 The museum is intended to be a centerpiece in the island's plan for contemporary art and culture".In 2011, the museum began site and structural work on a peninsula at the northwestern tip of Saadiyat Island adjacent to Abu Dhabi, but construction was suspended the same year.The completion date was first pushed back from 2011 to 2013 then to 2015, after the emirate cancelled contracts with concrete suppliers, and again to 2017 "amid more difficult economic times".