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Territories and cultural mobilities : Louvre-Abu Dhabi Universal Museum ×
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EPISTÉMÈ Vol.18 pp.29-51
Territories and cultural mobilities : Louvre-Abu Dhabi Universal Museum
Key Words : Louvre-Abu Dhabi,public brand,territorial recomposition,universal museum,geographical destination.
Abstract
For twenty years, the major French museums have undergone profond changes that raise fears about cultural mobility. In this context, the inauguration on 11 november 2017 of the Louvre-Abu Dhabi Museaum in the Middle East on the small Island of Saadiyat (United Arab Emirates) raises the question of the tourist destination. In reality, we must question the « living places » of this territory of the Middle East which has difficulties in assertint its identity at the crossroads of several continents. How does the Louvre brand constitute a universal model of territorial recomposition in this region of destination and residence ? Will culture be enough to promote Abu Dhabi ? From the theoretical framework of Hirschman & Holbrook (1982) two studies were conducted. The first one at the Abu Dhabi Visitor Center (2013) allowed for several interviews with tourists. The second, during the exhibition « Birth of a Museum » (2014) in Paris, wich presented the collection of the future museum, was also an opportunity to conduct participant observations. As a result, the recognition of the French public brand for geographical destination engages in unusual processes whose universal staging mobilizes a universe to the detriment of recomposition of the territory.