six of the best arts and cultural institutions in the emirate

Louvre Abu Dhabi

Opened to great fanfare in 2017, the Louvre Abu Dhabi is the world’s first museum located in the Arab world. His universal account of the development of art resulted in a much broader representation of cultures than is normally found in European or American institutions. Under the direction of Manuel Rabaté, the Louvre deftly navigated between its Arab home and its French partnerships, resulting in a series of valuable works such as Degas The Belleli family and da Vinci La Belle Ferronniere come to Saadiyat Island. The introduction of the Richard Mille Art Prize in 2021, which awards the UAE’s only major art prize to contemporary artists from the region, has further strengthened the Louvre’s ties with the local community.

Saadiyat Island, louvreabudhabi.ae

cultural foundation

The Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation is the capital’s most historically significant arts institution. It was opened by Sheikh Zayed, the country’s founding father, in 1981, and served for two decades as an open, amorphous home for all types of cultural events, hosting everything from exhibitions and screenings to book fairs and at the piano and ballet for children. recitals. Located near the Corniche in the heart of the Old Town, it fulfills an important social function for Abu Dhabi’s various demographics.

After its closure in 2009, rumors spread that it was slated for demolition, but it was saved thanks to the interventions of cultural figures. Reopened after extensive renovations in 2018, it featured new and renovated galleries, studio spaces, a library and a theatre. Under the leadership of Reem Fadda of the Department of Culture and Tourism, it has become an important site for the performing arts of the wider Arab region. It also organizes modern shows, such as retrospectives of local filmmaker and photographer Farah Al Qasimi and the important modernist Moroccan painter Mohamed Melehi.

Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum Street, cultural foundation.ae

NYUAD Art Gallery

As a gallery attached to New York University’s Saadiyat Island Campus, NYUAD Art Gallery has continued the institution’s mission of scholarship and serious programming. Led by its founding director Maya Allison, it has continued landmark exhibitions, such as a survey of the UAE’s “pioneer generation”, the artists who coalesced around Hassan Sharif in the 1990s and 2000s, and a broader vision of art in the Gulf States from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day.

NYU Abu Dhabi Campus on Saadiyat Island, nyuad-artgallery.org

Engage101

Engage101’s traveling platform began as a way to reconsider the way young artists traveled through the existing gallery system in the UAE. Led by Gulf arts researcher Gaith Abdulla, Engage101 presents quarterly exhibitions by young artists in different spaces across the UAE, from the Dubai arts center Alserkal Avenue to the studio of Afra Al Dhaheri (one of the shortlisted artists ) in the Mussafah Industrial Zone on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi. Prices are deliberately kept affordable in order to bring art out of the luxury sector into the wider community. Engage101 also commissions and hosts critical writing on its website, with a particular focus on the postcolonial landscape of the Gulf. He also conducts, with partners such as the Aisha Alabbar Gallery and Bayt Al Mamzar in Dubai, original research on the artistic ecosystem of the United Arab Emirates.

101.art

Manarat Al Saadiyat

The bass and cavernous Manarat Al Saadiyat is a bit like this friend who dresses in a totally different style every evening: who is she really? A few years after the temporary closure of the Cultural Foundation, Manarat Al Saadiyat assumed the role of multi-purpose art space for the city and remains the venue for many of its major art events, including the November Abu Dhabi Art Fair. Managed by the city’s Department of Culture and Tourism, it hosts temporary exhibitions throughout the year.

Saadiyat Island, manaratalsaadiyat.ae

421

When 421 was only five years old at the start of the pandemic, the public gallery’s curatorial team took the opportunity to analyze its identity and methodology – it ended up reinventing itself as an ambitious and experimental gallery devoted to the process. The majority of exposures now come from programs such as mentorships and workshops, which place as much emphasis on developmental tasks as on the final exposure. Led by director Faisal Al Hassan, the result has been a series of strong group and solo exhibitions that feel particularly relevant to the UAE community. An exhibition on food resources – a common topic these days in contemporary art – provided insights into work and identity among Emirati, Arab and South Asian artists based in the UAE, while in 2021, an exhibition on feminism by the Banat Collective of Abu Dhabi located the discourse specifically in the gulf.

Zayed Port, 421.online