Abu Dhabi’s Zayed National Museum to open in December Abu Dhabi’s Zayed National Museum to open in December

The Zayed National Museum is set to open in the United Arab Emirates this December, the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi has confirmed.

Located within the UAE’s capital, the architectural icon, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Lord Norman Foster of Foster + Partners, is meant to resemble the wing of a falcon in flight, a nod to the traditional Emirati practice of falconry.

Inside, the six permanent galleries will cover 300,000 years of human history, with Palaeolithic, Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age artefacts going on show. It aims to ‘bring global perspectives and into dialogue with the UAE’s heritage and contemporary identity’.

Highlights due to go on display include the Abu Dhabi Pearl, one of the world’s oldest natural pearls, the Blue Qur’an, one of Islamic art’s most famous manuscripts, and a recreation of a Magan boat, which sailed the Gulf during the Umm an-Nar Period (2500–2000 BCE).

First announced in 2007, the new museum is named after the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding father of the UAE. Sheikh Zayed was instrumental in the creation of many of the UAE’s cultural institutions, including the first museum in Al Ain in 1971, as well as the Cultural Foundation.

His Excellency Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi said, “Saadiyat Cultural District represents the next chapter in this national journey, curating world-class institutions that honour the past and engage the future. As the national museum of the UAE, Zayed National Museum is the legacy of our Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

“It is a tribute to his boundless belief in people, in their ability to learn, to uphold the values of unity, compassion and national pride. This museum is more than a place of preservation; 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.”

Zayed National Museum is located within the Saadiyat Cultural District, which is already home to galleries such as Louvre Abu Dhabi, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Bassam Freiha Art Foundation and teamLab Phenomena, the latter of which opened in April this year.

The Natural History Museum and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi are also due to open soon. In May 2024, DCT Abu Dhabi reaffirmed that the Saadiyat Cultural District was on track for completion in 2025, although no further update has been provided on either institution at the time of writing.

More information: zayednationalmuseum.ae

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