The masterpieces for the Louvre Abu Dhabi, one of the world's most anticipated museums, require the optimum aesthetic presentation, and the challenge of creating the artwork display cases is a monumental work in itself.
When it comes to cultural exports, Belgium has a track record that extends far beyond the standard cliches of brewing, chocolate, waffles and moules-frites.
Even before the country was established in 1830, Flemish artists such as Jan van Eyck, the Breugels (elder and younger), Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck were responsible for some of history’s most compelling works of art.
More recently, the singer Jacques Brel, Herge, creator of Tintin, and the great surrealist artist Rene Magritte helped to define the way we remember the 20th century.
Less well known is the country’s more recent contribution to the world of museums and, more particularly, to the way many of us look at art.
Modern Belgian masterpieces can be seen in more than 1,000 museums and galleries, including the Louvre in Paris, the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Hermitage in St Petersburg and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. But not a single one is labelled.
If that sounds unfair, it is not a problem for the engineers and technicians from Meyvaert, a family business established seven generations ago in the Belgian port city of Ghent.
Meyvaert is not in the business of making art. Its forte is in making its work invisible, while drawing attention to the artworks its display cases contain.
Like a good tailor, the company’s aim is discretion, which is just one of the reasons why it is supplying the cases for the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
It is a project Dirk Van Gaubergen admits is stretching his employer to its limits.
“We’ve been working unusually fast. We have a lot of experience but there are things on this project that have never been done before and the time frame is very limited,” says the laconic Flemish architect, who is leading Meyvaert’s Louvre Abu Dhabi team.
“It’s a huge job, around 100 cases, and engineering-wise it’s very sophisticated, so we put certain projects on hold because we knew that we would need a lot of our resources.
“The project might go from being 50 to 80 or even 90 per cent of our output, so we have dedicated a part of the factory specially to the Louvre.”
Mr Van Gaubergen’s team includes his assistant project manager, six engineers and a site manager, who are supported by Meyvaert’s in-house quality control, logistics, calculation and purchasing teams.
All of these people, he insists, are essential if Meyvaert’s Louvre Abu Dhabi project is to be a success.
“The purchasing department is very important because they buy all of the materials we need. One case can easily be composed of more than a thousand elements so it’s vital that all of those components go to the right place at the right time.
“Then there is logistics. Everything will be shipped in containers and we will probably use reefers [refrigerated shipping containers], because if they sit on the quayside in Abu Dhabi for a day or two, temperatures inside can easily reach 100°C or 120°C.”
Before Meyvaert could even consider the prospect of shipping its cases from Ghent to Abu Dhabi, however, the project has been through an eight-month design process that required making full-scale prototypes of cases designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel (AJN) and its specialist museum design consultant, Renaud Pierard.
“They take things to the limit but we like that,” says Mr Van Gaubergen, smiling. “We are doing things now that we’ve never done before, which doesn’t happen on every project.
“There’s a lot of motorisation in the cases for the Louvre, which is quite unusual, because every case has to be able to be opened by just one person.”
When it comes to the case that Mr Van Gaubergen describes as the “V5”, this is easier said than done.
“The architect asked us to produce a glass of roughly five metres by three metres without a joint. It weighs 500 kilograms and there are 14 cases like this, each of which measures, on average, 6 by 7 metres,” he says.
“When you are inside the gallery you won’t be able to see the whole thing because it will be hidden inside a wall. You will only see the glass. The design is really on the edge but when it is finished it will be marvellous.”
The size and weight of Louvre Abu Dhabi’s cases are not the only challenges that Meyvaert has had to overcome. Even though Abu Dhabi is not in a high-risk earthquake zone, the body charged with delivering the museum, Agence France-Museums, insisted that certain cases should be “seismically isolated”.
To ensure this, Meyvaert had to send two prototype cases to the Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering at the National Technical University in Athens, Greece, an institute that usually tests the seismic resilience of buildings and bridges.
“It was the only place in Europe where they had a shake table of the right size. We built a podium and a 700kg glass case on one of the largest shake tables in Europe and simulated a very heavy earthquake,” says Mr Van Gaubergen. “The glass shook but the display case survived.”
If the challenge of meeting the technical specifications set out by Agence France-Museums sounds arduous, the task of meeting AJN’s high aesthetic standards is just as exacting.
To ensure these are met, Mr Van Gaubergen works with Anna Ugolini, a fellow architect and project manager whom he describes as his mirror within AJN.
Ms Ugolini co-ordinates with the other consultants involved in the design of Louvre Abu Dhabi’s museography, as well the project’s client, main contractor and curators.
Like many members of the AJN’s design team she has worked on some of Jean Nouvel’s most prestigious projects including the Musee du quai Branly in Paris, the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and the new National Art Museum of China in Beijing.
“The showcases are really the product of a dialogue between us, our lighting consultants, our specialist museographer, Renaud Pierard, who also worked on the new department of Islamic art at the Louvre, our client and the curators,” says Ms Ugolini, an Italian.
“We make our proposal and then, with Meyvaert, we work on the technical aspects of the cases and their aesthetics.”
She says the fine-tuning required to achieve the desired level of sophistication includes making cases that cannot only be moved around the museum to meet the needs of future exhibitions, but which can also accommodate exhibits that are yet to be acquired.
“We needed to create display cases that are over-dimensioned,” says Ms Ugolini. “Half of the exhibits, 300, already belong to the permanent collection and the other half are loans, but in 10 years’ time all 600 artworks will belong to the museum.
“This means that the display cases have to be flexible because if the museum buys an artwork that is bigger or taller or different, they can change the display and the quantities of artworks that can be shown.”
In designing the cases the ultimate aim, for Ms Ugolini and Meyvaert, is to produce the best display cases in the world and arrive at a solution that will become so much a part of the museum that they will effectively disappear, allowing visitors to concentrate on the museum’s artworks without any distractions.
“That means using glass that is very fine, with joints that are very thin, and with materials that work contextually with the space they are in and with the colours and the story of the room,” says the architect from AJN.
“If you look at the edge of a piece of glass it will look greenish because of the iron it contains, so we normally use a superior form of glass called ‘extra white’,” says Mr Van Gaubergen.
“However, above the extra white you have ‘ultra white’ which has even more of the iron taken out. That’s what we are using for the Louvre. It’s also very difficult to have nice, finished corners or not to see glass on edge.
“So we had to develop special corner pieces and profiles to sit between the horizontal and vertical planes of glass to hold them together. We call it the ‘evolution profile’ and we had to have a couple of kilometres made specially for this project.”
Now that Meyvaert’s prototype cases have been tested and approved, it will soon be time to start making the cases in earnest and eventually, to move the bulk of the operation from Belgium.
Before that can happen, however, all but the very largest cases will be assembled in the Meyvaert workshops in Ghent before being dismantled, packed for transport and then shipped through Antwerp.
“We’ve checked the entrances to the galleries to make sure there’ll be no problems gaining access, and from October onwards our site manager will be here permanently to organise the reception of the goods, temporary storage and on-site construction.”
While many of the cases will arrive at the Louvre Abu Dhabi in kit form, the largest, some of which measure 20 metres, will be sourced using local materials and suppliers, and built by a team of 25 technicians who will also travel from the Meyvaert factory in Ghent.
“The museum world is a marvellous world to work in,” says Mr Van Gaubergen, clearly excited by the prospect. “It’s a very specialised niche market that contains a strange mix of artists and architects, curators, conservators and designers. It takes a lot of time and investment but you get a lot back. I like it.”
nleech@thenational.ae
The biog
Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives.
The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast.
As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau
He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker.
If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
The five pillars of Islam
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Teachers' pay - what you need to know
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
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Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
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