Zayed National Museum to open in Abu Dhabi after 15-year wait
Plus: Dubai’s latest art shows, a Michelin-starred Emirati menu and a groundbreaking Emirati novel.
Welcome back to Al-Monitor Dubai.
This week, we take you out of Dubai to the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi, for the long-awaited Zayed National Museum, which just announced it will welcome visitors at the end of this year. We also spotlight a show of abstract and conceptual works by Pakistani artist Fatima Haider and a photography exhibition on images of Sri Lanka.
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Happy reading,
Rebecca
P.S. Have feedback or tips on Dubai's culture scene? Send them my way at contactus@al-monitor.com.
1. Leading the week: Zayed National Museum opens December 2025
A view of the Zayed National Museum under construction. (Courtesy of Zayed National Museum)
The long-awaited Zayed National Museum, now nearing completion, has announced that it will open its doors in Abu Dhabi toward the end of this year, 15 years after its design by Foster + Partners architectural firm was first revealed. The museum will encompass artifacts spanning 300,000 years of human history, with a special focus on the UAE’s cultural legacy from the Palaeolithic, Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages. Among the highlights, the museum will include the world’s oldest natural pearl and the largest reconstruction of a Bronze Age-designed boat.
The museum is named after the UAE’s founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who was known for his emphasis on understanding and commemorating the past to move forward in the future. His passion for the UAE’s ancient heritage led to the establishment of the country’s first museum in Al Ain in 1971, followed by the opening of the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi in 1981.
“This museum is more than a place of preservation,” said His Excellency Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi in a July 10 statement announcing the museum’s opening date. “It is a promise to future generations, a beacon of our identity, and a space where our story is told not just through objects, but through emotion, memory and vision. This institution will carry our story forward for generations to come.”
The museum’s collection will include artifacts from across the UAE as well as donations related to the heritage of the UAE and domestic and international loans. Other highlights will include the world’s oldest falaj irrigation system and remnants of Bronze Age copper mining — evidence of the ingenuity of the UAE’s earliest communities. An official opening date has not yet been announced.
Date: Expected in December 2025
Location: Saadiyat Cultural District, Abu Dhabi
Find more information here.
2. Word on the street: Erth
An interior view of Erth in Abu Dhabi. (Courtesy of Erth)
Erth, which means “legacy” in Arabic, is a one-star Michelin restaurant located in the Qasr Al Hosn cultural site known for its prominent local architecture, and for being the oldest stone building in the UAE capital. The restaurant serves Emirati cuisine with a modern twist using ingredients sourced from local farms across the Emirates. Be sure to try the delicious lamb machboos, offering a succulent, tender lamb slow cooked in a sweet and savory teriyaki sauce with deliciously flavorful rice. Other must-tries include the Margooga ravioli, Al Ain miso baby chicken and finish off with Liwa dates batheeta or a deconstructed date cake.
Location: Qasr Al Hosn, Abu Dhabi
Find more information here.
3. Dubai diary
Here (A Photograph). 2021. Graphite on paper. 69.85 x 54.61 cm, 78 x 63.2 x 3 cm (framed). (Courtesy of the artist)
• “Figure, Ground” by Fatima Haider
Born in Lahore, Pakistan, Fatima Haider’s art offers an ongoing dialogue with abstraction. Her intricate works currently on view at the “Figure, Ground” exhibition at the Grey Noise art gallery in Dubai present an interplay between nature and camouflage, organic and industrial material. The results are artworks that channel both aesthetic and conceptual tension leaving the viewer to ponder their meaning and where they begin and end.
Dates: Through Aug. 9
Location: Grey Noise, Dubai
Find more information here.
• “I Put My Brain on Pause” by Ihab Ahmad
“I Put My Brain on Pause” presents the works of Lebanese artist Ihab Ahmad, showcasing naïve, Pop Art-inspired canvases reflective of child-like joy and the challenges faced during youth. Ahmad’s emotionally-charged works are filled with spontaneity and self-expression as numerous vibrantly colored faces seemingly jump out from his canvases.
Dates: Through Aug. 20
Location: Firetti Contemporary, Unit 29, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai
Find more information here.
• “Surreal Lanka” by Onvision
The exhibition, “Surreal Lanka,” reveals the work of photographer Sai Han Seng On, known as Onvision, showcasing breathtaking landscapes, city views and everyday life in Sri Lanka. The photographs on display at the RAW Coffee Company depict the country with emotional depth and introspection.
Dates: Through July 31
Location: RAW Coffee Company, Al Quoz, Dubai
Find more information here.
4. Book of the week: “Rose’s Diaries”
“Rose’s Diaries” marks the first Emirati novel to be shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Written by Emirati novelist Reem Al Kamali, it is set during the 1960s in Dubai. It is narrated through the eyes of a young woman named Ruza who aspires to travel, gain a scholarship and go on adventures. A devoted reader and talented writer, after the death of her parents, Ruza is forbidden to join her classmates in Damascus, Syria to study Arabic literature and instead must return to her father’s home in the Shindagha district of Dubai and wait until her family decides her future. The book captures a period during which it was frowned upon for a woman in the UAE to write creatively and express herself.
5. View from Dubai
A view of Mina Port in Abu Dhabi by Mazna Almazrouei. The photograph was part of the “Mina Zayed: Reflections on Past Futures” exhibit in 2021 Warehouse421 in Abu Dhabi.
Emirati photographer Mazna Almazrouei from Abu Dhabi is known for her evocative, often monochromatic film photos that capture everyday life in the UAE capital, among other locations.
6. By the numbers
- The Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi has a project area of 44,000 square meters (473,612 square feet).
- According to reports by the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital aims to attract 39 million tourists by 2030 and the Zayed National Museum is one of several prestigious venues, including the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, set to open soon in the UAE capital.