Topped by an enormous signature dome of overlapping geometric lattices that weighs more than 7,500 tons, the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, will open to the public this weekend, on November 11, 2017. The new museum will showcase hundreds of works of art from around the world. Back in 2007, the Louvre Museum in Paris signed a $525 million agreement to allow the government of Abu Dhabi to use the “Louvre” name for its new museum for 30 years, and $750 million more for ongoing management advice and assistance. The project, more than a decade in development, drew criticism for the use of migrant workers in its construction, with the history of abuse and exploitation of such workers in that region. Although the architect recently defended the treatment of the workers, and UAE authorities say they have made progress on labor rights, critics maintain that conditions remain appalling.
The Opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi
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A photo taken with a wide-angle lens, looking up toward the intricate roof of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, during a media tour prior to the official opening of the museum on Saadiyat Island in the Emirati capital on November 6, 2017. #
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Part of the exterior of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum, photographed during a media tour prior to the official opening, on Saadiyat Island, United Arab Emirates, on November 6, 2017. #
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A cleaner sweeps the floor next to the painting titled "Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul, Crossing the Alps" by French artist Jacques-Louis David in the Louvre Abu Dhabi on November 6, 2017. #
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French President Emmanuel Macron, and his wife, Brigitte, are welcomed by Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, left, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, right, to the official opening of Louvre Abu Dhabi on November 8, 2017. #
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Moroccan King Mohammed VI looks at a painting titled "Whistler's Mother" by James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1871) as he visits the Louvre Abu Dhabi during its inauguration on November 8, 2017. #
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A woman poses in front of part of a series of nine panels titled "Untitled I-IX" by American painter Cy Twombly in the Louvre Abu Dhabi, during a media tour on November 6, 2017. #
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