Plans for 'Desert Louvre' in Abu Dhabi Provoke Outrage in France

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WP: Plans for 'Desert Louvre' Provoke Outrage in France
Chirac Describes $1.3 Billion Deal With Abu Dhabi As Cultural Bridge; Art Experts See It as Selling Out
By Molly Moore
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, March 11, 2007; Page A14


French architect Jean Nouvel, Louvre director Henri Loyrette, Mubarak al-Muhairi, director general of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, and French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres talk to journalists at the signing ceremony Tuesday. (By Kamran Jebreili -- Associated Press)

PARIS -- The most visited museum in the world -- the Louvre -- is set to open its first international outpost on a currently uninhabited island off the coast of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

In the largest foreign museum deal in French history, the petro-rich but museum-poor Persian Gulf emirate agreed last week to pay France $1.3 billion to borrow the Louvre's name and hundreds of its artworks, as well as treasures from the Picasso Museum, Pompidou Center, Chateau de Versailles and other French museums.

French President Jacques Chirac described the mega-museum agreement as an important way of bridging what the "world considers a clash of civilizations" between Islam and the West. To many French art experts and historians, however, it represents little more than putting the nation's priceless patrimony up for rent.

"Appalling!" declared Daniel Alcouffe, 68, an honorary curator of the Louvre who headed its decorative arts department for nearly two decades. He echoed the outrage expressed by some of the country's most prominent art experts and historians. "It's a shame to see France selling out its heritage," he said.

The "Desert Louvre," as the French press has dubbed the deal, is part of a revolutionary initiative by France to expand its global influence through its vast cultural heritage and holdings -- the one realm where it remains a dominant world power -- in the face of its shrinking diplomatic and economic clout.

The French government is offering up some of its greatest cultural names and assets to Middle Eastern governments awash in cash, as well as to newly wealthy developing nations eager to globalize their cultural offerings. In January, the Pompidou Center in Paris, one of the world's largest museums of contemporary and modern art, announced plans to open a branch in Shanghai. The Rodin Museum is considering adding a site in Brazil. Chirac says he wants museum partnerships in Russia, India, Africa and South America....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/10/AR2007031001261.html?sub=AR