Amid rapid development, has the old Abu Dhabi been lost?

Are Emiratis as a people doing what they need to do to build a unique culture? Khalid Al Ameri tries to find the answer

Culture in Abu Dhabi is as much about the new museums that will soon open their doors on Saadiyat, as it is about a trip to the old souq. TDIC via Bloomberg News

In a recent article in The Review section of The National, Abu Dhabi’s continuing investment in a cultural hub and its partnerships with some of the world’s great museum brands was put under the spotlight. The piece did a great job in describing how Abu Dhabi is thinking strategically about its development, its national approach to globalisation and how this strategy will produce globally aware citizens.

In the article, Zayed University anthropologist Jane Bristol-Rhys stated that “Heritage in the UAE is not about the past; it is about the present and the future. Emirati heritage is being created now and those of us working in the UAE appreciate just how dynamic and often politically charged the process of creation can be”.

She raises an interesting point. Putting government strategy aside, are we as a people doing what we need to do to build a unique culture?

My grandfather once gave me a simple definition of culture that has always stayed with me. He stated: “Your culture is represented by the things from the history of your country that still exist around you and inside you today.”

Sure, I wear a kandura every day to work and greet my friends and family with the nose kiss, but beyond that it is business as usual. I get the same skinny latte, go to the same restaurants, take my family to the mall and do shopping at the supermarket on a Saturday afternoon, just like everyone else around the world.

Those regular rituals are all part of becoming a global country and to a great extent that is fine.

But what are the things in our daily lives that truly make being an Emirati or living in the UAE unique?

This question really hit home when a Bahraini classmate of mine visited Abu Dhabi for the first time recently.

I took him to our most beautiful landmarks such as the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and Emirates Palace. After that he asked me a question that caught me off guard: “Can we go see the real Abu Dhabi now?” It took me a couple of seconds to process the question, and I responded: “What do you mean?”

He explained: “Show me what you guys do that makes you different.” I got the feeling that a trip to Starbucks wasn’t what he had in mind.

After much thought I took him to the Mina Zayed, which houses some of the old style markets. Although it was a big part of the original Abu Dhabi, it now just seemed empty of any character and history.

After that I didn’t really know what more to show him that could give him a taste of our past.

It was then that I started to think of my past and what culture meant to me as an individual. I started to remember my trips to the old souq with my father for a cheap shawarma and a plastic dirham toy, while he argued with some merchant over the price of something he didn’t want to buy.

I remembered the walks along the old Corniche with my family and being hassled by three different people trying to sell us the same thing, usually candy floss or sandy peanuts rolled in newspaper (we always bought the peanuts).

I remember the bakery drivers who would come into our neighbourhoods every evening. I can still smell the freshness of when they opened that door to what seemed like every cake and pastry in the world.

These might not seem like the biggest deals to people, but they were a part of the environment we grew up in – an environment that no longer exists. They were little parts of history in terms of trade, food and interactions that walked alongside our journey to development.

It was beautiful to see them come together, and at times a humbling reminder of just how far we have come.

Now I am neither an anthropologist nor an expert on culture, I am just a simple Emirati son who grew up here and witnessed the fantastic changes that have happened in our country before my very eyes.

Like my grandfather, my definition of culture is pretty simple: it is where the old engages with the new and things just seem to flow naturally in that exchange. It is that bit of history that we see in each other everyday. Culture to me was a trip to the old souq with my father. It may not be as fancy to look at as the new museums that will soon open their doors on Saadiyat, but it taught me to take pride in all that surrounded me.

Khalid Al Ameri was writing in response to Nick Leech's article: The history of the future: Abu Dhabi's investment in cultural capital

Khalid Al Ameri is an Emirati social commentator

On Twitter: @KhalidAlAmeri