ISLAMABAD, NOV 09 (DNA) – Minister of Culture Françoise Nyssen, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Tourism and Culture Authority of Abu Dhabi, and Jean-Luc Martinez, president and director of the Louvre Museum, announced that the Louvre Abu Dhabi would open its doors to the public on November 11. This marks the completion of France’s most important museum cooperation project.

The result of an intergovernmental agreement signed in March 2007, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, designed by architect Jean Nouvel, is the leading universal museum of the Arab world.

Ten years after the signing of that agreement, we applaud the extraordinary job of the France Muséums agency, the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, and the Embassy of France in the United Arab Emirates.

It is thanks to their determination that this project, the fruit of a strategic dialogue between French and Emirati political officials, has become a reality.

When it opens, the Louvre Abu Dhabi will display a rich permanent collection consisting of its own acquisitions – some 600 works ranging from Antiquity to the present – along with 300 works on loan from French museums.

Featuring major works from all periods and geographical areas, the museum offers a cultural dialogue emphasizing their commonalities.

The France Muséums agency, an umbrella organization comprising the Louvre and another 12 French museums, oversaw the project’s conception and will be responsible for organizing four temporary exhibits a year for 15 years.

The first of these, “From One Louvre to Another: Opening a Museum for All,” will be devoted to the history of the Paris museum.

About 1,000 works from French national collections will be presented during the first year Following the establishment of Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi in 2006 and the Abu Dhabi Conference of December 2016 on safeguarding endangered cultural heritage, which led to the creation of an international fund, the inauguration of the Louvre Abu Dhabi is a major event that marks our joint determination to promote cultural dialogue as a bulwark against all forms of obscurantism and extremism.

This project gave rise to a direct dialogue between French and Emirati cultural professionals and showcased French expertise on cultural matters.

The inauguration on November 11 will conclude an exceptional French-Emirati cultural season that, since March 2016, has showcased bilateral cultural and artistic cooperation in connection with the Louvre Abu Dhabi project.

Following events in all disciplines (music, theater, equestrian arts, contemporary art), a fireworks show by Group F will mark the museum opening.=DNA

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