Years ago, Abu Dhabi had the vision to transform itself into a global cultural beacon. Now, in the span of a fortnight, two of its most ambitious steps towards that goal are becoming a reality.
Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi opened on Saturday, followed days later by Zayed National Museum on December 3 – a brief moment in time that brings the wider Saadiyat Cultural District into clearer view.
“Most people will think it's ludicrous, opening two museums in a span of less than two weeks from each other,” said Mohamed Al Mubarak, chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, at a briefing. “And these are both colossal museums that have so much weight attached to them.”
Yet, together, the two openings push Saadiyat into its next phase. Each museum sits within a broader cultural plan that has unfolded over more than a decade – one that now includes Louvre Abu Dhabi, Manarat Al Saadiyat, TeamLab Phenomena, Abrahamic Family House, the coming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and several other institutions that form a connected cultural landscape rather than isolated projects.
The Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi is the district’s scientific anchor. It was shaped around the belief that museums should ignite imagination rather than simply present information.
“If there's ever a museum that can continuously instil a level of curiosity and imagination in our youth, it is this one,” Al Mubarak said. “This is the place where we hope to embed in the DNA of every person who visits the fragility and the beauty of our Earth, and how we continuously safeguard it.”
A striking part of the museum is how much of its collection is made of legitimate artefacts, particularly among its dinosaurs.
“A lot of the fossils you see, these are not gimmicks,” Al Mubarak said. “These are actual fossils. Most of them are over 50 per cent real, not just resin figures.”
Authenticity was a priority from the start to ensure what visitors see is “not just aesthetically pleasing, but also grounded by science”.
While the institution was built relatively quickly, it was meticulously crafted to global standards. “If you think about the Natural History Museum since its creative inception to where we are today, it's a little under five years,” Al Mubarak said. That speed included the design of the building, the formation of its scientific teams and the acquisition of a collection that had to be robust, ethical and internationally respected.
To meet that goal in that time visitors, acquisition practices for the artefacts had to follow strict international standards. “The levels of detail we go to in terms of provenance, in terms of understanding what we are getting and how we're getting it is very critical,” Al Mubarak said. Committees include subject specialists and economists who assess long-term significance and value.
In terms of the costs involved in acquiring such rare objects, that will likely never be revealed. “We don't like to be loud about things,” he added. “Because all of a sudden, the prices go up by 15 per cent. So stay quiet in the shadows and get things with the right price.”
While storytelling is the foremost offering for visitors, the institution is also being prepped as an R&D hub behind the scenes, which will bring in researchers and scientists from around the world. Partnerships will focus on areas that reflect Abu Dhabi’s long-term priorities – renewable energy, aviation, transportation, genetics and medical science among them.
If the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi looks outward to the history of the planet, Zayed National Museum looks inward to the history of this land. It is positioned as the central institution of the district – the anchor that ties the UAE’s past to its present and future.
“It tells our national story, of our past, our present and our future,” Al Mubarak said. “Stories of global connections, of thousands of years of ancestry. From a cultural perspective, it's one of the most important projects the United Arab Emirates have ever been through.”
Across Saadiyat, that idea of storytelling shapes the identity of each institution. “Historically, we've been storytellers,” Al Mubarak said. “Our forefathers sat in deserts with wildfires, telling stories of the past, and we are mirroring that in the museum.”
The district is meant to feel like one continuous narrative rather than a collection of separate sites. “This beautiful book of art and music and history and dance and performance comes together,” he said. “It comes together in life here.”
Infrastructure is being built around this cultural landscape. Saadiyat is being connected more closely to the city through transit systems that will make movement between institutions – and between islands – easier. Long-range buses will include curated cultural content within, turning movement between sites into an extension of the district’s experience.
A commercial area that is opening early next year will have more than 35 multi-cuisine restaurants. The intention is for visitors to be able to experience a full day on the island without feeling the need to leave – with museums, dining, beach, leisure and entertainment all in close proximity.
Al Mubarak described what that day could look like. “Wake up in the morning and first really experience life how it should be experienced … sink your feet into the white sands of Saadiyat Island. if you have kids with you, then as a bonus take them to a theme park nine minutes away. Come to the Natural History Museum, have dinner overlooking the Guggenheim, then go to a concert and listen to Max Richter play some of the most amazing pieces we can imagine.”
The long-term plan centres on the next generations as well. “The way I measure success is through our youth and how they interact with our museums,” Al Mubarak said
It's why all the museums are free for visitors under 18. “We're not treating kids like they are a secondary thought,” he said. “On the contrary, youth are the primary visitors for our museums.
“Somebody asked me: ‘Who are you doing this for?’ It’s not for me. It’s not for my father or grandfather. It’s for our kids.”
Education is woven into the district’s purpose. “Success for me is working with the school curricula – where culture becomes a major point,” he said. Museums are meant to act as extensions of that system, “almost as a domino for that”.
Reaching young people also means speaking their language. “Our kids are consuming information like never before, and if we're not going to sit down and understand how they want to consume information, then they will leave us in the dust,” Al Mubarak said.
A recent campaign for the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, which features an AI-generated talking dinosaur (Stan, one of the T-rexes in the museum collection) vlogging his days on Saadiyat Island, embraces that shift. “It's not wrong to have fun – we are balancing education and fun.”
When the discussion turned to external criticism that has framed the district as a soft-power exercise, Al Mubarak's response centred on the people who live here. “This was never done for the critics,” he said. “What do I care if you're sitting halfway across the world criticising us? What's the difference to me? I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for our people – the 200 nationalities living here.”
He pointed to the Abrahamic Family House as an example of that ethos. “It wasn't done because it's a soft power play,” he said. “No, it's done because I have a Jewish community that's here. I have a Christian community that's here and I have a Muslim community that's here.” Co-existence, he said, is part of everyday life.
“Around here, whether you're Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Jew, whatever the case may be, here in Abu Dhabi, it is imperative for us that you feel safe, secure and – more than anything – wanted. Bigotry will not be accepted. Not here,” he said.
As Saadiyat enters this new phase, the vision for how things may develop remains open-ended – and Al Mubarak is eager to keep experimenting to ensure Abu Dhabi reaches its full cultural potential for the diverse community that proudly calls the UAE home.
