
TDIC, launched with an initial paid-up capital of AED100 million (US $27.5 million) with its shareholding fully owned by ADTA, operates along strictly commercial lines with its projects being self-sustaining and economically feasible. Its activities include creating development and tourism related concepts for specific sites and locations, disposing of, or repositioning, government-owned tourism related assets, entering into joint ventures with investment partners for assets such as hotels or residential products, as well as serving as the master developer for large scale projects.
For further information:
Bassem Terkawi. PR & Communications Manager, TDIC
Tel: +9712 4443000;
fax: +9712 4443111
e-mail: bterkawi@tdic.ae
Barbara Saunders
MCS/Action
Tel: +9714 390 2960
Fax: +9714 390 8161
© Press Release 2007
