Etihad Crystal Cargo, the freight arm of Etihad, the national carrier of the UAE, recently completed the shipment of priceless artwork for Abu Dhabi’s latest exhibition, Talking Art Louvre Abu Dhabi.

The ongoing Talking Art: Louvre Abu Dhabi at Emirates Palace aims to present the principal architectural and cultural aspects of the project Louvre Abu Dhabi. It will run until August 29.

The collection was flown over by Etihad Crystal Cargo to Abu Dhabi in several shipments from Frankfurt and Paris. Etihad used a combination of passenger and cargo aircraft for the important project, including an Airbus A340 and MD11F.

Des Vertannes, Etihad Airways’ executive vice president cargo, said: “We are very proud to have been chosen to carry these priceless pieces of art for the Talking Art Louvre Abu Dhabi exhibition, which demonstrates once again our development as a leading global cargo company.”

“Etihad Crystal Cargo last year successfully carried 8 shipments, consisting of 168 pieces of art, for the Picasso exhibition and we are delighted to be given this tremendous honour of bringing the collection to Abu Dhabi which will undoubtedly be one of the high lights of this summer,” he added.

The masterpieces on display at Talking Art Louvre Abu Dhabi include a Greek ceramic figure from around 520 BC and two 1862 canvases by Edouard Manet.

There is also a standing bodhisattva from the second to third century A.D and a canvas by Jean-François de Troy, “Esther Fainting Before Ahaseurus,” from 1730.

Talking Art Louvre Abu Dhabi is part of a series of exhibitions organized by the Tourism Development & Investment Company ahead of the opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi on Saadiyat Island.

The 260,000-square-foot Louvre Abu Dhabi, designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel, is expected to open in the UAE’s capital city in 2012 / 2013. – TradeArabia News Service