Facing the future
As the dust settles on the UAE’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, Abu Dhabi’s next chapter has already begun. On Saadiyat Island, the emirate’s dedicated cultural district, Louvre Abu Dhabi will soon be joined by a series of ambitious and inspiring institutions designed with no less an aim than understanding the culture and history that binds humanity together. After all, big dreams never cease under these blue skies. Here is a primer on that grand plan.

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Louvre Abu Dhabi
Designed by Jean Nouvel

Opened in 2017, Louvre Abu Dhabi set a new standard. Admired internationally for its pioneering curatorial approach, it contrasts artworks of different historical periods and geographical areas. Highlighting dialogue between civilisations and embracing exchange, it presents a new concept in a stunning setting.

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The Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi
Designed by Mecanoo

The most recently announced addition to Saadiyat aspires to tell a story of humanity and the natural world and to offer solutions for engaging with our planet. The beautiful “hanging gardens” design will surely aid that rumination on man and nature.

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Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
Designed by Frank Gehry

Planned for completion in 2025, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will boast 28 galleries across 80,000 sq m of public space. It will be an apt showcase for modern and contemporary art from across the globe, offering a transcultural perspective with a focus on art from west Asia, north Africa and south Asia.

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Abrahamic Family House
Designed by David Adjaye

This complex, designed in tune with the landscape, will be a beacon of mutual understanding, harmonious coexistence and peace among people of faith and goodwill. It will include a mosque, church, synagogue and education centre.

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Art house

Louvre Abu Dhabi

Float away
Jean Nouvel’s poetic Louvre Abu Dhabi is built on an archipelago that was created to give it enough distance from the land to achieve its uncanny, floating aspect. The spectacular 180 metre-wide steel-mesh dome filters a soothing “rain of light” over some 23 separate low-level structures.

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Reaching higher

Zayed National Museum

Take wing
The soaring structures that define the silhouette of the Zayed National Museum, designed by Foster 1 Partners, were inspired by the folded wing feathers of a falcon. Celebrating the enduring legacy of the UAE’s founding father, it will also tell the stories of ancestors stretching back over millennia.

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Leading the way

Abu Dhabi’s bold ambitions include leading understanding about art, society and how we live. Saadiyat’s masterplan is being driven by Abu Dhabi’s department of culture and tourism. We meet its chairman, His Excellency Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, to get the lowdown on the big ideas.

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Louvre Abu Dhabi has been open for five years and is a well-respected art-world institution already – is that a big mark of success for you?
We’re proud of this achievement but success to me is not necessarily defined by visitor numbers or revenue. It’s when I see children from different backgrounds sitting side by side and looking in wonder at a singular artwork, learning about one another and understanding the essence of our similarities. Success is education and respect for other cultures.

The Zayed National Museum is your next big opening – what can the world expect?
It’s an absolutely unbelievable, beautiful building that has been designed by UK architect Norman Foster. It will welcome visitors from the region and around the world, and immerse them in a history of the UAE steered with an emphasis on the land itself. We’ll travel through thousands of years in archaeology, through artefacts, which enable us to discover both the tangible and intangible history of our land and people. It’s looking magical.

And you’ve just announced another exciting addition to the Cultural District, the region’s biggest natural history museum. What will make it unique?
The Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi will truly immerse visitors in the reality of our natural world and in the journey of our planet. We want to drive understanding of the world around us and to make natural history a lifelong passion for people of all ages. And what will make us unique is that in other natural history museums, the Arabian world has not been represented before. At the very heart of it is an amazing collection, which will go beyond our planet into space and the universe. We’re going to be connected to other natural history museums of the world, through our collection and our scientific research.

There’s a lot of debate in museums at the moment about what art means and how culture should be displayed. Is this an opportunity for Abu Dhabi to lead?
Absolutely! We want to reignite the entire art ecosystem, engaging with the new generation of homegrown curators and experts here in Abu Dhabi and the UAE. We feel that we can be an example of change, a blueprint for new cultural institutions around the world. Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, for example, is a museum that will redefine artist equality – celebrating artists from all over the world but focusing on artists from traditionally underrepresented countries and cultures. Visitors will see works by Basquiat and Pollock but they’ll be displayed alongside artists from, for example, Peru, the Philippines and Nigeria. And we’ll be asking who was first to influence the other; we’ll be making connections between all corners of the globe.

Explore more: visitabudhabi.ae