A new performing arts centre, Dar Al Funoon Abu Dhabi, is scheduled to open next to Saadiyat Cultural District in 2030.
In an exclusive interview with The National, Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, said the Frank Gehry-designed venue would be “a centre of excellence”.
Dar Al Funoon, which translates to house of the arts, is the latest major cultural project to be announced in Abu Dhabi and one of Gehry’s final works before his death in December, aged 96.
“Dar Al Funoon is a place, really, for all,” Al Mubarak says. “It’s a place where we celebrate all art forms of performance, whether it’s music, whether it’s concerts, whether it’s dance, ballet, recitals, and the list goes on.”
The project brings together several strands of Abu Dhabi’s cultural strategy, from entertainment and education to job creation and the wider creative economy. Al Mubarak says the centre will not only host performances, but also help build the ecosystem around them.
“It’s a place where people will get to see themselves and get to learn the world,” he says. “So it is not just an institution that will house some of the most beautiful performances, but it’s really an educational institution that’s going to connect us as human beings with ourselves and with the rest of the world.”
Dar Al Funoon will sit alongside Abu Dhabi’s expanding cultural landscape on and around Saadiyat Island, which includes Louvre Abu Dhabi, Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum, teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi and the coming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Al Mubarak says the institutions are part of a connected vision.
“They’re all a network of understanding, of accepting and of learning,” he says. “And for us here in the United Arab Emirates and in Abu Dhabi, it’s critical to make sure that these insightful, intellectual thoughts are in every single child living in the UAE. Not just Emiratis, everybody.”
Asked what message he hoped Dar Al Funoon would send to audiences, Al Mubarak’s answer is brief: “Welcome home.
“This is home. Whether you live here or you’re visiting here, this is home, and that’s our job.”
The welcoming sentiment echoes a message UAE leaders have articulated for years, and particularly during periods of regional uncertainty: everyone living in the country, regardless of citizenship, is seen as part of its future.
“We want everybody that’s living here to be truly global, to be truly understanding and to truly take on the world,” Al Mubarak says.
He says that openness is part of the “DNA” of the country, where more than 200 nationalities live alongside one another.
“Everybody comes with their different music forms, different cultures, different heritages, and what we do here, we actually celebrate that,” he says. “It becomes a part of our DNA. So in Dar Al Funoon, you will hear some of the best Emirati voices, some of the best Arabic voices. It will create opportunities for some of the young voices.
“At the same time, you’ll see Ludovico play the piano here. You’ll see Max Richter play the piano here. You’ll see the likes of Hamilton and the Wizard of Oz play theatre there. You will have some of the best comedians from around the world here, local comedians and someone like Dave Chappelle.”
Al Mubarak did not disclose the investment figure behind the new performing arts centre, but said the project would add value to the cultural and economic life of Abu Dhabi and the UAE.
“When we think of our cultural institutions, we think what value does it add to the people of the UAE?” he says. “How does it create opportunities for them? Job opportunities, intellectual opportunities, opportunities where the creative mind can flourish, because we truly believe in the creative identity of every mind.”
The UAE has set a federal goal for the creative economy to contribute 5 per cent of the country’s GDP by 2031. Al Mubarak says institutions such as Dar Al Funoon are part of that broader shift.
“Creativity and imagination are very critical to our socioeconomic growth,” he says.
He says the purpose is “to create these spaces where people can imagine, where people can be creative, and they can then make it their own”.
The announcement is also a signal to artists and those working across the performing arts that a new institution is being built around their fields. Al Mubarak reiterates the importance of education and the need for “future creators, artists, musicians, performers, curators, museographers, conservators and the list goes on”.
“Some of these jobs weren’t even in the discussion 10 years ago,” he says.
The period between now and the 2030 opening will also create work across construction, design and technical fields.
“You can imagine the number of people who are going to be working on this colossal, highly technical project from now until 2030,” Al Mubarak says. “Every single person within the workforce, this is what makes this place special, because it’s a celebration of human capabilities.”
Gehry’s name gives the project added significance. Al Mubarak speaks of the architect with warmth, having worked closely with him on Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and Dar Al Funoon.
“Frank Gehry is an unbelievable architect and, God rest his soul, he left us with some mesmerising masterpieces here in Abu Dhabi,” he says. “The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, which inshallah will bring in visitors from all over the world very, very soon, and now you’ll have Dar Al Funoon – two of his last masterpieces.”
Al Mubarak says the Abu Dhabi projects brought energy to Gehry late in his career.
“I truly believe the projects he worked on here for Abu Dhabi made him, at the time, even younger, full of energy, full of spark,” he says.
That spark, Al Mubarak adds, led to “this glorious design that we all fell in love with”.
Gehry won the project after a design competition involving several architects. During his last visit to the capital, he saw Guggenheim Abu Dhabi near completion and presented the model of Dar Al Funoon to President Sheikh Mohamed and the project team.
Al Mubarak says the centre has been designed to elevate the experience of the performing arts and to share it beyond those seated inside the venue.
“Frank was a lover of music. He understood how music touches everybody’s soul,” Al Mubarak says. “And that’s the beauty of music and performances – they’re universal in their nature. And he spent quite a lot of time understanding what it means for us.”
The building’s glass exterior will allow performances to be projected outward. Al Mubarak says the idea is that people nearby, whether on the waterfront, on the beach or in surrounding homes, will also feel connected to what is happening within.
“We’re not just going to be sharing it with the visitors who are entering this beautiful Dar Al Funoon. The way it's designed, you’re going to have the acts that are happening inside being projected for all to see and for all to celebrate.
“It is truly sharing the beauty of performing arts with everybody in the city.”
The announcement comes almost two decades after Saadiyat Cultural District was unveiled. Al Mubarak says Abu Dhabi’s cultural development has shown that its long-term projects are not announcements without follow-through.
“One thing that Abu Dhabi does, and the UAE, is when we say we’re going to do something, we’re going to do something,” he says. “It’s not a gimmick on a piece of paper. It’s not a nice marketing play.”
When the district was first announced, some questioned whether its major projects would be realised. Louvre Abu Dhabi is now open, as are Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum and teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi. Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is expected to open soon.
“There were cynics all over the world,” Al Mubarak says. “Nobody thought that this was going to happen.”
Instead, he says, the district “set the stage of a cultural strategy that continuously evolves and revolutionised the way we think of culture”.
That approach, he says, is rooted in future generations and how they will understand, use and shape culture themselves.
“We’re not worried about the 30, 40 years that happened,” he says. “What we care about is the 30, 40 years that are coming, because who are going to be our visitors? Who is going to be playing in Dar Al Funoon? Yes, we’ll have the big stars, both locally and internationally, but it’s really a place for the young generation to say: ‘This is another place of opportunity.’”
Al Mubarak says the future is positive because the UAE has a young population and one that is eager to absorb culture from across the world.
“That in itself gives everybody a superpower,” he says.
Several parts of that ecosystem are already in place. Abu Dhabi’s partnership with Berklee College of Music led to the opening of Berklee Abu Dhabi in 2020 and scholarship opportunities for students from the region. The UAE National Orchestra has also completed its first season.
“The dots connect very, very quickly,” Al Mubarak says. “We really all dance together.”
DCT Abu Dhabi is already working with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture and local stakeholders, including the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge, on cultural curricula that include theatre, music and other art forms.
“If we all work together, which we are, the impact is far greater than a singular project,” he says.
The operating model is being developed as the project moves through construction. Groundworks have started, bringing opportunities for contractors, subcontractors and consultants before the venue opens.
DCT Abu Dhabi will operate the centre directly, similar to the way it runs its museums and other major cultural institutions. It will also work with partners across programming, technology and education.
“We will basically partner with who we feel is fit and who wants to also create a greater impact for the future,” Al Mubarak says.
Technology will be part of the venue’s development. Al Mubarak says artificial intelligence will be used to better understand visitors and improve the audience journey, from seating and parking to how families use the building.
“We’re using not just technology, but we’re also using our human common sense to understand how we cater for all that,” he says.
Another example of Dar Al Funoon’s ambitions is its work with Nagata Acoustics, the Japanese company behind some of the world’s most acclaimed concert halls. Al Mubarak says DCT Abu Dhabi convinced Dr Yasuhisa Toyota, founder of Nagata Acoustics International, to work on the project even after he had retired.
“We went with the best,” Al Mubarak says. “Unfortunately, at the time, the best was retired.”
Al Mubarak says the team’s pitch to Toyota was centred on building a venue for the future. “We want to work with you to change the game,” he says. “We’re here to build something for the future.”
