How the Gulf is taking ownership of its cultural heritage

The 95,000-hectare Faya Palaeolandscape in Sharjah is a scientific and cultural treasure. Chris Whiteoak / The National

When an ancient desert landscape in Sharjah joined Unesco’s World Heritage list in July, it took its place alongside Al Ain and more than a dozen other such heritage sites across the Gulf. The 95,000-hectare Faya Palaeolandscape is a scientific and cultural treasure that includes one of the oldest uninterrupted records of archaic human habitation, dating back more than 210,000 years.

Faya not only connects the UAE to the earliest chapters of human history, its recognition by Unesco underlines how the Gulf – and the wider Middle East – is propelling itself into a position of cultural ownership and leadership that encompasses archaeology, natural history, art and heritage.

A look at the architecture and galleries of Zayed National Museum

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In neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the pointed double-curved arches of Bab Al-Bunt were the first thing that many Muslim pilgrims saw as they approached Jeddah from the Red Sea. Bab Al-Bunt has now found a new lease of life as the Red Sea Museum – one of several ground-breaking cultural institutions to have opened in the Middle East in recent weeks.

From the state-of-the-art Zayed National Museum and Natural History Museum in Abu Dhabi’s Cultural District to the Grand Egyptian Museum that opened near the Giza Pyramids last month, concrete expression is being given to a renaissance regarding the region’s history, culture and society. But more is to come- in Riyadh, a Museum of World Cultures is scheduled to open next year as is the Dadu Children’s Museum in Doha.

Old institutions are receiving a new lease of life, too, as in the case of Libya’s national museum. Its reopening last week marked an important cultural moment for a country going through prolonged transition following an uprising in 2011.

The people of the Arabian Peninsula, like those in the Middle East generally, have always known the value of their diverse cultures and identities

A closer look at the UAE reveals considerable investment in this renaissance. On Saadiyat Island, the 30,000-square metre Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is nearing completion and, in October, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, announced plans for a five-storey Dubai Museum of Art. April saw the restoration of Abu Dhabi’s Al Maqta’a Fort – once a customs house and police station connecting the island to the mainland, it is now an interactive space highlighting the emirate’s social and policing history.

Modern museums are living organisations. Rather than acting as a static repository for artefacts, the best are homes for scholarship and education as well as cultural exploration and connection. While some, such the Zayed National Museum and Al Maqta’a Fort, underpin local knowledge and traditions, others such as Louvre Abu Dhabi, Faya and the Natural History Museum highlight universal narratives about human expression or tell the Arab world’s prehistoric story.

Dr Osama Jamil Khalil, a world heritage expert, leads a tour at Faya in Sharjah. Ahmed Ramzan for The National

When taken alongside other cultural outlets and events in the UAE, such as Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue, which gives a platform to contemporary voices, as well as Culture Summit Abu Dhabi and the Sharjah Biennial, it is possible to see that this commitment to heritage is about much more than tourism revenue or national prestige.

The people of the Arabian Peninsula, like those in the Middle East generally, have always known the value of their diverse cultures and identities. Last week’s news that Al Ahalla, the Emirati collective poetry-based performance with its roots in pearl diving, was added by Unesco to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage is well-earned acknowledgement of that richness.

By carefully preserving its ancient heritage, building innovative museums and breathing new life into old forts and seaports, the people of the Gulf are writing their own story and sharing it with the world on their own terms. That is something worth celebrating.