Saadiyat Cultural District, along with its under-construction historical and cultural landmarks like the Zayed National Museum and the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, is on track for completion in 2025.
Apart from the highly anticipated museums, the architectural marvels taking shape on the island also include teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Over the years, the area has emerged as a beacon of cultural diversity with the establishment of the iconic Louvre Abu Dhabi — the first universal museum in the Arab world, the Abrahamic Family House — a place for education, conversation, and religious observance, Berklee Abu Dhabi offering music, performing arts, and educational programmes, and Manarat Al Saadiyat serving as a centre for creative artistic expression and hosting popular events like Abu Dhabi Art and Culture Summit Abu Dhabi.
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.
While visiting any of the existing cultural centres, community members can see the narrow glass atriums rising from the Zayed National Museum building resembling the wing tips of the falcon – a national symbol and emblem of the UAE heritage. The national museum will celebrate the nation’s rich history and culture, as well as honour the legacy of the country’s founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will be a museum celebrating art from the 1960s to the present and the most important artistic achievements of our time. Additionally, teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi will invite visitors to an ever-changing exploration that will transcend the limits of their imagination.
The 35,000sqm Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, set to be the largest of its kind in the region, will include a research and teaching institution that will take visitors on a 13.8 billion-year journey through the story of our universe and our planet.
Addressing local and international journalists, Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT – Abu Dhabi), noted that Saadiyat Cultural District embodies ‘cultural hope.’
“The District will convey a message of cultural diversity that will become more powerful over time, creating global connections, inspiring cultural exchange, and fostering new ways of thinking to support the region, the global South, and the world. Saadiyat Cultural District is somewhere people can come to learn from the past, understand our present, and focus on our future,” Al Mubarak said.
The department also launched a campaign film titled ‘Be Moved in a Thousand Ways,’ which delivers an inspirational message on the transformative power of culture to unite, inspire, and open minds.