7 Of the world’s newest museum openings in 2017 to visit

Sarah Khan 03 Oct 2017

1/7
Louvre Abu Dhabi
Opening November 2017

The Architecture: The Louvre Abu Dhabi, designed by award-winning architect Jean Nouvel, is definitely set to be the crown jewel of Abu Dhabi. The visually arresting museum on Saadiyat Island, an unquestionable architectural work of art in itself, is artfully designed to resemble an Arab medina comprising 55 detached buildings.

Its domed canopy is made up of over 7,000 stars which beautifully filters sunlight through, creating what Nouvel calls the ‘Rain of Light’. The Louvre Abu Dhabi will also feature an underground service tunnel linking it to two other uncompleted projects - the Zayed National Museum and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

Exhibits: The museum will showcase works loaned by the French museums, such as the likes of Leonardo Da Vinci’s La Belle Ferronniere and works by Vincent Van Gogh, and also its own acquisitions such as a page of a 9th century Holy Koran in Kufic script.

Photo: Louvre Abu Dhabi
2/7
Zeitz MOCAA, South Africa
Opened September 2017

The Architecture: Launched September 2017, the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa is designed by futurist architect Mat Cash, the lead architect at London-based Heatherwick Studio - the avant-garde design firm also responsible for Google’s upcoming campuses. The museum perches on the V&A waterfront and was brilliantly repurposed from Cape Town’s historic century-old grain silo complex, which was once the tallest building in sub-Saharan Africa.

The grain silo complex had been painted a magnolia yellow in the 1980s, with tubes rising from like giant sticks of butter, which led the architectural team at Heatherwick to restore it to its original concrete facade. “It felt like archaeology,” says Mat Cash, “scraping away 100 years of skin to reveal something beautiful.”

The Exhibits: The museum’s whooping 100 galleries will showcase the diverse modern art from throughout the continent, including the work of African artists like Zimbabwe’s Kudzanai Chiurai, Ghana’s El Anatsui and Kenya’s Wangechi Mutu. The first major museum of its kind in all of Africa, the Zeitz MOCAA is definitely poised to become Africa’s most important cultural attraction.

Photo: Zeitz MOCAA
3/7
Musee Yves Saint Laurent, Marrakech
Opening October 2017

The Museum: The Moroccan city of Marrakech deeply influenced Saint Laurent’s life and work - in particular, his discovery of colours. As such, it is unsurprising that the city is the other chosen location for the museum, fully dedicated to tell the story of the prolific designer’s career.

Located on Rue Yves Saint Laurent in Marrakech, the 43,000-square-foot terracotta museum building was designed by Studio KO to specifically blend in with the Moroccan and houses both permanent and temporary exhibits. There is also a research library which houses over 5,000 books on Saint Laurent, as well as material on Arabic and Andalusian culture and history. You can also catch conferences and film screenings in the 130-seat auditorium, purchase trinkets honouring the late designer from the bookshop and tuck into French and Moroccan cuisine at the museum cafe overlooking a reflection pool.

The Exhibits: Musee Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech features a curated archive selection of 5,000 clothing items and 15,000 haute couture accessories, which includes his rough sketches, drawings and objets - all owned by the Fondation Pierre Berge-Yves Saint Laurent. Some of his most iconic pieces, like the revolutionary Le Smoking suit, will also be showcased.

Photo: Musee YSL
4/7
King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, Saudi Arabia
Opened 2017

The Museum: The King Abdulaziz Center, located in Saudi’s eastern deserts where it futuristically rises against the landscape like an ancient rock formation (oddly enough), is an initiative by the Saudi Aramco Oil Company to promote cultural development within the Kingdom.

Designed by Norwegian architectural firm Snohetta, the vast museum complex is is separated into five 'pebble' esque structures - smooth and shiny objects that glisten in the Saudi heat and appear imposing and mysterious from a distance. A 98-metre high tower, which forms the dominant center of the pebble composition which surrounds it, is the educational building with each floor dedicated to a different function. The museum is intended as a new focal point for a long-running programme of cultural relations and exchanges. The cultural center will also feature an auditorium, cinema, library, exhibition hall, museum and archive.

Photo: King Abdulaziz Centre
5/7
Astana World Expo, Kazakhstan
Opened June 2017

The Museum: Astana, Kazakhstan’s futuristic modern capital, is definitely primed to be one of the world’s new hottest destinations - particularly with the opening of its first Expo this June 2017. Designed by Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill, the Astana World Expo boasts of a zero-energy design true to the city's approach of sustainable urbanism.

The Exhibits: Expect chock-full of models and videos of windmill turbines and solar panels.

Photo: Expo 2017 Astana
6/7
Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo
Opening October 2017

The Museum: Tokyo is just about to get remarkably vibrant. A new museum completely dedicated to avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama (who frankly needs no introduction) has opened. The five-storey museum located in a Tokyo suburb features tens of thousands of artworks created over her artistic career spanning 6 decades.

The Exhibits: The 88-year-old artist’s trademark motif, the polka dot, feature prominently throughout the museum, right from its glass entrance doors to even the mirrored walls of the toilet. Get this: Anticipating the rife global fascination with her and her art, the museum is restricting the number of visitors to just 200 a day - i.e. 50 people admitted four times a day for just 90 minutes each.

Frankly, it was only a matter time before Kusama, whose brilliant work has appeared at the Tate Modern and the Pompidou in Paris among others, has been given a space she can fully call her own.

Photo: Yayoi Kusama (Official)
7/7
Museum of the Second World War, Poland
Opened March 2017

As its name suggests, the Museum of the Second World War is a striking building devoted to the second world war. Designed by Polish architectural firm Kwadrat, its arresting architecture features a glazed facade and includes three floors housing permanent exhibitions as well as a scenic rooftop that offers sweeping, panoramic views of the city centre.

Photo: Muzeum 1939

From the Louvre Abu Dhabi to Musee Yves Saint Laurent in Marrakech, you definitely don’t want to give these a miss.

Museums are special places. Artfully capturing the milieu of our time, their architectural finesse and impeccability are as much an artwork as the pieces they house.

No doubt, 2017 has been a culturally inexhaustible year with a slew of fascinating, high-profile art exhibitions, film festivals and of course – new museum openings. The final quarter of the year has been abuzz with the opening of new prolific museums, that include the Louvre Abu Dhabi, Musee Yves Saint Laurent in Marrakech and a fully-dedicated Yayoi Kusama Museum in Tokyo.

If you’re a culture vulture like we are, you probably don’t need telling twice: check out 2017’s newest museum openings from around the world you should absolutely make a visit to – if you haven’t made travel plans for the holidays already!

Sarah Khan

The 5 Best museums and galleries to check out in Kuala Lumpur

15 Museums in Southeast Asia worth visiting in your lifetime

Tune In: 8 Brain-boosting podcasts for the busy...

Festive Bites: Where to get your sweet treats in...

7 Of the world’s newest museum openings in 2017 to visit

Read More:

React to this post Cancel reply