The fourth annual Qasr Al Hosn festival kicks off with an updated programme of exhibitions and events that its organiser, Abu Dhabi’s Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA), hopes will attract even larger crowds than the 120,000 visitors who attended the show last year.
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The reason we are all here, the exhibition suggests, is that thanks to its supply of drinkable water and a natural, easily defensible moat, Abu Dhabi island was one of the most strategic locations on the Gulf coast. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National -
Iron making at the Festival. The new show follows the journey of the Baniyas tribes from the deserts of Liwa to Abu Dhabi, and examines how they lived in the desert, why they made the journey in the 18th century, and their lives once they had arrived in their new capital. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National -
The sections that look at why the Baniyas chose Abu Dhabi island as their home and its resources that made life possible are fascinating: water, fish, pearls, salt and coral stone. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National -
Fisherman sea chants. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National -
Coffee and story time. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National -
An old traditional Emirati wedding is re-created for the Qasr Al Hosn Festival . Mona Al Marzooqi / The National -
“This was a nomadic society that carried its culture with it,” says Bin Haidar. “That is where our values have come from and it is important to remember how that culture was communicated.” Mona Al Marzooqi/ The National
A look at the fourth annual Qasr Al Hosn Festival — in pictures
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