The Arab world’s first exhibition of the works of Pablo Picasso, spanning all periods and styles in the career of the 20th century’s signature artist, is to open in Abu Dhabi.

It is being held under the patronage of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Shaikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The retrospective Picasso Abu Dhabi: Masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris, featuring 186 paintings, sculptures and drawings, will run in Gallery One of Emirates Palace from May 27 to September 4, 2008.

Abu Dhabi is the second city in a nine-nation tour of the exhibition, after the launch in Madrid’s Reina Sofía museum, and it is the only Middle Eastern venue on the tour. The UAE capital will present an exclusive exhibition differentiated by the inclusion of 40 drawings, prints and illuminated manuscripts reminiscent of the Arab influences Picasso absorbed during his youth in Málaga, La Cocina and Barcelona.

The exhibition also represents the first time that the Musée National Picasso collection has been presented in the Middle East and published in an Arabic catalogue.

The exhibition is being seen as a major stride forward in Abu Dhabi’s mounting status as an international cultural hub.

“This exceptional exhibition helps consolidate Abu Dhabi’s standing on the global cultural landscape and is another initiative in this emirate’s campaign to expand cross-border cultural dialogue,” said chairman of Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), one of Abu Dhabi’s leading developers and the name behind the emirate’s now celebrated Cultural District of Saadiyat Island, which will be home to the world’s largest concentration of premier cultural institutions, Shaikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan.

TDIC has brought the exhibition to the UAE capital in co-operation with Mubadala Development Company (Mubadala).

“The inclusion of works which have a specific Arab connotation will resonate well on a local and regional level and will fulfill an intrinsic role of reaching out to the wider community,” added Sheikh Sultan, who also chairs the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) and the Abu Dhabi Authority For Culture & Heritage (ADACH).

The exhibition is drawn exclusively from the singularly important holdings of the Musée National Picasso, Paris, which came directly from the artist’s studios. This exhibition traces Picasso’s career across a range of work beginning with his Blue Period Self-Portrait (1901) and concluding with Portrait of the Young Painter (1972), made only months before his death. – TradeArabia News Service