It began with an old map, which led to the uncovering of a fortune in gold bars and finally to a chance encounter with one of most historically important moments in the history of the UAE.
Nearly 50 years on, the story of a visit by two French journalists is being told in a new exhibition at Paris-Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi.
Among the highlights in the first public viewing of Raymond Depardon’s collection of photographs are those taken on February 27, 1968, on the border between Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
Those gathered included Sheikh Zayed, Founding President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed, Ruler of Dubai, the Rulers of the five other emirates and the Rulers of Bahrain and Qatar.
At the end of the day, the leaders issued an agreement to form a new country and begin work on a constitution.
“The Union of Arab Emirates comprises one people and has one policy, one diplomatic representative, one army and one economic and social structure,” they said.
The leaders also agreed that the official religion of the new nation would be Islam and the official language Arabic.
Three years later, on December 2, 1971, the UAE was born. In the end Bahrain and Qatar decided to become independent of the union, later joining the GCC.
Depardon’s photographs from that day show Sheikh Zayed, Sheikh Rashid and their notable companions sitting, walking, smiling and discussing the union.
Their vehicles, including a Rolls-Royce that had made the long journey on desert tyres across the sands to the meeting, are also shown.
But Depardon and his colleague, Floris de Bonneville, had come seeking a rather different story, intrigued by an old map of the region, which marked out the “pirate coast”.
Knowing the country would be transformed by oil riches, they set out to discover a little more about life there.
In his article published in a French magazine, Science et Voyages, that year de Bonneville wrote: “As Brasilia was born from rainforest, Abu Dhabi emerged from the desert sands with the trendsetting spirit of a new conquest of the West.
“Everything has yet to be created, invented, attempted – a case that is unique in today’s world. Thanks to its bottomless bank account, fuelled by petrol, Abu Dhabi is taking a leap of 500 years.
“Tomorrow, in six months, in a year, it will be an improved Kuwait and oriental California, with its highways, gardens, pools and sumptuous palace.”
The two journalists, working for the Gamma agency, went first to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, where they met the late King Faisal before travelling to Abu Dhabi on a DC3 Gulf Aviation plane.
They met with Sheikh Zayed, whose “open door” policy struck them, and who told them the “UAE was open to our exploration”.
The article included a quote from Sheikh Zayed: “Our problem doesn’t lay in knowing where to get money from. Money is overflowing. It’s knowing how to spend it.”
De Bonneville observed: “This sentence sets the tone in this country, where many an adventurer and businessman will rush.”
The late Ruler was aware of this and told them: “We attract crowds of people who come to sell us their goods. My castle resembles a honeypot on which flies are agglutinated.”
“That is true,” wrote the journalist. “I saw an Englishman sitting in the waiting room, wanting to see the Sheikh. He wanted to suggest covering Abu Dhabi with a gigantic air-conditioned dome, such as those presented by Nasa for cities on the moon.
“This engineer returned to London without signature, sighing: ‘What a loss. This was the only chance for my company to test the efficiency and feasibility of this dome’.”
“Sheikh Zayed is not easily impressed. He knows his means are endless, but his Bedouin education taught him to choose wisely and to be observant so as not to systematically purchase what representatives from all over the world have come to offer.”
De Bonneville has returned to Abu Dhabi for the first time since 1968 for the exhibition opening. His first impression of the changes are: “It is impossible. It is like arriving in a completely different country. No, a different planet.
“It is amazing what has been accomplished. Everything Sheikh Zayed said he envisioned, he did and did successfully.”
He remembers that Sheikh Zayed and King Faisal were down-to-earth and humble, yet had a presence wherever they went.
Looking at the photos on display, de Bonneville smiles at one of two men rubbing noses in the tradition greeting. “Do they still do that?” he asks.
Others show Emirati boys pulling a net filled with fish to the traditional arish houses made of palm fronds. There are old forts and palaces and one that still remains a mystery.
Sheikh Zayed provided the journalist with a driver and car, which took them everywhere for the two weeks they were in UAE.
“At Dubai airport, there was a plane, Iran Air, packed with bricks of gold and silver. It was the most remarkable thing you can imagine. Full, heavy bricks of gold,” he says.
He also made a note about the table at Sheikh Zayed’s majlis.
“It was so simple. He had his pipe on it and coffee cup. He welcomed anyone who came,” de Bonneville says, pointing to the photo. The exhibition was organised by Elie Domit, director of Dubai’s The East Wing Gallery.
“Our hope is that the UAE discovers a new collection of photos and they end up as part of the Sheikh Zayed Museum for every generation to see and reflect over,” says Mr Domit.
“They capture the simplicity of life then, from the two-numbered licence plates on cars to the way everyone opened their homes to two visitors. Remarkable.”
Dr Fatima Al Sayegh, historian and curator of the exhibition, says the meeting at Al Sameeh “laid the foundation for the creation of the United Arab Emirates”.
“The idea of a union, comprising Gulf sheikhdoms, was not new,” she says in her notes for the exhibition. “It first surfaced at the turn of the 20th century but the political and economic conditions were then not conducive. “In 1906, at the Al Khawaneej meeting, which was attended by Rulers of emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa announced his desire for some form of union among the emirates. The political conditions, however, were not ripe at the time.
“The idea came up again in the 1930s, but did not succeed once again because of the political and economic conditions. The 1950s saw a revival of liberation and union ideas.
“The sheikhs used to meet regularly in the Trucial Council, established by Britain in 1952, which provided a forum to exchange opinions about issues relevant to the region and its future.
“The period between 1968 and 1971 was the most difficult in the history of the union. It witnessed long and difficult negotiations, sometimes reaching a deadlock.
“The Al Sameeh meeting, hence, marked the beginning of a golden era in the history of the region. It paved the way for the establishment of a unique country that has become a model in various areas of development.”
rghazal@thenational.ae
• Zayed, Photography by Raymond Depardon runs until December 10 at the Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi
