Louvre Abu Dhabi launches Highway 2.0

In an initiative to inject art into the everyday lives of the public, Louvre Abu Dhabi has installed the second edition of giant 3D sculptures and billboards that reproduce artworks from the museum’s collection. Drivers traveling alongside the E11 Sheikh Zayed Road from Dubai to Abu Dhabi can tune into designated ratio channels for short narratives of each artwork.

James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s Arrangement in Grey and Black N˚1 (1871),

The second edition of the world’s first ever radio-guided highway art gallery features works from different historical eras ranging from 5500 BCE to the twentieth century  and a variety of cultures encompassing the Far East and Middle East, as well as Western Europe.

Commenting on the inauguration of Highway Gallery 2.0, His Excellency Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, said: “The Highway Gallery is a flagship project for both the UAE and the international museum landscape, being the first initiative of its kind. The Highway Gallery is a prime example of our efforts to make art and culture an integral part of everyday life in the UAE, further enriching the lives of those who reside, work, and visit here. As the UAE celebrates the Year of Tolerance in 2019, we see the Highway Gallery as an extension of Louvre Abu Dhabi’s physical galleries, bringing its universal collection of works from different geographies and cultures, and its celebration of humanity, to the widest possible audience.”

Reproduction of an 11th or 12th century statue from China representing Guanyin, a divinity of compassion.