French president opens Louvre Abu Dhabi

French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte joined Abu Dhabi’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at the official opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Macron walked through the galleries of the new museum, a decade after the signing of an agreement worth over one billion dollars to share the name and some of the artworks of the world-famous Parisian museum.

He said the museum was an important cultural achievement: “What is up for stakes here is very important, because in reality there is nothing more urgent, more important than the promotion of culture, education, beauty and everything which seems to express humanity’s highest level.”

The museum sits under a honeycombed dome of eight layers of Arab-style geometric shapes and was designed by French architect Jean Nouvel.

It is hoped the Louvre Abu Dhabi will help position the city as a centre of cultural tourism that will draw visitors from around the world.