Ushering in a new era

Louvre Abu Dhabi opened in the capital with a lot of pomp and fare earlier last month ushering in a new era of art appreciation in the region. The museum is located on Saadiyat Island and is the first of its kind in the GCC. The important collection of artworks and artefacts on display stem from all around the world and span the entirety of human existence from prehistory to present day. The galleries aim to tell the story of humanity through its 12 chapters.
Louvre Abu Dhabi was formed by an intergovernmental agreement between Abu Dhabi and France in 2007. The agreement states that the name of Louvre is on loan for a period of 30 years, and artworks from French institutions will be on loan for 10 years on a decreasing basis as the permanent collection grows; and the programming of temporary exhibitions for 15 years.
On a visit to Paris last year, Louvre Paris was at the top of the must-see sights in the city for me because the attraction played such an integral role in Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, where the protagonist Robert Langdon finds the answers he is seeking for.
The main event for me was, of course, standing in a queue to glance at Mona Lisa's mysterious smile that beckons you. I also spent almost a whole day gazing at the many amazing Egyptian sculptures, Greek antiquities, ornate Roman ceilings and paintings, and soaking in all of the art.
Louvre Abu Dhabi is as stunning as its sister museum and has been designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, and is a city on its own with 23 permanent galleries, temporary exhibition space, a Children's Museum, auditorium, restaurants, as well as a retail and a research centre. Surrounded by the sea, visitors can walk the promenades beneath the museum's stunning dome and experience the mesmerising 'rain of light', inspired by the shadows of overlapping palm trees in the UAE's precious oases. The dome consists of almost 8,000 unique metal stars set in a complex geometric pattern.
The opening of Louvre Abu Dhabi offers art aficionados a chance to admire, learn and be immersed in a work of art itself. With so many mysteries to decode, Dan Brown could possibly even set his next bestseller right on our shores!
 - deepa@khaleejtimes.com
Must-see attractions
- Leonardo da Vinci's portrait La Belle Ferronnière
- Self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh
- Monet's 1877 painting of the Saint-Lazare railroad station 
- A portrait of Napoleon crossing the Alps on a white horse, by Jacques-Louis David
- Giovanni Bellini's Madonna and Child
Fact file
- 7,500 tonnes: Total weight of the dome
- 8,000 Metal "Stars" form eight layers of the roof
- $1.3billion: Estimated cost of the project
- 180 metres: Diameter of the dome shading two-thirds of the Museum

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