In the Arts: Abu Dhabi Delays Mega-Museum Projects
January 26, 2012 | Read Time: 1 minute
Abu Dhabi has pushed back planning opening dates for branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums in the United Arab Emirates capital, Reuters reports.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi is now due to open in 2015 and the city’s Guggenheim branch in 2017. Initial plans had called for the museums to open in 2013-14.
The government’s tourism office announced the delays Wednesday after a fresh review of the museum plans. Substantial design and construction work has already been done on the institutions, which are part of the emirate’s $27-billion Saadiyat Island project to develop a resort and cultural hub.
In other arts news, the longtime leader of the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation will leave her post next year, The New York Times writes.
The organization announced Sharon Gersten Luckman’s planned departure Wednesday. The 66-year-old former dancer, who studied with Ailey as a teenager, said she felt it was “time to turn over the reins” after overseeing the transition this season to new artistic director Robert Battle.
