The new Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will be located in the Cultural District of Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Designed by
internationally renowned architect Frank Gehry, the 450,000-square-foot museum will house its own major modern and contemporary art collection and present special
exhibitions that will include works from the Guggenheim Foundation's extensive collection. The museum, the largest Guggenheim in the world, will have global art,
exhibitions, and education programs with particular focus on Middle Eastern contemporary art. The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi joins other leading international cultural
institutions in the unprecedented creation of a vibrant cultural destination for visitors from around the world. Courtesy of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi website.
http://www.guggenheim.org/abu-dhabi/
DAY 16 Today is Wednesday, June 22nd and we turn to the relatively new (but actually tried and true) form of tourism called art tourism. In the seventeenth, eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries and later, European gentlemen would travel abroad on 'grand tour' learning first hand about the art, politics and culture of foreign lands. This
form of proto art tourism was available to only the privileged few. The same, it appears, will be the case for the cultural district being created in Abu Dhabi. Discuss the
so-called Guggenheim effect and its consequences for the art market. Use the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi project as an example or choose another example of
contemporary art tourism and its relationship to the art market.
Readings
"The Guggenheim Effect"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2002/oct/30/urbandesign.architecture2
Lorenzo Vicario and P. Manuel Martinez Monje, Another 'Guggenheim Effect'? The Generation of
a Potentially Gentri?able Neighbourhood in Bilbao" in Urban Studies, Vol. 40, No. 12, 2383--2400, November 2003
http://www.scholars-on-bilbao.info/fichas/7VicarioetaltUS2003.pdf
Individual Contributions
Vincent Anthony Falkiewicz
Erica Gilbert-Levin
The so-called Guggenheim effect, which Ward calls "an enduring myth," assumes that the construction of an internationally recognized cultural icon like the Guggenheim Museum in a down-trodden area can revitalize the city by creating a flourishing cultural mecca that will attract tourists and all the accoutrements that accompany tourism as an industry, draw investors and corporations (which then, according to the theory, provide more jobs), and improve the "quality of life of the local community" (Ward, "The Guggenheim effect"). In their study on the establishment of a Guggenheim in Bilbao La Viejo in the San Francisco area, Vicario and Monje's conclusions support Ward's: that the "Guggenheim effect" is a myth.
The Guggenheim Museum was introduced to BLV
in the 1990s with the intention of supporting the rejuvenation of the "derelict neighborhood," with the museum as the "hallmark" of a new cultural haven (Vicario and Monje, 2384), an integral component of the "reimaging" of the area as "the artists' district' of the city" (Vicario and Monje, 2394). This development has become "the model of urban regeneration for other cities affected by decline." Although the strategy succeeded in "creating a new city image associated with art and culture," it was not effective in improving the lives of average citizens. In fact, the introduction of the museum brought with it a trend toward the gentrification of the neighborhood: Real estate prices rose as the location became more attractive, forcing out those who could not afford to pay to live there (Vicario and Monje, 2396). Changes in the environment proved a superficial solution to systemic and enduring problems. For example, the changes resulted in "the displacement of 'problematic' sectors (drug addicts and dealers, prostitutes) to other deprived areas of the city," but ultimately, "any 'normal' residents lacking sufficient income to stay in the area" would also be pushed out (Vicario and Monje, 2398). The effects of gentrification patterns, then, resulted in negative consequences for the area that may outweigh the benefits of housing an attractive cultural site such as the Guggenheim. They leave in place underlying socioeconomic problems and destroy the lives of ordinary citizens who have lost their homes. Even Ward's assessment that the only real benefit of "cultural investment" in down-trodden areas is the "[refreshment of] the local soul" rings hollow if citizens cannot afford to stay there and reap the benefits of living in a flourishing cultural mecca. 
Bilbao La Viejo in San Francisco 
The Bilbao Guggenheim
References:
http://www.bilbaointernational.com/en/old-bilbao/
http://www.designbuild-network.com/features/feature1506/
Kimberly Ann Phoenix
Consider & comment:
What did you think of today's readings and wiki features? What issues if any did they raise for you? How did the audio visual material provided support your understanding of this topic? Comment on your classmates' posts. Leave your comments in the box below.