Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
02-681 8464;
www.voxcinemas.com
;
Marina Mall; tickets from Dh47)
.
Jazz Bar
LIVE MUSIC
( 02-681 1900; Corniche Rd West, Hilton Abu Dhabi; 7pm-2am Sun-Fri)
Cool cats flock to this soph-
isticated supper club that serves contemporary fusion cuisine (mains Dh50-200) in a mod-
ern art deco-inspired setting against the backdrop of a live band.
ABU DHABI - TAKING ON THE ART WORLD
Art lovers take note: one of the world's most ambitious cultural construction projects is taking shape on Saadiyat
Island off the coast of Abu Dhabi. When all is said and built, the new
Cultural District
will consist of four mu-
seums and a performing arts centre, making it (what else?) the largest cluster of art repositories in the world.
Construction has been fraught with delays but finally picked up again in early 2013 when the first construction
contract was awarded. Three of the five buildings are now projected to be open by 2017. Other plans for the is-
land include homes for around 150,000 people alongside five-star hotels, resorts, golf courses and a shopping
mall.
Created by five Pritzker Prize-winning architects (the Pritzker Prize is the 'Oscar' of architecture), each struc-
ture seems more daring than the next, with the
Louvre Abu Dhabi
perhaps being the most anticipated. Designed
by Jean Nouvel, its most distinctive feature is a perforated white dome that appears to hover above the water.
Galleries will exhibit artwork drawn from several museums, including the Paris Louvre and the Centre Georges
Pompidou.
Also on the drawing board is Lord Norman Foster's
Zayed National Museum
, which honours the UAE's
'founding father'. Foster translated Sheikh Zayed's love of falconry into an avant-garde structure with jutting
steel-and-glass galleries inspired by flight and feathers. Each 'feather' will contain a gallery highlighting different
historical and cultural aspects of the country.
The
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
promises to be a similarly exciting building: a cacophonous composition of geo-
metrical shapes - cuboids to cones, cylinders to prisms - designed by Frank Gehry. It will showcase international
contemporary art.
Envisioned for a second phase is a spaceshiplike
Performing Arts Centre
by Iraqi-British Zaha Hadid as well
as Tadao Ando's comparatively austere
Maritime Museum
.
For a preview and a sense of the ambition of the project, visit the Saadiyat, a high-tech exhibit that combines
substance with slick sales presentation techniques. It's in the
Manarat Al Saadiyat
(
www.saadiyat.ae
;
Saadiyat
Island; 10am-8pm) exhibition centre, right on the island. Coming from central Abu Dhabi, take
Sheikh Khalifa Bridge to Sheikh Khalifa Hwy (E12) and follow the signs. From Dubai, follow Hwy E11 to the
Saadiyat Island exit and from there to Hwy E12. There's also a smaller exhibit at the Emirates Palace (
Click
here
).
Shopping
Souq at Central Market
SOUQ
