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| A comprehensive
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Valuable concise reference source on the UAE,
covering political system, economy, business, history and
heritage,
education, women, healthcare, tourism and environment. |
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Natural history of the UAE,
covering all animals and plants recorded in the
Emirates. |
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Report by National US Arab Chamber of Commerce on the
UAE. Vol XV, No 3, June 2007. Includes analysis of UAE economy. |
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UNITED ARAB EMIRATES ART AND ART GALLERIES
The UAE is not immediately associated with excellence
in the world of art. Nevertheless, while it may be true that no Emirati
artist has yet attained worldwide fame, it is probably only a matter of
time. Significantly, it is the women of the UAE, notably several of the
Sheikhas, who are quickly making their mark on the international scene.
Individual emirates are actively promoting art and the fostering of artistic
talent. In particular, Sharjah, as part of its concerted efforts to advance
culture in all its guises, opened the fist dedicated national art
gallery in the UAE. The Emirates Fine Arts Society was established in
that emirate also. Arguably the most important date on the UAE’s
artistic calendar is the Sharjah Art Biennial where artists from other
Gulf states, the Middle East and the rest of the world are invited to
Sharjah to display their art. Awards are presented for various categories
and the event is doing much towards formalizing art in the UAE and its
perception abroad.
Abu Dhabi's New Cultural Projects
Abu Dhabi, too is active in art with the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation
providing an excellent focus for artistic activities. The Foundation provides
a home for art and artists, for creation and display. From its quiet beginning
in the early 1980s, it has now become a major source for promoting and
encouraging art and knowledge in all its forms. Abu Dhabi has recently announced the development of Saadiyat island as an 'island of art'. The new development includes Guggenheim and Louvre museums and a host of other cultural and artistic developments.
In January 2007 four of the world’s most renowned architects – Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, Tadao Ando and Zaha Hadid– presented designs commissioned by Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) for iconic museums and a performing arts centre which will position the UAE capital’s Saadiyat Island, that lies just offshore the emirate, as a world-class cultural destination.
“The aim of Saadiyat Island must be to create a cultural asset for the world. A gateway and beacon for cultural experience and exchange. Culture crosses all boundaries and therefore Saadiyat will belong to the people of the UAE, the greater Middle East and the world at large,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed stated at the opening of an exhibition showcasing the designs.
In addition to the museums and a performing arts centre Saadiyat Island’s Cultural District will also feature the Sheikh Zayed National Museum – a museum devoted to the history and traditions of Abu Dhabi and the legacy of the emirate’s much-admired late ruler His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who was also the first President of the United Arab Emirates and often referred to as ‘The Father Of The Nation.’ This museum will pay tribute to those Emiratis who left a wealth of cultural heritage. "Within the Sheikh Zayed National Museum we shall conserve this heritage and build on it, as it is the soul of this land and its future generations".
Frank Gehry is designing the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi – a contemporary art museum, which will be the only one of its kind in the Middle East; the British/Iraqi born architect Zaha Hadid is designing Saadiyat’s Performing Arts Centre, which will present the finest in music, theatre and dance, Jean Nouvel of France is designing the Louvre Museum, while Japan’s Tadao Ando is designing the Maritime Museum which will reflect the rich maritime history of the UAE and the Arabian Gulf.
The Gehry concept for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum, which at 320,000 square feet will be the world’s largest Guggenheim museum, is designed around accommodating approximately 130,000 square feet of exhibition space. It will feature
permanent collections, galleries for special exhibitions, a centre for art and technology, a children’s art education facility, archives, library and research centre and a state-of-the-art conservation laboratory.
“Approaching the design of the museum for Abu Dhabi made it possible to consider options for design of a building that would not be possible in the United States or in Europe,” said Gehry. “It was clear from the beginning that this had to be a new invention. The landscape, the opportunity, the requirement, to build something that people all over the world would come to and the possible resource to accomplish it opened tracks that were not likely to be considered anywhere else. The site itself,
virtually on the water or close to the water on all sides, in a desert landscape with the beautiful sea and the light quality of the place suggested some of the direction.”
In the Gehry design, four storeys of central core galleries are laid out around a courtyard. “These will be more classical contemporary galleries, completely air conditioned with skylights where possible and a sophisticated lighting system,” said Gehry. Two more rings of galleries span out from the core.
“The third ring is for larger galleries, built more like raw industrial space with exposed lighting and systems. They would be less finished. These galleries will be attractive as spawning homes for a new scale of contemporary art - art that would be, perhaps, made on site and of a scale that could not be achieved in the normally organised museums around the world.”
In Hadid’s Performing Arts Centre concept, a 62 metre high building is proposed housing five theatres – a music hall, concert hall, opera house, drama theatre and a flexible theatre with a combined seating capacity for 6,300 – that’s 1,100 more than London’s Royal Albert Hall. The Centre may also house an Academy of Performing Arts.
“As it winds through the site, the architecture increases in complexity, building up height and depth and achieving multiple summits in the bodies housing the performance spaces, which spring from the structure like fruits on a vine and face westward, toward the water,” explained Hadid.
“The building becomes part of an inclining ensemble of structures that stretch from the Maritime Museum at its southern end to the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi at the northern tip. With its centre of mass at the water’s edge, the Performing Arts Centre focuses its volume along the central axis of the site. This arrangement interrupts the block matrix at the Arterial Road, opening views to the sea and the skyline of Abu Dhabi.
“The concert hall is above the lower four theatres, allowing daylight into its interior and dramatic views of the sea and city skyline from the huge window behind the stage. Local lobbies for each theatre are orientated towards the sea to give each visitor a constant visual contact with their surroundings.”
Nouvel’s design concept for the Louvre Museum owes much to Saadiyat’s natural surroundings.
“The island offers a harsh landscape, tempered by its meeting with the channel, a striking image of the aridity of the earth versus the fluidity of the waters,” said Nouvel. “These fired the imagination towards unknown cities buried deep into the sands or sunk under water. These dreamy thoughts have merged into a simple plan of an archaeological field revived as a small city, a cluster of nearly one-row buildings along a leisurely promenade.
“This micro-city requires a micro-climate that would give the visitor a feeling of entering a different world. The building is covered with a large dome, a form common to all civilisations. This one is made of a web of different patterns interlaced into a translucent ceiling which lets a diffuse, magical light come through in the best
tradition of great Arabian architecture. Water is given a crucial role, both in reflecting every part of the building and acting as a psyche, and in creating, with a little help from the wind, a comfortable micro-climate.”
Ando’s Maritime Museum concept takes its inspiration from Abu Dhabi’s natural surroundings, landscape and maritime traditions. It has a reflective surface visually merging sea and land. Its ship-like interior has floating decks which guide visitors through the exhibition space.
“Dhows float over the voids of the interior space and help create an intense visual experience by relating objects to one another and to the museum architecture as a whole,” explained Ando. “Below ground, there is a second space – a reception hall with an enormous aquarium. A traditional dhow floats over the aquarium and is seen from different perspectives.
“In order to emphasise the simple, but powerful, shape of the building, the surrounding landscape is organised in grid form. Rows of trees line the forecourt of the site, creating an oasis-like border that allows visitors to transition gradually between the dynamic city and the more serene and contemplative space of the museum.”
One of the world’s most experienced museum consultants, Lord Cultural Resources, has been appointed to plan content and operational matters for the Sheikh Zayed National Museum and the Maritime Museum.
The USA-headquartered award-winning architecture, urban design, engineering and interiors firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) has created the final master plan for the Cultural District.
Saadiyat Island’s Cultural District – one of six distinct districts master planned for the signature destination – will also feature a Biennale Park and 19 international pavilions which will be criss-crossed by a 1.5 kilometre long navigable canal. The 19 pavilions, which will host a range of art and cultural events and activities, will be designed by some of today’s leading architects. These include UAE’s Khalid Alnajjar, Russia’s Yuri Avvakumov, the USA’s Greg Lynn whom Forbes Magazine named one of the ten most influential living architects, New York’s Hani Rashid, the UK’s David Adjaye, China’s Pei-Zhu and Korea’s Seung H-Sang.
The museums on Saadiyat Island’s Cultural District are scheduled to open under a phased programme starting in 2012.
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