Chapter 11: Abu Dhabi's Louvre
Something borrowed, something new
11.09.2022 - 11.09.2022 104 °F
Chapter 11: Abu Dhabi and The Louvre
September 11: 2022
Abu Dhabi is a mere hour's drive from our hotel in Dubai. The typical transformation of urban to suburban exists but then the suburban shifts to desert. The highways are superb with wide medians full of trees "so that oncoming headlights don't bother you," all irrigated to ensure their survival. In addition to the Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi boasts at least one other "don't miss" attraction.
Under a 2007 “licensing” agreement (expiring in 2037) The Louvre Abu Dhabi begins as ‘France’s largest cultural project abroad” and then reverts entirely to the Emiratis. The striking structure, part of which sits beneath a lattice dome that cameras cannot satisfactorily capture, is a part of a massive arts and cultural development on Saadiyat Island. When complete, the project is projected to cost $27 billion dollars.
The museum website tells us: “Featuring a global selection of around 600 masterpieces drawn from our growing permanent collection, our displays are also regularly updated with a rolling roster of world-class loans from our international partners, which means that there is always something new for visitors to discover.” To be sure, there is much here to be discovered as the history of humankind's adornments are chronologically arranged, each juxtaposed by time period with examples from different spots on the then known world.
I am struck by various quotations etched onto windows separating the many wings of the museum. "In Africa, when an old man dies, a library burns to the ground," echoes the reality that institutional knowledge--whether it be familial or corporate, if not documented and recorded during a lifetime, to our great regret is forever lost. With the passing of Queen Elizabeth, this quote rings so true. Her experiences and the knowledge they brought from all the years of her reign are priceless and now gone. When we were young my Grandmother, whom we affectionately called 'Bub', (a 'Bubby' is yiddish for Grandmother) would tell us stories of her life, her parents and siblings (there were 8 of them),coming to America, how the family lived, how the furniture business my family owned came to be and all the struggles that went with that, all the things she had seen happen and be invented in her lifetime. I so wish we had written down all of those stories. I wish we had written on the backs of all the old pictures just who those relatives and friends were and their stories. That all died with my Grandmother, the longest living of that generation. All that hiistory of our family that we will never know, that my son and grandchildren will never know. That makes me sad. Thankfully we have recorded hours and hours of 'interviews/conversations' with my dear late Mom and Step Dad so the more recent history we do have. If you are fortunate enough to still have your parents or grandparents, please sit down with them and record all of their wisdom and history. One day you will be happy you did so.
Touring, I am stopped in my tracks at an original Piet Mondrian recalling that it was only last week that I commented to Megan and Eric that their new living room art wall was “a Mondrian” by design. Nearby is a massive Kandinsky and beyond that a Jackson Pollock. The museum will continue to feature work on loan from the Louvre in Paris along with the Musee d’Orsay and the Palace of Versailles. I was taken by a Gauguin, a couple of massive Rodin sculptures and much, much more. Credit to the Emirates News Agency for the aerial photograph you saw above which was beyond my iPhone's capability to capture.
Emerging from the galleries, one finds themselves beneath the amazing “latticework” dome and, beyond that, the constructions site of the unfinished Zayed National Museum, the design of which is to evoke the wingtips of a falcon.
Abu Dhabi itself is the physically largest of the seven emirates and I believe the richest. This Emirate counts for 85 per cent of the land mass in the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi city is the capital of all the UAE and home to most of the oil companies. Whoever is the serving Emir of Abu Dhabi is also—and always—the President of the UAE. Similarly, whoever is the Emir of Dubai is automatically the Vice President of the UAE.
The city is primarily located on a peninsula so there is water everywhere and beaches abound. If you desire, there is a very large beach for men and then there is another beach area for women and children. There are also some beaches that have a 'dress code' as to proper beach attire. Abu Dhabi is somewhat more conservative than Dubai. All that said, while we haven't personally made it to the beach, researching the beaches, as in seemingly all things in the UAE, they offer every amenity you can think of and make going to the beach a luxury experience in and of itself. I would use that expression again, 'same same but different', the different being that there is an option if you want a ladies only beach. Make no mistake, Paul and I can go to the beach together if that is what we want to do. Whatever you want or can think of is accommodated here. Just follow the rules and you will have an amazing experience. At our beach at our ocean front condo in Vero Beach, Fl, we were thrilled when beach chairs and umbrellas were added to the amenity offering, no more dragging down your own chair. However we still have to take the short walk up to the beach club for food. Oh how we would love food service on the beach. A lesson from the play book of Abu Dhabi would be great here. Here, date palms abound. Both genders may stand beneath them as long as there is no public display of affection and as long as the women dress modestly.
Before oil, the primary wealth producing activity here was the exportation of dates and the harvesting of pearls. When the Japanese innovated and discovered how to make cultured pearls, the pearl economy here soured. All things evolve and innovation is king. We are here to help the Damas jewelry chain position their business for the innovation of lab diamonds. Will it be cultured pearls all over again? I don't think so but time will tell.One thing is for sure, they are real diamonds of incredible beauty, a great value and the consumer has fully accepted them in the US. In the UAE, lab diamonds are just beginning to be recognized. But for the discovery of and exploitation of oil, this would still be a place for very few nomadic Bedouins living in tents or crude huts. But, without doubt, oil has made this place the second biggest, baddest, most over-the-top amalgamation of brand spanking new tall buildings, many of them in various stages of construction, that I have ever seen—after Dubai.
One of those amazing structures we passed by is proudly labeled “Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.” Prior to embarking on this journey, our doctor in Vero Beach had remined me that, “should you have any medical issues while there, remember that we have a complete facility there that will have access to all your records.” Well, Dr. Walther, you are correct.
To me, Abu Dhabi city is akin to a teenager whose rich uncle died and left a fortune. The heir determined it to be spent quickly and brashly, believing that it would last forever. I wonder what will happen here when the world no longer needs oil. No, I don’t wonder; I think I know what will happen. The outcome for Dubai with its international business and tourism focus and opportunity for ownership of real estate by non-Emiratis will fare better than will Abu Dhabi.
The five-star hotels here are shamed by the six-star hotels which, in turn, are embarrassed to be in the shadow of the seven-star hotels, among them The Emirates Palace Hotel. We are told that the Emirs of each of the seven emirates have private suites there from which they can view the tallest flagpole in all the UAE which soars 400 feet into the air. (For the record, the tallest flagpole in the world is nearby in Jedda, Saudi Arabia; it is a full 100 feet taller) Both in Dubai and Abu Dhabi the malls are nothing short of spectacular, and I've seen a lot of malls in my lifetime, trust me, these are amazing. Spectacular visual presentations, awesome architecture, great stores, true experiences. The US could learn a lot; or not.
They say here that Abu Dhabi is where the old meets the new. But, the old is no older than me and I don’t think of myself as being that old. Most of the old is torn down to make way for the new before it has a chance to really be old. The new is fantastically so.
There is a passion for bringing sport to Abu Dhabi. Here you can (or could) watch the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Grand Prix road race, the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, The Abu Dhabi Red Bull Air Race, the Abu Dhabi Al-Ain Aerobatic Show or the Abu Dhabi Al Gharbia Water Sports Festival, all of which are squeezed in between daily camel racing.
