ABU DHABI (AFP).- The Louvre Abu Dhabi will finally open to the public on November 11, a decade after the project was launched, France's culture minister said Wednesday.

"It is my pleasure to announce that the Louvre Abu Dhabi will open its doors on November 11," Francoise Nyssen said at a news conference in Abu Dhabi.

"At a time when culture is under attack... this is our joint response."

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is the first establishment outside of the original Louvre in Paris -- which houses the world's largest collection of art -- to carry the famed French name.

The museum aims to attract people from neighbouring Arab countries and around the world, according to the UAE culture minister.

"Just as the Louvre is the crown jewel of Paris, so the Louvre Abu Dhabi is destined for such distinction," said Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al-Nahyan.

Louvre Abu Dhabi: key figures
• The museum is built on a 97,000 square metre site on Saadiyat Island, a low-lying island 500 metres off the coast of Abu Dhabi that is the site of a number of tourism and development projects.

• Engineers had to move 503,000 cubic meters of sand to lay the foundations for the museum.

• The Louvre Abu Dhabi is part of a vast "museum city" that includes 55 white buildings inspired by traditional Arab medinas. It also includes the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, still under construction.

• The museum will host 23 permanent galleries.

• The entire area is covered by a latticework silvery dome that is 36 metres high, and weighs 7,500 tonnes -- almost as much as the Eiffel Tower.

• The dome appears to float, as its four pillars are hidden within the museum.

• The dome is composed of eight superimposed layers: four outer layers in stainless steel and four inner layers separated by a steel structure that is five metres high.

• The layering of 7,850 patterned perforations creates what cinematographers call a "rain of light": each ray of the sun must cross through all eight layers to reach the ground, creating an intricate and ever-shifting pattern.

• Indoor exhibition spaces will cover a total area of 8,600 square metres.

• The museum's galleries will cover 6,400 square metres and showcase 600 works of art, including 300 loaned by 13 French museums for the inaugural year.

• The space dedicated to temporary exhibitions will cover 2,000 square metres and children's museum has a dedicated area of 200 square metres.

• The permanent galleries will cover art and artifacts from the earliest Mesopotamian civilisations to the present day.

• The Louvre Abu Dhabi was initiated as a result of an Emirati request and was set up under a 2007 inter-governmental agreement between Paris and Abu Dhabi.

• The Louvre Abu Dhabi is said to have cost funders over one billion euros, including 400 million euros to carry the Louvre name.

• The construction of the museum has been estimated at nearly 600 million euros, but costs have risen due to delays in funding and construction.


© Agence France-Presse