Blood, Toil, Tears and Art Musuems

In 2011, a group 130 artists, writers and curators decided to boycott the new Guggenheim museum in Abu Dhabi.  In a petition signed by them, they demanded that the Guggenheim foundation and its developers take stronger actions to protect the rights of the workers building the 450,000 sq-ft, 200-million dollar project. The bold new Frank Gehry designed building is poised to rise from the beaches of Sadiyat Island (itself a 27 billion dollar project), off the coast of Abu Dhabi.

All across the Middle East and in the UAE in particular, massive multimillion dollar development projects are springing out of the desert sands. Global investors, seeing opportunity in these tax-free, oil-rich states are quick to seize the opportunity to gain a petro-dollar or two. In neighboring Dubai, obscenely expensive construction projects take shape overnight and the mantra seems to be: All that’s glitters… can be built in Dubai.   

Have oil, will build..anything: The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi on the other hand, always the quieter elder sibling of Dubai, has taken to the world stage in a different way- it has positioned itself to become the cultural capital of the region as opposed to Dubai’s glitz and glamor. In this endeavor, Abu Dhabi has brought to the region big name brands in the arts such as the Guggenheim and the Louvre. Millions of dollars have been spent on wooing the art world and Pritzker winning architects like Gehry.

What they weren’t counting on however, was the art itself.  The art world thrives on exploration of new ideas. Where once art’s sole duty was to be undutiful, today it champions causes and breaks boundaries- it strives for purpose. In Abu Dhabi, a suitable cause to fight for wasn’t hard to find.

Behind the shimmering glass facades and steel megaliths rising up from the desert, is the work of armies of migrant laborers. Hundreds of thousands of people from the developing world, countries like India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Indonesia, come to the Middle East in search of better jobs.  Many end up in the construction sector, others in domestic work, commercial and technical services. And many are exploited and abused with little or no rights. 

Heigh ho and off to work we go: Migrant construction workers line up for the bus back to camp (constructionweek.com)

The post-oil boom Middle East in general has a very poor track record in human rights. Racism and social stratification are rampant and migrant workers occupy the lowest rungs. Workers live in squalid camps on the outskirts of cities and are bussed to work sites every day. The threat of deportation is used to keep them in check and workers are often denied pay, overtime, time off and other benefits. Elsewhere in the cities, female migrants work as domestics and nannies, often abused and unpaid. Like the slaves who built the pyramids, armies of labour are building the modern day monuments of the Middle East.

But in the theater of global economics, these Arab states suddenly find themselves dependent on other countries. Tourism, free trade and construction are major income generators here and to attract educated foreigners to come play in the sands, an marketable image of safety, security and freedom are necessary. The same forces that brought wealth to the region and now starting to exact reform. Globalization giveth and globalization demandeth.

And so, when the art world began to see how their museums were being built, it provoked a sharp outrage as with the artists’ boycott of the Guggenheim. A very interesting situation then arises. Can foreign developers, artists, planners and architects bring about change in the human rights regime in these places? Can globalization inadvertently foster the birth of freedom and democracy?  Can there be such a thing as “activist investment”?

Many of the world’s top financial players ranging from chain-stores to investment firms have an interest in the region. And many of them are obliged to follow ethics and laws of their own countries. Wouldn’t it be antithetical to have IKEA- a company built on the premise of Scandinavia’s liberal workers’ rights and laws- build a store using mistreated labor? Or the Louvre- an institution that celebrates freedom of thought and expression- set up shop in a land of censorship and media control? But they do! And through the open door of globalization they have an opportunity to build a constructive dialogue and implement change.   

The road to equal rights?

In the case of the Guggenheim, the artists succeeded in drawing attention to their cause. The Abu Dhabi government found itself putting on a brave face to the world as it quickly drew up a new charter of workers’ rights.  Other investors and developers were quick to follow. The Guggenheim, the Louvre, New York University (NYU) and others along with their developers began including worker remuneration, living conditions, and treatment into their agreements and contracts. Cornell University has found itself asking the same questions in Doha, Qatar. A Human Rights Watch report on Abu Dhabi from this year shows marked improvement in worker treatment including better housing and compensation.

The implications for financial institutions’ commitment to equity or even the education of planners and architects in our globalized world, is huge.  The Middle East is highly dependent on outside expertise and they have the money to afford it. Equity can potentially begin before the project even gets off the drawing board. After all, the structures of inequality are designed and built by professionals like us- laborers work on our designs, workers camps and servant quarters are designed by us, city legislation and plans are drawn up by us. This is another new face of the global equity movement-where freedom is championed by the power of the contract than by rule of force.

Abu Dhabi with its history is still far more humane in its treatment of migrants than some of its other regional neighbors. However, there is still a long way to go to achieve social equality here. A sense of graduated citizenship still runs strong and skin color and ethnic background are still an important determinant of social status. But we’ve just turned the page on what should be a very interesting chapter for the region.