UAE Minister Says Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Will Tell a New Story About the Middle East, Despite the Ongoing War

All eyes are on the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi as it prepares for opening on December 11 after two decades of delays. The cost of the project has neared $1 billion and the country is getting excited for what’s to come. Just last month, the museum named Valerie Hillings as the institution’s inaugural director, where she will oversee the largest branch in the Guggenheim’s four-country museum network. In a short interview with the German culture magazine Monopol, Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, minister of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, said that she’s proud that artists from the region and the Emirates are not “merely featured as supporting actors, but are at the heart of the exhibition.” The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is opening on Saadiyat Island, which is an hour’s drive away from Dubai and home to the arts with such institutions as the Zayed National Museum, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, and Frieze Abu Dhabi. Al Kaabi said that her vision for the island is to attract tourism as it’s “important for our economy. But for our cultural institutions, tourism isn’t the primary goal. It has to go beyond that. The primary goal is an audience that wants to return. How can we create an intensity that engages people?” In the last year, the Middle East has been caught in the middle of the Iran war and its aftermath has affected many countries including the UAE, which is one of the region’s most affluent destinations. Al Kaab said that the shock of the Iran war “certainly wasn’t easy. There were support programs for tourists who couldn’t continue their travels, but also for the tourism industry — a model we already know from the pandemic. But museums have a different priority, and that hasn’t changed. We continue to build these institutions. The community pulled together, which was very inspiring.” Despite the conflict in the region, the opening of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is confirmed without further delay. Al Kaab said that with this new museum “we want to further stimulate the debate and continue the conversation with our partners. We’re telling a new story.”