Desert Louvre, Abu Dhabi

The “desert Louvre” is a museum complex on Saadiyat (“Happiness”) island, 500 metres off Abu Dhabi, scheduled to be completed in 2013. 400 million euros have to be paid by the capital of the UAE within a 30-year agreement between Abu Dhabi and France for the Louvre brand name and hundreds of artworks loaned from the museum in Paris and other French museums. The artworks will be loaned for periods of between six months and two years. Topped by a dome in Arabian architecture style, the building will be built on 24,000 square metres. The museum has been designed by French architect Jean Nouvel. “Talking Art: Louvre Abu Dhabi” was the name of an exhibition this summer, a sort of “appetizer” for what’s to come later on. The Louvre Abu Dhabi is one of five museums on the island that will be completed in 2018. (eap)