The reopening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates
Audio 02:31
The Louvre Abu Dhabi.
Reuters
By: Nicolas Keraudren Follow
6 mins
In France, the Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, announced to see the end of the tunnel for a potential reopening of museums.
However, no precise date has been communicated to date.
But how could this reopening take place in practice?
The Louvre Abu Dhabi can shed some light on this issue.
The cultural establishment created in 2017, after an intergovernmental agreement between France and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, reopened its doors on June 24 and the health crisis forced the museum to rethink its relationship with visitors.
Publicity
To access the galleries of Louvre Abu Dhabi, visitors must now book their ticket online while specifying their time of arrival.
The time of the visit is also limited.
These measures reassure Seby John.
“
By pre-booking their ticket, they can control the influx of the public into the museum at the same time,
” says this resident of the emirate who walks through the museum with his son for the first time since the reopening.
“
Masks are mandatory and the staff are there to check.
These days you really feel safe.
"
In the Emirates, around 3,000 new Covid-19 contaminations have been recorded by the authorities every day since the start of the year.
A figure that has almost tripled compared to the daily census of last year.
But the Gulf monarchy relies on mass vaccination of its population to avoid a new confinement and therefore, keep the places of cultivation open.
The museum management also applies a rigorous health strategy towards its teams.
“
Our staff are tested,”
says Manuel Rabate, director of Louvre Abu Dhabi.
At the beginning, it was every month, then every two weeks and there we even switched to every week.
In addition, the level of vaccination in the teams is extremely important.
"
A rare occurrence in the world of culture, the Louvre Abu Dhabi was even able to launch a new exhibition on February 17.
In collaboration with the Center Pompidou in Paris, “Abstraction and calligraphy” explores a universal language through the works of the abstract school.
“
Today, opening a major exhibition of this level is a very strong commitment from Louvre Abu Dhabi to keep the flame alive, to maintain the interest of the public,
” underlines Manuel Rabate.
During the 100-day closure last spring, the museum management also reflected on a new strategy to attract new visitors in the current context.
Free tours, under the huge silver dome which overlooks the place, are now organized every week.
The museum also offers yoga classes and kayaking sessions to discover the place in a different way.
“
It's a set of experiences that are not anecdotal,
adds Manuel Rabate.
These are real pieces of normal life that we offer to visitors and which are also the social role of a museum.
The civic role of a museum is also to create and recreate links.
"
Finally, the Louvre Abu Dhabi also had to accelerate its digital transformation.
The usual plans for getting around the museum have been replaced by a mobile application.
In addition, the website of the cultural establishment offers new digital content that would not have emerged so quickly without the health crisis.
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United Arab Emirates
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