A museum for a time of doubt

Since the announcement in 2006 that a cultural district was to be created on Saadiyat Island off Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), ten years have passed and the conventional art museum sought by the Emiratis has turned into a universal institution as a result of influence almost exclusively from the French side. Although the term universal museum is a venerable one, anchored firmly in the history of European philosophy, it offers the capital of the emirates something quite original t