Frank Gehry Exhibition to Highlight Inaugural Programme at Opening of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

An exhibition exploring Frank Gehry’s design for Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will form part of the inaugural programme at the museum, which opens on December 11. Original sketches, early hand-built models, and archival materials will trace the development of the late architect’s vision, showing how the building took shape in response to Abu Dhabi’s landscape, culture, and ambitions for the arts, according to the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.

“Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is an expression of Frank Gehry’s love for Abu Dhabi and his deep respect for its vision, courage, and patience,” said Meaghan Lloyd, a partner at Gehry Partners. From the first, he was inspired by the scale of the Saadiyat Island Cultural District and by Abu Dhabi’s strategic investment in culture as a way to drive progress and shape the future of the country. Frank was always mindful of the faith Abu Dhabi’s leaders had placed in him, and of the responsibility that came with a project of this importance.

Gehry and his team undertook extensive site visits and research into how people gather, move around, and experience Abu Dhabi. That work informed a design connecting galleries with shaded courtyards, terraces, and outdoor spaces for art. The museum’s position beside the sea influenced the orientation of the building, the routes through it, and the arrangement of public spaces, connecting the museum to its coastal setting and the wider Saadiyat Cultural District.

Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, said: “From the very beginning, Frank Gehry understood that this building had to be inspired by the emirate, being shaped by Abu Dhabi’s light, its climate, its coastline, and its traditions. What he has given us is a museum that draws from its surroundings, a building that carries the forms of this region into something entirely new. Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is a work of art in its own right.”

The museum features 11,600 square metres of interior gallery space and 23,000 square metres of outdoor exhibition space. Its galleries vary in size and configuration, giving artists room to develop commissions and exhibitions in different media and at different scales. Ten monumental cones are among the museum’s most distinctive features, with nine clad in stainless steel mesh and the remaining cone in onyx and glass. These cones help shade public spaces and ventilate courtyards and terraces by drawing warm air upwards and directing cooling breezes below.

Developed in partnership with the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation, the museum will focus on modern and contemporary art from the 1960s to the present. Its collection spans painting, sculpture, installation, photography, moving image, and new media. Tickets went on sale in September, with standard adult admission priced at Dh70 ($19) through the museum’s website.