Abu Dhabi is by far the richest of the Emirates of the UAE, it is also the one that seems to care the most to incentivize more culture-oriented travellers to visit it, building one excellent museum after another. I suppose having more money to spend around plays a big role in all of this, but the sheikh’s focus on culture is, at the end, his own choosing. And it is a most welcome choice for people like me. While Abu Dhabi is already home to plenty of museums, so much so that I could not visit all of them in the two days that I spent there, even more are under construction today, more on those later on. Moreover, while some museums are paid, both in Abu Dhabi and in Al Ain, I realized that some of these places were freely accessible for all, locals and foreigners alike. On top of that, you are often served some complimentary Emirati coffee and dates before you begin your tour of the museums, which is like the nicest thing ever. Well, let us go ahead and see just what some of the finest museums in Abu Dhabi offer to their visitors, besides good coffee.
Qasr al Hosn
It would be a shame not to start this list with Qasr al Hosn. This central fort functions like Abu Dhabi’s own history museum. This fort’s beautiful courtyard is surrounded by rooms with exhibits on all sides, and in between its two floors, there are about twenty exhibitions to enjoy. Some cover the role of Emirati women in the society, while others focus on military affairs and the region’s colonial past. There is a room for everything.
This is a somewhat recently renovated fort, and you can see that renovation quite clearly, which was one of the main goals of the project as I was told. You can differentiate between what is new and what was originally there easily because the modern parts were purposefully made to stand out as clean and uniform, whereas the original walls and arcs you can see on the left have a grainy texture and have visible layers. I for one appreciated this, I think it works better than some renovations that try really hard to replicate the historical look and thus end up shadowing the few remaining original sections of the structure itself.
The oldest part of the fort, which is also renovated pretty heavily is none other than this watchtower. In fact, it was this tower that stood here solitarily for a long time, all alone. It was much later on when the fort complex was built around it, and even later on when the living quarters and so on were installed. You can find a ton of birds using this tower and another one nearby as their home, which was an unexpected yet beautiful surprise.
House of Artisans
I may have forgotten to mention that you pay a 30 AED entry fee to visit Qasr al Hosn, but that fee includes a visit to the nearby House of Artisans as well. This was where I enjoyed my very first complimentary coffee in the UAE. It was a bit more than just coffee as well. We were lectured on what makes Emirati coffee so special (it is the spices), learnt about the ingredients that went into making it, and the social role of it in community building. The coffee itself was one of the best I had as well, but then again, I am not a huge coffee person. Despite that, I did enjoy all the coffee I had in the UAE, which should mean something.
The House of Artisans is not really about the coffee though, it has to do with artisans, the local ones. There are a few arrangements like this one in which you can find out more about a local craft more in depth. If you are lucky, you can catch a few Emirati ladies working on such crafts as well. For example, in this photo to the right, you can see the head of an older lady who was knitting like there was no tomorrow. In short, while Qasr al Hosn teaches you the history of the area, the House of Artisans shows a thing or two about Emirati culture.
Emirates Heritage Village
All Emirati capitals have a cultural district or a cultural village, depending on their layout and size. Abu Dhabi is certainly not an exception to that rule, and dare I say, it has the most beautiful one among them all. I say so mostly because this one is rather green, it feels more like a park than a village befitting a desert environment at times. There are small gardens, tons of trees, an opportunity to enjoy a ride on a camel for the children, a very well-kept beach, and so on.
This area is free to visit, and it is usually quite packed with tourists, as chartered buses of all sorts stop here. There are a few small museums inside, and I especially liked the one dedicated to ship making. These are all very small exhibitions, so keep your expectations reasonable, and you will enjoy them.
It was especially interesting to see an older aerial photo of Abu Dhabi in here, as it looked like a completely alien space to where I was right now. 1950 may seem like ancient history for some, but in reality, it is not so long ago no matter which metric you use. Plenty of people that were born back then live now, and there are far older ones who can still remember the city as it was back when they were young. The transformation of the UAE, and the Gulf region in general is something that almost defies common sense, and yet it in fact did took place at such an incredible speed.
Cultural Foundation Abu Dhabi
When it comes to art, Abu Dhabi will surely satisfy most travellers. One of the first destinations you should visit as an art lover is the Cultural Foundation of Abu Dhabi, which has a few decent temporary exhibitions, and a working space for artists, all of which are completely free for all. There are some paid workshops too if you are interested in that. I enjoyed both temporary exhibitions that were there at the time, one on a famous Arab filmmaker whose name I cannot remember at the moment, and another on the flora of the UAE.
421 Arts Campus
If you are interested in more modern arts but want to enjoy a similar space to the Cultural Foundation, then you are best served by a visit to 421 Arts Campus. This is exactly what the name suggests. There are a few studios and a free working space that surrounds a central area. This area has temporary exhibitions that are filled to the brim with works from regional artists that prefer newer mediums to challenge conformity, or whatever it is that they wish to do with their latest artworks.
Admittedly, 421 Arts Campus is rather far away from the city center, and all the other attractions that Abu Dhabi has to offer, but technically, you can get there with just a single bus from the city center, and it is a rather artsy area to say the least. I enjoyed my time there and would recommend it to all, but I understand why it is not higher up in most lists circulating online regarding Abu Dhabi.
Louvre Abu Dhabi
Well, speaking about itineraries for Abu Dhabi, no trip to the city is complete without a visit to Louvre Abu Dhabi. This wonderful art museum has a staggering 63 AED entry fee, and yet, that was likely the best 63 AED I spent this entire trip, excluding a few dining experiences. However, those experience did not last me around four hours, but Louvre Abu Dhabi did. It could have lasted more if I had more time in the city…
Interestingly, the internet seems to be divided on this museum for some bizarre reason, but a visit to Louvre Abu Dhabi is a non-negotiable part of a trip to Abu Dhabi. Some seem to compare the place to the “real” Louvre back in Paris, which absolutely makes no sense to me. I visited the “original” as well, and while I outright fell in love with it, what it is and what Louvre Abu Dhabi is are two different things. The former is a massive playground for museum lovers, and it is like that mostly because it has been there for quite some time and thus has an enormous collection. The latter is an entirely new project that pleases the eyes with its architecture, as much as with its humbler selection of well curated art pieces.
If visiting an art museum is only about seeing a bunch of famous paintings for you, then you may be better served with more renowned names in the field that you can find more readily back in Europe, but if it is actually about an artistic curated journey as it is for me, then you will enjoy Louvre Abu Dhabi thoroughly. There are four permanent galleries here, each with three rooms, following a chronological order. Artworks you can find here are from all around the globe, ranging from Ming China to the Aztec Empire.
While the majority of artworks are painting and sculptures, the blind visitors of the museum are well looked after as well. There are these boards where braille is used frequently, and better yet, some artworks have 3D recreations that one can feel in detail. You can also feel the different mediums on which these paintings came to life, like the good old canvas you can see here.
Well, in case you really want to see a few really popular paintings, you will also be happy to hear that Louvre Abu Dhabi has some of them, especially in its temporary exhibition. I was extremely lucky, as I managed to visit one on Van Gogh and other impressionists of his era, which was an exceptional exhibition. I believe about five of Van Gogh’s original paintings were on display as well, though there were so many great paintings all around that they were not necessarily the ones under the limelight, or at least it seemed to me that way at the time.
Once again, Louvre Abu Dhabi is more than “just” an art museum. This entire place is an artwork if you ask me. The architecture of this place is outstanding.
Thanks to its utilization of the surrounding sea and its incredibly ornate dome, wherever you look at in this fantastic structure, you will feel like you are looking into a futuristic composition painted by a talented artist. I did not even know whether I liked this style of architecture or not before, but it seems like I really am into it. Thankfully, Abu Dhabi has a few other examples of such structures just around the corner, speaking of…
Al Saadiyat Island
Let us end this short list with some great news. You see, Louvre Abu Dhabi is found on the Saadiyat Island, where the Emirate is busy building many more museums and other cultural attractions. This is the ongoing construction of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, which should be in a similar vein to Louvre Abu Dhabi, with its own unique architecture. As part of the Saadiyat Cultural District project, the Emirate is also building the massive Zayed National Museum, which will go over the history of the country, as well as the Natural History Museum of Abu Dhabi, which will have a full T-Rex skeleton, among many other exciting items. All of this is to say, while the museum situation in Abu Dhabi was already very satisfactory for me, things will only get significantly better in the coming years. I have plans to return to the country as soon as I can, though I cannot help but feel that perhaps I should wait until after all these projects are complete. Nevertheless, the crux of the matter is this, Abu Dhabi is home to some fantastic museums and not enjoying them during your trip to city is akin to a sin.