Louvre Abu Dhabi

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a planned museum, to be 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, though current expectations are that completion will be delayed until at least 2015. 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 complex, and will be approximately 24,000 square metres (260,000 sq ft) in size. The final cost of the construction is expected to be between €83 million and €108 million. Also, 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.