Louvre Abu Dhabi

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a museum, located in Abu Dhabi, UAE. On Tuesday 7 March 2007, the Louvre in Paris announced that a new Louvre museum would be completed by 2012 in Abu Dhabi, with a revised estimate in early 2013 for a completion date of 2015. The opening has been repeatedly delayed, first to late 2016 and most recently to November 2017. This is part of a thirty-year agreement between the city of Abu Dhabi and the French government. The museum is to be located on the Saadiyat Island Cultural District, and will be approximately 24000m2 in size. The final cost of the construction is expected to be between €83 million and €108 million. In addition, US$525 million was paid by Abu Dhabi to be associated with the Louvre name, and an additional $747 million will be paid in exchange for art loans, special exhibitions and management advice.Artwork from around the world will be showcased at the museum, with particular focus placed upon bridging the gap between Eastern and Western art. However, the construction of the museum has caused much controversy in the art world, as many objections have been raised as to the motives of the Louvre in this deal.HistoryThe establishment of this museum was approved by the French Parliament on 9 October 2007. The architect for the building will be Jean Nouvel and the engineers are Buro Happold. Jean Nouvel also designed the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris.