Saadiyat Cultural District in Abu Dhabi is set to transform the artistic and cultural landscape, both locally and globally, when it's completed in 2025.
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00:00These institutions are more than just even museums.
00:05They are community centers, they're educational centers, and that's going to be their legacy.
00:10Their legacy is going to be places that bring people together, places that educate, places
00:15that are full of information, places that are full of understanding and acceptance.
00:29Sadiat Cultural District in Abu Dhabi is set to transform the artistic and cultural
00:34landscape both locally and globally when it's completed next year.
00:39A center for innovation and creativity, it's home to museums, educational and cultural
00:45institutions that celebrate the UAE and the rest of the world.
00:49The connection it can create is so important because it just brings us all together.
00:54That level of understanding is what these museums are all about.
00:57They're about celebrating humanity, celebrating the power of art, celebrating the power of
01:02culture, and making sure that it's in the front of each of our minds.
01:06Louvre Abu Dhabi is the first universal museum in the Arab world and has welcomed over five
01:12million visitors since opening its doors.
01:15The floating dome structure is an architectural masterpiece in its own right, created by French
01:21architect Jean Nouvel.
01:23An institution that creates intercultural dialogue between East and West, it's home
01:28to a permanent collection as well as temporary ones.
01:31The masterpiece of architecture is also connected to the land we're in.
01:37I think that's one of the blueprints of what's happening here, which is really from Arabic
01:43lands, from the territory, but at the same time reaching out to the world, like a door,
01:48like an opener.
01:49The collection is actually serving the narrative.
01:51With Louvre Abu Dhabi, we have reinvented the universal museum.
01:55With the first universal museum in the Arab world, we have given the possibility to everyone
02:01living here or visiting, tourist or resident alike, to discover how we, humans, are actually
02:08connected through art.
02:12One of the world's greatest concentrations of museums and cultural venues, the culture
02:16capital also houses Berkeley Abu Dhabi, Manarat al-Sadiyat, and is the future destination
02:23of Zayed National Museum, Guggenheim, Natural History Museum, and TeamLab Phenomena Abu
02:29Dhabi.
02:30The cultural scene in Abu Dhabi has a long-standing tradition, and in fact goes back to 1971,
02:36when Sheikh Zayed issued a decree to create the Cultural Foundation.
02:41The Sheikh Zayed Museum will honor the legacy and vision of the UAE's founding father, a
02:47man who laid the foundation for the country's cultural evolution.
02:51How can you separate art and culture from everyday life?
02:56It's at the heart of our very being.
02:59It's the generator of ideas, of people coming together.
03:04We're social animals.
03:06We exchange ideas.
03:09Our world is what we hear, what we smell, what we see.
03:14So it's the very essence of our lives, of our civilization.
03:19The preservation of art and culture is central to our very identity.
03:29If we don't know our background, then how can we know our future?
03:34We design for the present with an awareness of the past for a future which is unknown.
03:42Several independent institutions also contribute to the district's cultural landscape, like
03:47the Bassam Friha Art Foundation, which showcases work by local Emirati artist Azza al-Khubaisi.
03:56This was the first independent gallery to open as part of the wider ecosystem at the
04:00Sadiat Cultural District.
04:03We live in a country where the world lives with us.
04:07And the reality of it, in such a small space, what's happening here at Sadiat is you are
04:15even getting a much more condensed concentration of culture, art, everything is coming in such
04:24a small space where you'd be able to walk from one institute to the other, from one
04:30museum to the other.
04:32And from a foundation, hopefully, to many other foundations to be established.
04:37And I think this kind of opportunity is very rare.
04:42As a home to more than 200 nationalities, culture plays an important role in the fabric
04:47of this emirate and contributes to building a better tomorrow, bringing society and creative
04:53minds together.