Zayed National Museum is to open to the public in December, the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi has announced.
Named after the country’s Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the museum was established to preserve local culture and heritage. It will tell the story of the UAE in full, over a timeline spanning 300,000 years.
“The cultural legacy of the UAE has been nurtured over decades, from the establishment of its earliest cultural institutions to today’s expansive vision for cultural exchange and knowledge,” says Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of DCT – Abu Dhabi.
“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 also through emotion, memory and vision. This institution will carry our story forward for generations to come,” he said.
The museum was designed by UK architecture firm Foster+Partners. Its five steel structures are already a towering sight in Saadiyat Cultural District, making the museum a landmark in Abu Dhabi well before its opening. The structures were inspired by the country’s tradition of falconry and each is shaped like a feather.
The museum will house artefacts telling the story of the UAE. These include one of the world’s oldest natural pearls, called the Abu Dhabi Pearl, five folios from the famous Blue Quran, as well as a Magan boat, an 18-metre reproduction of the ancient vessel that will be displayed in the museum’s atrium.
The boat will be a highlight of the collection and was created as part of a collaboration between Zayed National Museum, Zayed University and New York University Abu Dhabi.
Last year, the boat sailed 50 nautical miles (92.6km) in the Arabian Gulf as part of sea trials that shed light on the UAE’s maritime heritage and Bronze Age trade.
“The Magan boat is an excellent example of Abu Dhabi’s educational institutions coming together to deepen our knowledge of the past and bring history to life for everyone to learn from and enjoy,” Moaza Matar, acting director of the museum's curatorial, collection management & design department, told The National last year. “It will be a very exciting moment when visitors get to see the vessel in real life within the galleries of Zayed National Museum.”
