West Asia’s cultural metropolis

Abu Dhabi is vying to become West Asia’s culture metropolis. The region’s largest art fair opened this week, featuring 3,000 paintings, sculptures and photographs, at the Emirates Palace, a lavish hotel and convention centre. The city will soon be home to satellites museums of New York’s Guggenheim and Paris’ Louvre. More than 40 gallery owners from 17 countries are also hoping the rich Gulf Arabs buy art locally—something European and Arab expatriates who live in this booming region say they lack.“It’s a stereotype and Abu Dhabi is challenging it," said Mubarak Hamad al-Muhairi, director general of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority. AP