A high-powered delegation of French ministry officials, the country's museums agency and national museums group as well as representatives from five of the top cultural institutions in France have visited the UAE capital to progress the management strategy for the planned Louvre Abu Dhabi due to open in the Cultural District of Saadiyat Island.
The ten-strong delegation, which was accompanied by the French Ambassador to the UAE, Mr Patrice Paoli, included officials from the French Cultural Ministry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and from the Musée du Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, the CNAC Pompidou, Musée du Quai Branly and the National Library of France.
The delegation held talks with senior officials of Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), which manages the tourism assets of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority and which is behind the transformation of Saadiyat Island into a global residential, tourism and cultural hub.
"Our talks focused on the management strategy for the Louvre Abu Dhabi, which will be among the first of Saadiyat's international cultural institutions to take shape," said Lee Tabler, CEO, TDIC.
The concept design for the Louvre Abu Dhabi has been carried out by award-winning French architect Jean Nouvel.
"The project will shortly be entering its design and engineering phase with the imminent appointment of an engineering consultant to work in collaboration with Jean Nouvel," said Tabler.
Earlier this year the governments of Abu Dhabi and the Republic of France agreed an unprecedented 30-year cultural accord to create the Louvre Abu Dhabi museum on Saadiyat Island, which lies just 500 meters offshore Abu Dhabi city.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi is one of several iconic museums and arts centers being planned for Saadiyat Island's Cultural District. Others include: the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi modern and contemporary art museum, a Maritime Museum, the Sheikh Zayed National Museum, a performing arts center and a Biennale Park with a host of museum clusters. Together they make up the world's largest cultural destination.
Jean Nouvel's design concept for the Louvre Abu Dhabi is currently on show in an exhibition devoted to Saadiyat Island's Cultural District which is open daily to the public from 10 AM until 10 PM in the UAE capital's Emirates Palace Hotel.
Source: Action PR
