GOVERMENT COMMITTEE TO OVERSEE ABU DHABI GUGGENHEIM’S ACQUISITIONS

According to Robin Pogrebin of the New York Times, the government of Abu Dhabi will oversee acquisitions for the new Guggenheim museum in the United Arab Emirates, officials announced yesterday. The new museum, designed by the architect Frank Gehry, is to be built on Saadiyat Island, adjacent to the main island of the city of Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.

A committee appointed by Abu Dhabi’s government will administer acquisitions and commissions with the aim of building a collection of modern and contemporary art for the museum, officials said. But professionals from the Guggenheim in New York will make recommendations. The details emerged as executives from the United Arab Emirates and the Guggenheim Foundation laid out a fifteen-year operating agreement yesterday that will take effect in five years, after design and construction. The accord provides for a joint administrative and program organization to oversee the museum and a staff of 250 to 300 people, including United Arab Emirates citizens who would receive mentorship and training. “It’s a significant step,” said Thomas Krens, director of the Guggenheim in New York. “It’s analogous to the operating agreement that we did in Bilbao. It makes it real.”