This Middle Eastern Destination Is the Most Exciting Art City Right Now-With World-Class Museums and a New Art Fair

"Five bronze towers soar 400 feet above Saadiyat Island, the ever-expanding cultural district just off the coast of Abu Dhabi. The structures-which recall the wings of a falcon, a highly prized symbol in the United Arab Emirates-are the architectural signature of the Zayed National Museum, which opened in December. Two weeks before, another vastinstitution, the Natural History Museum, debuted. They will be followed later this year by the most ambitious of all-the late Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Abu Dhabi."

"The trio of buildings represents a major leap forward in the country's $12 billion play to become a cultural capital to rival New York, Paris, and London. Spearheading the effort is Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, the chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi. He says the Guggenheim, which will be 12 times the size of its New York counterpart, is "going to be a lot more than a museum. It's really a civic space that brings people together.""

"In addition to a collection of contemporary art from the 1960s to today, there will be music and dance performances staged in the shade of the museum's cone-shaped towers. The focus will be on artists from the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Australia "who have not been given the light they deserve, whether it's because of their geographical location or their gender," Mubarak says."

Saadiyat Island has become a major cultural district anchored by newly opened Zayed National Museum and Natural History Museum and the forthcoming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. The Zayed National Museum features five 400-foot bronze towers and a 900,000-square-foot Foster + Partners design telling the nation's history. The Guggenheim will be twelve times the size of its New York counterpart and will function as a civic space with music and dance under cone-shaped towers. Programming will emphasize artists from the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Australia alongside Western masters. The development is part of a $12 billion initiative to position Abu Dhabi as a global cultural capital.

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