ABU DHABI LOUVRE Labour History Art
are not all world class art museums
founded on the bones of the exploited
[iHitNews 4 by Tjebbe van Tijen 8/11/2017]
Image parts come from the following web pages…
pages dating before the glorious opening of yesterday (7/11/2017):
– “Louvre Abu Dhabi transformed into a ‘museum on the sea'”
– “Jean Novel Deems Conditions of Abu Dhabi Louvre Workers “fine” Despite Damning Evidence of Abuse and Exploitation”
http://icfuae.org.uk/news/jean-novel-deems-conditions-abu-dhabi-louvre-workers-“fine”-despite-damning-evidence-abuse-and
– “Slaves of Happiness Island Abu Dhabi and the dark side of high art.”
https://www.vice.com/sv/article/gq889w/slaves-of-happiness-island-0000412-v21n8
– “Migrant Construction Workers in the UAE”
https://fanack.com/migrant-labour/migrant-construction-workers-in-the-uae/
~
Another source to be checked in this context is the Gulf Labor Artist Coalition: “Gulflabor calls on all academic and cultural institutions building on Saadiyat Island to seek uniform and enforceable human rights protections, and better conditions than are prevalent, for the workers working on their sites.
https://gulflabor.org
~
It is not just a new Dependance of The Louvre (many millions were paid by the Emirate to be allowed to use this name) that is build on this artificial Abu Dhabi island… also Guggenheim has a building there and New York University, plus a new library building designed by Rem Koolhaas. All these building projects were marked by fierce criticism on working conditions. This article is an introduction to that debate:
“The Gulf Art War – New museums in the Emirates raise the issue of workers’ rights.” in the New Yorker 19/12/2016:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/12/19/the-gulf-art-war
You see in this article we have Rem Koolhaas as a ‘trait d’union’ between Amsterdam en Abu Dhabi, Koolhaas as the designer of the new presentation of the main collection of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (a museum that tries hard to become also ‘a world class museum’ and in that process has spoiled time, energy & money on two new ‘international famed directors, that left the job undone… (*)
(*) See two of my articles on thte subject of international prestige museums and the mix up with global art business (in Dutch)
-“Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam: Beatrix RUF komt als geroepen, maar wie riep haar en wat is haar ROEPING?”
-“HET STEDELIJK “THE END OF THE AFFAIR” met Beatrix Ruf & voorstellen voor een andere toekomst“
the limping messenger 
Leave a Reply