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Monday, July 10, 2006

Arts Bilbao XXIIII

Posted by JEN GRAVES on July 10 at 13:09 PM

The Guggenheim will build its biggest museum yet in Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE, designed by Frank Gehry.

Picture this (the wildly successful tourist magnet Guggenheim in the Spanish outpost of Bilbao)

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next to this

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Here’s a glimmer of conflicts to come in an American art museum set in a Muslim country. American museums have a difficult time addressing the subject of Islam in this country. Then again, Tom Krens has never been one to let little details like whether a museum is a good or workable idea get in the way of global expansion.

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1

Ohno! Have we chased Charles off the architecture beat?

Gehry in Abu Dhabi is not as big a stretch as you'd think. You should look at some of the stuff that's actually been built in Dubai.

Posted by Napoleon XIII | July 10, 2006 1:18 PM

2

[didactic]Oh, yeah. That'd also be "Bilbao XXIV"[/didactic]

Posted by Napoleon XIII | July 10, 2006 2:07 PM

3

Jen -- You raise an excellent point about the intrinsic conflict between Islam and contemporary art. You of all people are no doubt aware who the most popular living artist is in the Gulf States -- you're de facto nemesis Dale Chihuly!

Posted by Jim Demetre | July 10, 2006 8:53 PM

4

The Emirs are aware the Gehry is a Jew, right? Normally Jews aren't allowed to even set foot in the place, and Gentiles can be barred if they have in Israeli stamp in their passport.

Posted by Fnarf | July 10, 2006 10:41 PM

5

Understand, the big Emirate cities aren't about Islam, they're about status, populated mostly by extremely wealthy Arabs and foreign contractors. Check out the big hotels in Dubai, and you'll see that anything goes there. They want to be the next Hong Kong/Monaco/Bahamas, and will pay any price to build the necessary accoutrements.

Posted by Napoleon XIII | July 10, 2006 10:53 PM

6

By the way, if they don't mind having a Solomon Guggenheim museum built in the Emirates, then they probably don't mind Gehry being a Jew.

Posted by Napoleon XIII | July 11, 2006 7:45 AM

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