Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Let there be Art!

If there's one thing missing in Abu Dhabi, I'd say it's Art. There's plenty of plans to get art to the area, like a Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and also the Louvre Abu Dhabi (very cool design! check the pics in the bottom of the post), but until they are finished, day-to-day art is hard to come by. No galleries, no museums to speak of, so until the Saadiyat Island project is finished, we have to make due by going to museums while we travel.

'Sacre Coeur' by Picasso, one of my favourite pieces in the exhibition

But every now and again we do get exhibitions, and this week, Shu and I managed to go to something quite exquisite for the region: the Picasso exhibition in the Emirates Palace!

It was wonderful to actually see such an abundance of art in Abu Dhabi, and what was even (almost) shocking, was that there were nudes on display! Certainly something normally very much frowned upon, or rather: banned! The internet, for instance, is shielded for any display of nudity (even the likes of a very popular photo website as Flickr!). But this exhibition had several pieces which in Europe/North America are considered part of everyday life, but are definitely not so here.

The exhibition displayed works borrowed from the Musée National Picasso in Paris, and included both pantings, sketches and sculptures, and to top it off: the entrance is FREE!

I applaud the initiative, and can't wait to see more exhibitions (museums! galleries!) in the city!

Louvre Abu Dhabi by http://www.jeannouvel.com/


Louvre Abu Dhabi by http://www.jeannouvel.com/


Louvre Abu Dhabi by http://www.jeannouvel.com/

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

there actually is an art gallery in Abu Dhabi according to Audra - check it out: http://www.ghafgallery.com

Anonymous said...

great blog.

be sure to check out the third line and ayyam galleries in dubai for your art fix.