Dubai’s culture enters limelight with award winning museum
As a testimony to the city’s commitment to raise its cultural profile and boast world-class museums, the Etihad Museum has been awarded the prestigious ‘Best New Museum – Middle East’ at the recent Leading Culture Destinations Awards. Now in their fourth year, the awards are known as ‘the Oscars for museums’, and this event shines a light on the most exceptional offerings of the world’s existing and emerging Leading Culture Destinations and how they connect culture with tourism.
Below is a list of the range of museums Dubai offers to its culture-seeking visitors:
Etihad Museum
The new Etihad Museum opened in January 2017 and takes visitors on a journey back to the era before the country’s founding and aims to engage and educate about the nation’s constitution and the rights, privileges and responsibilities of the Emirati citizens. The building design was inspired by the shape of a manuscript, with seven columns symbolising the pens used to sign the Union agreement and with both the Guest House and Union House, the birthplace of the United Arab Emirates, being restored to preserve its history. Through a unique visitor journey, each pavilion houses experience-driven exhibitions, interactive programmes and educational initiatives that explore the events that brought the Emirates together in 1971. Visitors can experience the significant role the location and building played in the UAE’s story, and learn a deep understanding of the vision, determination and wisdom of the nation’s Founding Fathers.
Pearl Museum
The Pearl Museum showcases how, before the discovery of oil, pearls were the biggest source of income in the Gulf. The waters in the United Arab Emirates are warm and shallow leading them to produce some of the world’s finest pearls. The museum is now home to many of these exquisite natural wonders, holds magnificent jewellery and celebrates the lives of the divers, sailors and merchants who sought out the pearls and the instruments and tools used to harvest and ship.
Coffee Museum
The Dubai Coffee Museum explores the history of coffee and its origins acting as a platform for experiencing different regional styles such as Arabic, Ethiopian and Japanese coffee types to name a few. The museum creates a relaxing atmosphere with regional traditional and oriental architecture to set the scene. Along with coffee, there is a wide selection of antique items illustrating local and international coffee history and culture, there is also a strong focus on coffee education and how it is sourced, roasted and brewed differently around the world.
Heritage House
Located in one of the oldest urban sites in Dubai, the Heritage House was established in 1890. Today it provides visitors with an in-depth understanding of local traditional housing and how the architecture was built to withstand the natural elements, while remaining comfortable and adhering to social traditions and religious values. Visitors have the unique opportunity to experience and discover local household tools, utensils, furniture, clothes, jewellery and much more.
Sheikh Mohammed Center for Cultural Understanding
Sheikh Mohammed Center for Cultural Understanding allows visitors to gain a greater appreciation of Dubai’s culture and customs. SMCCU aims to increase awareness of local customs and religion while establishing an understanding between the various cultures which lie within Dubai. Located in a beautifully restored wind tower house in Al Fahidi Historical neighborhood, visitors can experience a traditional Emirati lunch and take a seat on Arabic-style carpets and pillows and enjoy a selection of traditional dishes while a local host explains local life in the Emirate.
Sheikh Saeed Al Maktaim House
Built in 1896, the Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum House was the residence of Al Maktoum, the ruling family and Dubai monarch until 1958. The house is currently used as a museum to exhibit Dubai’s history as it displays a rare and varied collection of historic photographs of the Skeikhs and life in Dubai, which has dramatically changed. It is also home to rare and historic official documents about the Emirate of Dubai, authentic jewellery, coins, stamps and other items that date back to Dubai’s historic era. Here visitors can immerse into the local values, architecture and heritage that created the foundation and philosophy of Dubai.
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