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the need to keep our community close, making them feel safe with the way we programme, while taking them with us.” Ms Brundyn’s audience in South Africa stands in stark contrast with the one that visits the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, 87 per cent of whom have travelled to the city. “It’s a very different demographic. So while we want to emphasise the local and be idiosyncratic and have our own voice, there’s also something to be said for developing a collection for your local audience who cannot travel,” said Mr Rüger. He acknowledged that there was “something” about the premise for “more comprehensive museums, that they allow you to travel while you stay local”. This, he said, was an approach to curating that struck a chord in the context of Saadiyat Island, where the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s galleries are predicated on a nuanced, 21st century approach to globalism and universalism. But, he added, “to reconcile those different demands - of the strong local voice and the idiosyncratic - and at the same time to give an outlook into the world”, this may not be possible. 67