The race for art island: Louvre and Guggenheim battle it out
Big 'brands' compete to be first in Abu Dhabi's £14.5bn cultural quarter
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Wednesday November 22, 2006
....
A French government delegation arrives today in Abu Dhabi, the capital
of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, to finalise a deal that would see
France stamp its influence on the city's quest to reinvent itself as the
cultural capital of the Gulf.
Already, the giant of the art collection world, the Guggenheim
Foundation, has signed up to build a museum in Abu Dhabi designed by the
architect Frank Gehry that will open in 2012. Now, in a race of cultural
brand names, the Louvre is attempting to beat them to it, with the
leading French architect Jean Nouvel tipped to create a new museum that
will display works from the Louvre.
Abu Dhabi, which has more than 9% of the world's oil reserves, plans to
make the museums the centrepiece of a £14.5bn cultural and financial
quarter set on an island named Saadiyat, Arabic for "isle of happiness".
There will be three other museums, luxury hotels and golf courses. But
the government is aware that in its competition to lure tourists away
from the shopping haven of Dubai, the Louvre could be the deciding
factor. More than 7.5 million people trooped through its doors in Paris
last year. Abu Dhabi is said to be prepared to pay Paris more than €750m
(£500m) for the jewel in its cultural crown.
cont'd....
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1954019,00.html