First look inside UAE’s ‘beacon of identity’ as falcon-winged Zayed museum finally takes off

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First look inside UAE’s ‘beacon of identity’ as falcon-winged Zayed museum finally takes off

Published: 03 Dec. 2025, 15:26

SHIN HA-NEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

The exterior of the Zayed National Museum, designed by Foster + Partners, in the United Arab Emirates [ZAYED NATIONAL MUSEUM]

ABU DHABI, the United Arab Emirates — Six decades after oil catapulted a cluster of desert sheikdoms into the modern United Arab Emirates (UAE), Abu Dhabi is now betting on a different kind of power through a narrative that began long before the oil and aims to endure long after it.

On Saadiyat Island, once a quiet stretch of sand at the city’s edge along the Persian Gulf, an entire cultural district is rising from the shoreline. At its heart sits the centerpiece of the emirate’s ambitious project, a long-awaited museum that fittingly bears the name of the nation’s founding father: the late Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

Few countries understand the force of cultural momentum after rapid industrialization better than Korea. Just this year, Netflix’s smash hit animated film “KPop Demon Hunters” sent foreign visitors flocking to the National Museum of Korea.

The UAE’s counterpart to that cultural surge is taking shape on Saadiyat Island in the form of the Zayed National Museum with a focus on its lasting heritage, not as a mere tourist attraction — rather, as “a beacon of identity” for Emiratis.

National museum as a storyteller

Visible long before reaching its entrance, the Zayed National Museum’s five steel towers — inspired by the wings of a falcon — appear to have soared from the ground. The pristine white structure, seated within a mound, stood out against Abu Dhabi’s pastel skyline. A flying UAE flag and a vertical fountain accentuated the building’s upward silhouette.

Exterior of the United Arab Emirates' Zayed National Museum, designed by Foster + Partners [ZAYED NATIONAL MUSEUM]

First announced in 2007, the Zayed National Museum project faced multiple construction delays before finally opening its doors to the public on Wednesday.

About a week before the museum’s public opening, journalists from across the globe, including Korea, China, India, Germany and Britain, were invited for an early tour. The museum buzzed inside and out with last-minute preparations for Wednesday’s grand debut, just after the UAE’s National Day celebrations on Tuesday.

Inside the United Arab Emirates' Zayed National Museum, designed by Foster + Partners [ZAYED NATIONAL MUSEUM]

Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) of Abu Dhabi, described the museum as “a beacon of identity,” rather than a tourist destination.

The core message during his interview with the press on Nov. 25 was that this museum is not meant merely to attract visitors, but to define a nation.

“The essence of why we are building these museums [comes from] the belief — started off with the founding father — in the importance of knowing your culture and knowing your history,” the chairman stressed. “Culture in itself is the true building block of any forward-thinking society. It is very much vested in the DNA of every single museum we have here in the Emirates.”

Sheikh Zayed served as the country's first president from the nation’s independence in 1971 and is revered for unifying the seven Trucial States into the UAE of today.

In the museum, his presence is omnipresent, from the quotes etched along walls and historic markers placed in the Al Masar Garden outside the building to the narrative thread binding each gallery.

A photo of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding father of the United Arab Emirates, displayed inside the "Our Beginning" gallery at the Zayed National Museum [ZAYED NATIONAL MUSEUM]

Soaring wings and a towering ship

Designed by Foster + Partners under Pritzker Prize-winning architect Norman Foster, the 86,876-square-meter (935,125-square-foot) museum combines symbolic intent with utility.

The mound that encases the building is textured to evoke the UAE’s natural topography, but it also serves a practical purpose by insulating the interior from solar heat. The wing-shaped towers, too, are not mere ornaments as they serve as thermal chimneys, heating up to create cooling air currents that naturally flow throughout the building.

Inside the outlier, a vast, fluid space greets visitors, with sweeping white lines creating the illusion of moving through waves or under white dunes. When going beyond the entrance, a full-scale reconstruction of a Bronze Age Magan boat stood tall in the central atrium, as if surrounded by a soft, veil-like building interior.

A Bronze Age Magan boat displayed on the first floor of the Zayed National Museum [ZAYED NATIONAL MUSEUM]

About 18 meters (60 feet) long, the ship is an authentic reproduction of vessels that sailed the Persian Gulf some 4,000 years ago. The collaborative project between the Zayed National Museum, Zayed University and New York University Abu Dhabi relied on ancient tablets to replicate traditional construction techniques, and the boat was actually sailed off the coast of Abu Dhabi before being moved into the museum.

A thorough look into the roots

The museum is designed as a storyteller of 300,000 years of Emirati history, from Paleolithic tools to the 20th-century modern state. Its six permanent exhibits — consisting of "Our Beginning," "Through Our Nature," "To Our Ancestors," "Through Our Connections," "By Our Coats," and "To Our Roots" — each address a distinct chapter or theme of the region’s past.

Inside the ″Our Beginning″ gallery at the Zayed National Museum [ZAYED NATIONAL MUSEUM]

"Our Beginning," the first gallery, centers on Sheikh Zayed himself. It traces his childhood in Al-Ain, his early administrative achievements and his leadership through the country’s unification. Floor projections flowed beneath the visitors’ feet like streams, referring to his renovation of the falaj irrigation system in the 1940s and 50s, one of his early, pre-oil development projects that contributed to enhancing agricultural productivity.

"Through Our Nature" focuses on the land’s ecological history, beginning with dioramas depicting how natural resources, including fossil fuels, were formed.

A recreation of Hili Grand Tomb inside the "To Our Ancestor gallery" at the Zayed National Museum [ZAYED NATIONAL MUSEUM]

"To Our Ancestor," situated on the second floor, continues the narrative, starting about 300 millennia ago. Among the centerpiece artifacts is a Paleolithic stone tool, hand-knapped and roughly 300,000 years old, found in Al-Ain and representing the early human presence in the region. At the center of the gallery stands a large reconstruction of the Hili Grand Tomb, a 4,000-year-old circular burial structure excavated in the 1960s by a Danish archaeological team invited by Sheikh Zayed.

Yet the highlight of the gallery is perhaps the Abu Dhabi Pearl, minute in size yet monumental in significance. Discovered in 2017 in a Neolithic settlement, it is believed to be one of the world’s oldest pearls ever found, dating back some 8,000 years.

Abu Dhabi Pearl, an 8,000-year-old natural pearl, displayed inside the "To Our Ancestors" gallery at the Zayed National Museum [ZAYED NATIONAL MUSEUM]

"Through Our Connections" highlights the UAE’s regional and global links from the Iron Age to the medieval period, from the domestication of camels, early long-distance trade, the evolution of the Arabic language and religious diversity across pre-Islamic and early Islamic communities.

A quote from Sheikh Zayed anchors the gallery’s theme of coexistence: “To treat every soul, no matter what his creed or race, as a special soul, is a mark of Islam.”

An Abbasid lamp displayed inside the Through Our Connections gallery at the Zayed National Museum [ZAYED NATIONAL MUSEUM]

Bifolio from the Blue Qur’an is the gallery’s centerpiece, a manuscript originating from Spain around the ninth century, symbolizing the coexistence of Arabic and Latin cultures in Spain.

"By Our Coasts" turns seaward, highlighting the region’s maritime tradition. The gallery opens with a towering model ship and an introduction to Ahmad ibn Majid, an Arab navigator of the 15th century. The role of women in maritime life is also highlighted, particularly in preparing ships for long journeys by stocking water, a dangerous job at the time.

Finally, "To Our Roots" is dedicated to the everyday cultures of inland tribes across deserts, oases and mountains. White sculptures of tribespeople were scattered throughout the gallery. Approaching some of them triggers audio, such as a mother’s lullaby. A falconry display stood out in the desert section, with footage of modern falconers displayed.

A new cultural capital

The new Zayed National Museum is at the center of the growing Saadiyat Cultural District, designed as a new regional hub for art and culture. The Louvre Abu Dhabi, which opened in 2017, is in the district, with Jean Nouvel’s monumental dome filtering sunlight through intricate patterns across the white space below, appearing as if floating on the deep blue waters. The museum marks France’s largest cultural project abroad, according to the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Louvre Abu Dhabi in the Saadiyat Cultural District, which opened in 2017 [GETTY IMAGE BANK]

Near the Zayed National Museum, the National History Museum Abu Dhabi just opened on Nov. 22, with the pristine white building featuring life-size animal models scattered across its garden and Stan, one of the best preserved and intact Tyrannosaurus rex specimens discovered.

Also on the island is the Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith complex of a white mosque, church and synagogue completed in 2023, and teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi, while The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is currently under construction.

Vessels from the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392), on loan from Korea's Leeum Museum of Art, displayed at the Louvre Abu Dhabi on Nov. 25 [SHIN HA-NEE]

“We are weaving a fabric that connects all of these cultural institutions together,” said DCT Chairman Al Mubarak. “All of them are storytelling institutions, and their stories are connected by objects, by assets, by programs and educational components that connect the dots together.”

The UAE has set its eyes on expanding its cultural outreach as well.

Following Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s state visit to Abu Dhabi in November, the two countries agreed to broaden cooperation in seven areas, including culture. The Zayed National Museum, which already has loan partnerships with institutions such as the British Museum, plans to strengthen ties with museums across the Asia-Pacific region, including Korea, according to the chairman.