The long-awaited branch of the Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi will open on November 11, 2017.
The UAE announced the opening of one of the most anticipated cultural attractions in the world. The Louvre Abu Dhabi will open its doors on November 11 this year 10 years, 8 months and 250 days after the signing of an unprecedented intergovernmental agreement that launched the project.
The long-awaited statement was made by the head of the museum Manuel Rabat and Muhammad Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of the Department of Tourism and Culture of Abu Dhabi (TCA) at the ceremony, which was also attended by Sheikh Nahayan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, architect Jean Nouvel, Jean-Luc Martinez, president of the Louvre Museum in Paris, and French Minister of Culture Francoise Nissen.
Al Mubarak previously stated: "Abu Dhabi, holding his hand in his heart, says that the message of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, which he wants to send to the rest of the world, is a gesture of unity, acceptance, connectedness and tolerance."
He added that these messages were important 1000 years ago, but today they are acquiring special significance, and "Abu Dhabi is a lighthouse that will broadcast these messages in Arabic and the rest of the world."
From November 11, the museum will be fully operational. The exhibition will feature about 700 exhibits, about half of which will belong to the museum’s permanent collection, and the other half will consist of exhibits from 13 major French cultural institutions, including the Louvre, Orsay Museum and the Pompidou Center in Paris, including Saint-Lazare Train Station "Claude Monet, a self-portrait of Vincent Van Gogh and Leonardo da Vinci's The Beautiful Ferronier, who will leave Europe for the first time to become the first Renaissance painting exhibited in the Middle East.
In an interview with The National, Manuel Rabaté described the Louvre Abu Dhabi as a “gift to the world,” whose beauty, in his opinion, is able to provide visitors with a new perspective on the world.
“A visit to the Louvre Abu Dhabi will be a comprehensive experience. You will discover this incredible building, and you will meet the masterpieces of all historical periods and from around the world,” he said.
