ABU DHABI 3 April 2019: Louvre Abu Dhabi’s globally acclaimed Highway Gallery returns for its second edition this spring.
From 7 April, ten new artworks from Louvre Abu Dhabi’s collection, reproduced as giant 3D sculptures or 10-metre high billboards, will appear alongside the E11 Sheikh Zayed Road from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.
As drivers tune into one of the partner radio stations and approach the display, they will automatically hear a 30-second story about each artwork as part of a collaboration with Abu Dhabi Media via Radio 1 FM (100.5FM), Classic FM (91.6 FM) and Emarat FM (95.8 FM), said Wam.
The campaign offers visitors a comprehensive experience of discovering art, beginning on the road on their way to the museum, and continuing inside Louvre Abu Dhabi via a dedicated tour around the Highway Gallery in the museum’s multimedia guide, featuring video interviews with seven of the participating influencers.
New Elements
The 2019 edition of the project also features several new elements. Three of the ten masterpieces will, for the first time, be reproduced as three-dimensional sculptures. In addition, a select group of renowned personalities that represent the multicultural voices of the UAE have recorded the script for each artwork.
They include entrepreneur Anas Bukhash, Fatima Al Kaabi, the UAE’s youngest inventor, chef Khaled Alsaadi, TV host Sherif Fayed, writer and producer Yasser Hareb, Zahra Lari, the first figure skater from the UAE to compete internationally, as well as Lowi Sahi, a UAE-based YouTuber. They will be joined by journalists and presenters Andrew Hosie (Classic FM), Bedoor Al Marzooqi, Mazyoon Al Hamiri and Rashid Ateeq (Emarat FM), Chiara Glorioso (Radio 1) and Rose Balston (BBC).
Reflecting Louvre Abu Dhabi’s universal narrative, Highway Gallery 2.0 will include works from different moments of history and a variety of cultures, including ancient masterpieces such as:
- A vase from circa 5500 BCE, found on the UAE island of Marawah
- A 4,000-year-old statuette of an ancient Bactrian Princess
- An 11th or 12th century statue from China representing Guanyin, a divinity of compassion
- A 15th century Islamic helmet
- A 17th-century Hindu manuscript depicting a huntress
- A Japanese suit of armour from the early 18th century
The 19th century is represented with James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s Arrangement in Grey and Black N˚1 (1871), Edouard Manet’s The Bohemian (1867) and Vincent Van Gogh’s The Dance Hall in Arles (1888), alongside a surrealist work by 20th century painter Joan Miró.
The museum will include a Highway Gallery tour in its multimedia guide, featuring video interviews with the influencers participating in the campaign. The tour will be available in English, Arabic and French.
Visitors can rent the guides at the museum during their visits, or they can download the tour onto their own devices through the Louvre Abu Dhabi App which is available in the App Store and on Google Play.
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