Thursday, December 2, 2021
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Visiting Yet Another Huge Attraction in Abu Dhabi: The Louvre Abu Dhabi
After yet another leisurely lie-in, Llew and I showered, dressed and went out to meet our hosts. Meena and Ashley asked if we would like to have a South Indian breakfast. It seemed like a lovely idea and we opted for masala dosas. These were delivered to their apartment and with hot coffee, we had a really hearty brunch. We would not feel hungry again until tea-time.
Off to Explore Abu Dhabi:
Ashley was keen to show us the Emirates Palace Hotel which has a quite stupendous lobby. Last night, when we had tried to get in, we were informed that the National Day rush had filled up the parking lots and there was no more room for cars. Hence, being turned away, we decided to return this morning.
Visiting The Emirates Palace Hotel:
At any time, the Emirates Palace Hotel is a lovely place to explore—even if only with tourist eyes. It is huge, tastefully appointed with the finest materials money can buy—loads of marble and glass, of course. But this weekend was a particularly significant time to enter as it is the National Day weekend and the country is in festive fettle. The colors of the national flag (black, dark green, red and white) are everywhere and in the hotel, the abundant flower arrangements, in ever feasible corner, sported those colors. It was simply breathtaking! Orchids, hydrangeas, roses, cala lilies, etc. were chosen specifically for their colors and they made the most creative bouquets and tall arrangements. Just beautiful! We had our fill of the lobby and the coffee shop area just inside before we returned to Ashley’s car and carried on our exploration of the city. Needless to say, everywhere we went, we were expected to show our newest Covid tests results as we had received ours by phone and could easily produce them when asked.
Exploring the Louvre Abu Dhabi:
I had looked forward to this visit to the Abu Dhabi branch of the famous Louvre Museum of Paris for a very long time indeed and it was with real gratitude that I entered. Gratitude because, as a result of Covid, the museum had been closed for a very long time and has only just re-opened to visitors, provided they are vaccinated and have a clear Covid test result.
As such, Ashley dropped us off and told us that he would return home as the museum was not of interest to him. There was a bit of a walk from the car park to the main entrance along a shaded marble walkway. I soon found that everywhere a walk was involved, it was shaded as these parts of the world are so hot for most of the year. We were lucky—we had lovely weather. The sun was strong but it was never unpleasantly hot.
So here is a bit about the Louvre Abu Dhabi. From what I understand, one of the Shaikhs of the UAE entered into an agreement with the Louvre in Paris, France, to create a branch of the museum in his part of the world. It seems that he endowed the project with 3 billion dollars and the venture began. The services of one of the world’s greatest and best-known architects, Jean Nouvel, were engaged to design the new building. If one has been to the Louvre in Paris, one sees that the entrance is through a magical triangular-shaped glass structure designed by the late Chinese-American architect, I.M. Pei. Well, this one is in concrete and is dome-shaped--a take on the domes to be found on the mosques all over the UAE. But it is not a simple dome—it is cross-crossed in the most magnificent manner with supporting beams that coat the entire surface—both interior and exterior. It is really hard to describe, but I will say this. It is a masterpiece of architectural vision and having seen a lot of Jean Nouvel’s work in other parts of the world, I am a huge fan. Some of the ones I have seen: The Musee de Quai Branly, Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art and Institute du Monde Arabe in Paris, the Opera House in Lyon, Franc, Tour Agbar in Barcelona, the building at 40 Mercer Street right by my NYU office building in Manhattan, New York, the Serpentine Galleries in London and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Doha, Qatar. Each of these is entirely different from the other—that’s what’s so wonderful about his vision; no two buildings are alike!
Anyway, once you enter the Louvre Abu Dhabi, it is nothing but a feast for the eye and mind. Here are some of the highlights, in my humble opinion:
1. Some wonderful sculptural work from the Ancient world: a couple enjoined; a colorful Egyptian mummy with sarcophagus; a stone statue of Rameses; a Babylonian wall frieze in turquoise tiles with embossed design; a bust of Socrates; a bust of The Buddha; a bust of Cleopatra (looking more masculine than feminine); a Bodhisatava; a full-size Greek figure of ‘The Orator’.
2. In the Medieval gallery: a beautiful Madonna and Child; an Islamic calligraphic series of terracotta panels found in Rajasthan, India, soon after Islam entered the Indian sub-continent, proclaiming Islam to be the one true religion; a milestone en route on the Haj Ppilgrimage route to Mecca in Saudi Arabia; a massive Syrian carved baptismal basin; beautiful, huge French tapestry panels.
3. In the Renaissance Gallery: Giovanni Bellini’s Madonna and Child; Giotto’s Mother and Child; Vermeer’s The Astronomer; Georges de la Tour’s Girl Blowing on a Brazier; Rembrandt’s Head of a Young Man; St. Joseph by Jose de Ribera; Sevres’ Painted Porcelain tea and coffee seats; Theodore Gudin’s Jacques Cartier Discovers the Saint Lawrence River (Canada).
4. 18th- 19th century: Antonio Canova’s Fight Between Creugas and Damoxenes—two life-size sculptures; The Call to War and Victor Hugo by Auguste Rodin; The Prince Entering the Briar Wood by Edward Burne-Jones
5. Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: Gaugin’s Two Boys; Caravans and Gypsy Camp near Arles by Vincent Van Gogh.
6. Contemporary Art: Geometrical by Raza; Picasso’s Portrait of a Woman; Works by Marc Chagall and Jackson Pollock; a series of canvasses in blue and white by Cy Twombly.
Yes, there were loads of other items to see and we spent at least four hours on our feet. Good job we’d had a hearty breakfast. I excused myself and left Llew to continue his exploration as I wished to visit my friend, Prof. Mahnaz Yousefzadeh who teaches at NYU-Abu Dhabi. Her apartment was near at hand on the university campus and she offered to pick me up from the museum, take me to campus and have a light something at her apartment before she attended a zoom meeting, later in the day.
Visiting NYU-Abu Dhabi Campus and My Friend:
After I had spent about two and a half hours in the Museum, my friend Mahnaz texted me to inform me that she was outside in her car. Llew continued to browse through the museum while I hurried out to meet Mahnaz. It was a fond reunion as I was seeing my friend after almost two years. She and I were close friends in New York where we teach in the same program. About two years ago, she was posted to teach at NYU-Abu Dhabi. Even more exciting than seeing her was seeing her beautiful little boy, Julian, who was just 9 months old when I last saw him.
Mahnaz drove me for about twelve minutes in her car until we arrived at the entrance to the campus of NYU-Abu Dhabi. She told me that the place literally changes from day to day with new buildings and new landscaping occurring with each passing week. After I was cleared through Security which involved a song and dance (hence, Llew was unable to join us as Mahnaz had signed an Entry Permit with just my name on it), we were let through. She parked her car and then walked me through the main buildings of the campus. Since it was a National Day weekend, classes have been suspended and with the semester coming to an end anyway, there was almost no activity on campus. Some students were hanging about the cafeteria and the gardens, but for the most part, the place was dead. The Student Center had almost no life to it at all. Mahnaz showed me the new gym, the new dining hall, the new library, etc. but not much of it was vibrant. It was like a series of dead buildings. That said, I am glad I had a chance to see the new campus—it is small and very compact, but it is modern and filled with every desirable student amenity. When I had last visited the NYU-Abu Dhabi campus, it had been confined to just one building but was right in the heart of the city of Abu Dhabi. This new campus is on Sadiyat Island and it is indeed at least a 20-minute drive from the action. I can quite understand why a year is about all the time a faculty member might enjoy spending here as it is deeply isolating and one might get quite bored with the lack of activity. That said, every single one of us has had to cope with lack of activity in the past two years—so we are all, I suppose, sailing in the same boat.
We then made our way to Mahnaz’s apartment where I had the chance to see little Julian again. As might be expected, he has grown. And he has grown even cuter with his long blonde hair and his winning smile. He was at lunch with his day attendant Afra who is Sri Lankan—a very sweet person who seemed to care for him and look after him well. Mahnaz and I caught up a bit with the news in our lives as she cut up a watermelon and we nibbled on it. I was still very full with my large breakfast but accepted a piece of bakhlava (sweets for national day, as Mahnaz put it!) and some orange juice as I was more thirsty than hungry, really. A good hour later, after we had gabbed for a while and Mahnaz had told me a little bit about her life in Abu Dhabi and the upcoming seminar that she had organized that was to begin in just a few days after my departure from the UAE, I said goodbye to her little household and left.
I was able to retrace my steps back to the front to the Student Center where the taxi stand was and from there I took a cab back to the Louvre.
Back in the Louvre-Abu Dhabi:
Mahnaz told me that she had, with considerable effort and perseverance, managed to bring a particular manuscript from the National Library (Le Bibliotheque Nationale) in Paris, France, on temporary loan to the Louvre Abu Dhabi. She told me that I would find it in the Prints and Manuscripts section and I went out in search of it. It was a translation of the Old Testament into Farsi (the language of Persia). Mahnaz is working in this area of research right now and the seminar she would be organizing through NYU-Abu Dhabi was on The Book of Tobbit in the Bible. I found this quite exciting and went out in search of these manuscripts and took some pictures with them.
I found that Llew had finished his perusal of the museum and was in the recreation area close to the café. He was also hungry and went out in search of something to eat. I re-entered the museum and continued my perusal of the galleries that I had not completed. These were, in fact, the more interesting parts of the museum as they contained some of the more famous and recognizable work. I took at least another one hour to see these parts of the museum that were beautifully laid out—the collection is small but quite amazing. There was a whole lot of works from Old Masters of the 19th century and significant paintings from giants of the 20th century as well. Mahnaz explained to me that these works have come to Abu Dhabi from the Louvre in Paris but over the next thirty years, they will be bought by the Shaikh and will become the permanent possessions of the Louvre in the UAE. Certainly, from everything I could see, this is now a premier global attraction. There were busloads of tourists being dropped off at this venue and there is actually a Hop-On, Hop-Off Abu Dhabi bus that drops passengers off at the museum, to browse at their leisure before re-boarding the bus. The galleries were not crowded, but there were a sizeable number of people there. Entry is about $25 per head—I received a 50% discount as an educator, but my Met ID card was not recognized. Overall, both Llew and I were absolutely delighted with our visit and really happy the place was open. Imagine how disappointed we’d have been if we had landed up here and not been able to enter!
Instead of bothering Ashley and dragging him out to the museum to pick us up, Llew and I decided to take a taxi back to him place. I gave the driver his address and, twenty minutes later, we were at Ashley’s. It was about 5.00 pm by then, just time to have a cup of tea and some nibbles. We were also very tired after our long excursion and were glad for the opportunity to take a nap—indeed that was exactly what we did.
When we awoke, Ashley and Meena suggested we get out to one of the malls—we went to Mushrif Mall—where we had a chance to see some really amazing fresh water fish in an aquarium from which Ashely buys his fish as it is his hobby. We browsed around and I looked for a particular shade of Rimmel nail polish that I use but which seems to have been discontinued. So, although I tried at many malls, there was little sign of it. Anyway, after Ashley and Meena had picked up some grocery items, we left and made our way back to their place.
Fireworks on National Day and Dinner at Our Hosts’:
December 2 is actually UAE National Day and we were very excited that the fireworks that were scheduled to begin at 9.00 pm could easily be seen from Ashley and Meena’s apartment as they live on the 18th floor of a high-rise building. We sat with drinks and nibbles and awaited the moment when the clock would toll nine and then, on the dot, the spectacle began. It was indeed wonderful as there were barges on the river from which the coordinated sound and light show was being run. Initially, there was a lights show in the dark sky that picked out the symbols of the country—the ibex goat, the figure 50, etc. And then the fireworks began! And they were superb! We were so glad that we had the chance to see fireworks on both nights—last night and tonight! They are just as grand as the Macy’s Fourth July Fireworks display each year in New York City. Within ten minutes, they were over and we sat down to enjoy Meena’s home-cooked dinner.
For dinner, Meena offered us one of her specialties—roasted pork ribs. Now I am usually not one to care much for ribs—as I find there is basically not much to eat on them! However, they happen to be one of Llew’s favorite things to eat—so it was as if Meena had read his mind by throwing in this surprise. And they were really awesome! Her secret ingredient was something called Banana Sauce which is bottled and which she purchased from the mall. She tweaked that base ingredient with all sorts of other spices and came up with the marinade that made her ribs so unique. Together with a bunch of other dishes and some salads, we had ourselves a top-rate dinner with kanafi for dessert as well as another one of Meena’s swift surprises—mixed fruit cocktail in canned Alphonso Mango pulp! It was a great idea and it actually worked!
So with that lovely meal and a lot more conversation and laughter, another wonderful day in the UAE came to an end.
Until tomorrow, kuda hafiz!
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