Glimpse of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi to be shown in new exhibition

The exhibition is entitled 'Seeing Through Light' and is comprised of work from 18 international artists from the 1960s to the present.

ABU DHABI // Art lovers can get an early glimpse of what is in store at the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi at an exhibition opening this year.

The museum is still under construction, but a selection of works will be open to the public at Manarat Al Saadiyat from November to January.

The exhibition is entitled “Seeing Through Light” and will be comprised of work from 18 international artists from the 1960s to the present.

“Guggenheim Abu Dhabi’s collection offers various perspectives and narratives on the artworks acquired thus far by the museum,” said Maisa Al Qassimi, programmes manager in the Museums Department at Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority.

“The richness and flexibility of this exhibition’s theme – and the collection in general – has particular relevance across cultures and time periods. More specifically, diverse meanings and associations – from the physical to the intellectual and from the spiritual to the scientific – will be explored through the artworks on display in Seeing Through Light, offering visitors insight into what they will experience when the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi opens.”

The Guggenheim, expected to be completed in 2017, is one of three museums that will comprise the Saadiyat Cultural District. The other museums are the Louvre, which will be completed next year, and the Zayed National Museum, which will be ready in 2016.

The Guggenheim, when it opens, will offer a “transnational perspective on art and visual culture since the 1960s, with a strong focus on art from the Middle East, exploring the specific identity derived from the cultural traditions of Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates”, a statement from ADTCA said.

The museum organisers began last year a “talking art” series of themed exhibitions. So far there have been three exhibitions: Popular Culture and the Mediated Image; System, Process, Concept; and History, Memory, Narrative.

The programme featured, among others, artists Hassan Sharif, El Anatsui, Chant Avedissian, Feng Mengbo, Youssef Nabil, James Rosenquist, Heinz Mack and Marwan, who spoke in depth about their art, and specifically about their works that will be part of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi collection.

A statement from the organisers said this year’s exhibition would be themed around the “concept of light”.

It added that, in addition to the exhibition, there would also be film screenings, adult and youth workshops and performances by several leading contemporary artists whose works are part of the museum collection.