The curators of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi are currently considering how to concentrate its collection and introduce initiatives to encourage foreign artists to work in the area since the museum is on schedule to be finished by 2025.
The Guggenheim Museum in the UAE was created by renowned architect Frank Gehry, who also created the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. It will be the newest and biggest addition to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation’s network of international museums, according to the National. Important modern and contemporary works from West Asia, North Africa, and South Asia are anticipated to be displayed at Guggenheim Abu Dhabi as part of a collection that aspires to promote intercultural dialogue and cooperation.
Stephanie Rosenthal stated during a virtual event on Wednesday announcing the programmes planned for Guggenheim institutions worldwide this year that the collection has been in the works for more than ten years. After serving as the director of the Gropius Bau in Berlin and the main curator at the Hayward Gallery in London, Rosenthal was selected by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation to serve as the project director for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. She collaborates with Maisa Al Qassimi, who represents DCT — Abu Dhabi in her capacity as acting project director.
She continued, “Excellent curators have worked for 15 years to build the collection. We won’t be constructing one in the next two years. It is a carefully considered endeavor.” According to Rosenthal, the museum approaches its acquisitions and commissions using three standards to make sure that they are contextually relevant, respond to the building’s architecture, and foster a collaborative environment.
When considering the collection and the commissions in the following year or two, she remarked, “there are three areas that we’re working in. One is essentially where we interact with the past, present, and environment. To ensure that the institution is interacting with the neighborhood audience. Then there is the actual space, which has Frank Gehry’s stunning architecture. The arrangement of the custom pieces in what we refer to as the cones will aid in establishing a mood.”
According to Rosenthal, the creation of a kindred environment within the museum will be the focus of the final curatorial pillar when taking the collection into account. She asserted that it is debatably the most significant of the three concepts.
“It’s how we collaborate with artists and carry out research initiatives to design a space that inspires a sense of kinship, hospitality, and belonging.”
The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will be next to some of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the nation, including the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the upcoming Natural History Museum, the Abrahamic Family House, and the Zayed National Museum. It will be situated in the Saadiyat Island Cultural District.
Construction on the museum started in 2011, following the project’s initial announcement in 2006. Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is still expected to be finished in 2025, with an opening date scheduled for “shortly after,” according to Rosenthal. She remarked, “We’ll need ample time to get the artworks in.