Cultural desert? Desert Culture?
I've been too busy exploring and reading for a while and now I have to play catch up with my writing since memories fade away very quickly at my age.
The first day I got the car, I revisited Saadiyat Island, thinking I could explore the whole "Cultural District" on the island.
In addition to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Zayed National Museum and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi are the two other monumental venues slated to be the crown jewels of the Saadiyat Cultural District. However, at the time of my visit, neither of them were ready nor were their official websites.
I read somewhere that Manarat Al Saadiyat is the temporary home of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi exhibits. So I headed for it.
Instead of turning left for the more travelled road to the Louvre after the Sheikh Khalifa Bridge, my GPS told me to turn right and that took me onto some unnamed roads which caught me totally by surprise!
The "deserted" roads were lined with wooden boards on both sides with no markings! (On my way back, I stopped the car on the side of the road and went to peep through the wooden boards. I believed that was the construction site of the Zayed Nation Museum behind the fencing boards). All the traffic lights were in place but none of them were switched on!! And I thought to myself, "My goodness, what if there's incoming traffic and nobody knows to stop?!" Given how the locals are when it comes to driving, I was freaking out at every junction where there were wooden boards blocking my views of other car lanes.
When I eventually stopped at where my GPS said was the destination, I found myself in a "deserted" open-air car park? It was high noon and the sun was blindingly bright. Even with my shades on, I had to squint to read what was around me. In front of me was a pale building with "Manarat Al Saadiyat" written on the wall but it looked more like a military compound than a visitor centre/art gallery to me and there was nobody manning the entrance. So I was hesitant to trespass.
Instead, the building on my left looked more like an art venue so I walked over to that one. It turned out it was the Norman Foster designed UAE Pavilion for the 2010 Shanghai Expo but its doors were chained. I peeped through the tinted glass and saw that it was empty inside while the exterior was rusting away. I wonder what it might be used for eventually.
Then I saw a car arrive at the entrance of the other building and dropped off some visitors. So I followed them in straight away.
To my disappointment, there was only one exhibition on display -- a photography competition. All other galleries were closed with no events on. After consulting the receptionist, I learned that the Guggenheim exhibits were only there for a little while as a temporary exhibition. What was left was a cafe, an art supplies shop and an art workshop for kids. Even the souvenir shop was small with nothing much in it. The staff told me that they hadn't finalised the layout of the place yet and the positions of the venues were still in flux.
One great thing about the place was that the tables near the entrance area were covered with lots of free-to-read books, mostly books on Arabia and architecture. Anyone was welcome to sit there all day to read.
With not much to see in Manarat Al Saadiyat, I continued to explore the only other art gallery I'd heard of, Warehouse 421. A warehouse turned art gallery, situated by the dhow harbour in Al Mina, next door to a massive COOP supermarket. The ongoing exhibition was called "Untold Stories Retold", which were the exhibits from the UAE's pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2016, showcasing the different styles of national houses throughout the seven emirates. It was quite interesting to see at last what the locals' houses might look like behind the walls.
However, like Manarat Al Saadiyat, there were not that many visitors in Warehouse 421. In fact, I was the only one there and one of the only 5 people in the photography exhibition in Manarat Al Saadiyat.
I read in some books on Arabia which mentioned that the traditional entertainments of the Bedouins were chatting, storytelling or music (e.g. the Arabian Oud) by the campfire. Bedouins' eyes are well-trained to spot things in the desert, like footprints and landscapes; but that's for survival instead of entertainment. I was wondering if visual arts would really be their thing.
Seeing all these big names from the western art world setting up branches here reminded me of the loving parents who try to give the best things they know of to their children.
The first day I got the car, I revisited Saadiyat Island, thinking I could explore the whole "Cultural District" on the island.
In addition to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Zayed National Museum and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi are the two other monumental venues slated to be the crown jewels of the Saadiyat Cultural District. However, at the time of my visit, neither of them were ready nor were their official websites.
I read somewhere that Manarat Al Saadiyat is the temporary home of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi exhibits. So I headed for it.
Instead of turning left for the more travelled road to the Louvre after the Sheikh Khalifa Bridge, my GPS told me to turn right and that took me onto some unnamed roads which caught me totally by surprise!
 |
| The unnamed road with non-operational traffic lights |
The "deserted" roads were lined with wooden boards on both sides with no markings! (On my way back, I stopped the car on the side of the road and went to peep through the wooden boards. I believed that was the construction site of the Zayed Nation Museum behind the fencing boards). All the traffic lights were in place but none of them were switched on!! And I thought to myself, "My goodness, what if there's incoming traffic and nobody knows to stop?!" Given how the locals are when it comes to driving, I was freaking out at every junction where there were wooden boards blocking my views of other car lanes.
 |
| The '"deserted" carpark |
When I eventually stopped at where my GPS said was the destination, I found myself in a "deserted" open-air car park? It was high noon and the sun was blindingly bright. Even with my shades on, I had to squint to read what was around me. In front of me was a pale building with "Manarat Al Saadiyat" written on the wall but it looked more like a military compound than a visitor centre/art gallery to me and there was nobody manning the entrance. So I was hesitant to trespass.
 |
| The UAE Pavilion |
 |
| The Pavilion's locked entrance with Manarat Al Saadiyah in its reflection |
Instead, the building on my left looked more like an art venue so I walked over to that one. It turned out it was the Norman Foster designed UAE Pavilion for the 2010 Shanghai Expo but its doors were chained. I peeped through the tinted glass and saw that it was empty inside while the exterior was rusting away. I wonder what it might be used for eventually.
Then I saw a car arrive at the entrance of the other building and dropped off some visitors. So I followed them in straight away.
To my disappointment, there was only one exhibition on display -- a photography competition. All other galleries were closed with no events on. After consulting the receptionist, I learned that the Guggenheim exhibits were only there for a little while as a temporary exhibition. What was left was a cafe, an art supplies shop and an art workshop for kids. Even the souvenir shop was small with nothing much in it. The staff told me that they hadn't finalised the layout of the place yet and the positions of the venues were still in flux.
 |
| The tables with free-to-read books |
One great thing about the place was that the tables near the entrance area were covered with lots of free-to-read books, mostly books on Arabia and architecture. Anyone was welcome to sit there all day to read.
 |
| Outside Warehouse 421 |
With not much to see in Manarat Al Saadiyat, I continued to explore the only other art gallery I'd heard of, Warehouse 421. A warehouse turned art gallery, situated by the dhow harbour in Al Mina, next door to a massive COOP supermarket. The ongoing exhibition was called "Untold Stories Retold", which were the exhibits from the UAE's pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2016, showcasing the different styles of national houses throughout the seven emirates. It was quite interesting to see at last what the locals' houses might look like behind the walls.
 |
| "Untold Stories Retold" |
However, like Manarat Al Saadiyat, there were not that many visitors in Warehouse 421. In fact, I was the only one there and one of the only 5 people in the photography exhibition in Manarat Al Saadiyat.
I read in some books on Arabia which mentioned that the traditional entertainments of the Bedouins were chatting, storytelling or music (e.g. the Arabian Oud) by the campfire. Bedouins' eyes are well-trained to spot things in the desert, like footprints and landscapes; but that's for survival instead of entertainment. I was wondering if visual arts would really be their thing.
Seeing all these big names from the western art world setting up branches here reminded me of the loving parents who try to give the best things they know of to their children.
Comments
Post a Comment