To fight darkness with enlightenment, ignorance and extremist ideas with artistic beauty; these were the words His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai, said in his speech at the opening of the Louvre in Abu Dhabi. His words capture the philosophy of a unique creative arts project that took ten years to be finished.
Bringing the Louvre to Abu Dhabi came from aproactive decision by a conscious leadership and was adopted by his Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince. This museum belongs to the comprehensive cultural project of the UAE, a country that believes in humanitarian responsibility and a modern enlightenment power in the Arab and Muslim world.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan remind us of other inspiring leaders who contributed much with such projects to national then regional and international development.
Louvre Abu Dhabi is about hope and showing that our culture is capable of exporting noble values and bringing people from different parts of the planet together in a time where the Middle East is perceived as a hot spot of terrorism and violence.
Louvre Abu Dhabi is a modern expression of the values of the founding leader, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, who believed people should equally and openly communicate with each other. The Dome of Light made our beautiful capital, Abu Dhabi, a new attraction site for the lovers of beauty, art, creativity and culture.
Arts and culture perpetuate the values and heritage of great nations, across time and generations, from the Pharaohs to the ancient Greeks, the Indian, the Chinese and the African civilizations. Louvre Abu Dhabi is like a bridge through which people from diverse cultures communicate. In the UAE, we spend many years and decades promoting tolerance, peace and diversity while saying no to extremism, fanaticism and subversion.
The new project, sponsored by his Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, deals not only with culture and the arts, but is also promoting education, human development, and investment in technology and artificial intelligence. It even shows a serious will to compete for excellence and leadership through promising programs like Vision 2021 and the centenary of the UAE in year 2071, two major milestones in the Emirates’ way towards the future. The visions are well planned and clearly defined to go beyond solving present problems to leading, excelling and remaining on top.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi marks a stepping stone in our path to the future. More surprising projects are yet to come. Another step against obscurantism was taken, to save the future of millions of young people in the Arab and Muslim world.
