Foster + Partners' Zayed National Museum, the national museum of the United Arab Emirates, is set to open its doors in December 2025. 

Situated in the vibrant Saadiyat Cultural District of Abu Dhabi, this museum will be part of one of the world's most significant cultural institutions, promising to be a landmark destination for art and heritage enthusiasts.

Ahead of its opening, the Zayed National Museum has released recent construction photographs from the site. The 44,000-square-metre museum was unveiled in 2007, bu it was not completed due to construction delays and some uncertainty regarding the museum's operational strategies.

The illustrious establishment honors the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding father of the United Arab Emirates, and his dedication to learning, identity, and community.

The museum maintains the principles Sheikh Zayed stood for, such as humanitarianism and legacy preservation, by expanding on his vision through immersive exhibitions, ongoing research, and captivating public programming.

In addition to a temporary exhibition gallery, visitors will explore six permanent galleries spread across two floors that cover 300,000 years of human history. In addition to loans from both domestic and foreign sources, the museum's collection includes artifacts from all throughout the United Arab Emirates, including donations that highlight the nation's rich cultural legacy.

"The cultural legacy of the UAE has been nurtured over decades, from the establishment of its earliest cultural institutions to today’s expansive vision for cultural exchange and knowledge. Saadiyat Cultural District represents the next chapter in this national journey, curating world-class institutions that honour the past and engage the future," said His Excellency Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi. 

"As the national museum of the United Arab Emirates, Zayed National Museum is the legacy of our Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. It is a tribute to his boundless belief in people, in their ability to learn, to uphold the values of unity, compassion and national pride."

"This museum is more than a place of preservation; it is a promise to future generations, a beacon of our identity, and a space where our story is told not just through objects, but through emotion, memory and vision. This institution will carry our story forward for generations to come," Al Mubarak added.

Sheikh Zayed firmly believed that in order to shape the country for the benefit of future generations, it was imperative to comprehend the past. His enthusiasm for learning about the UAE's rich history and honoring the various influences that molded Emirati culture resulted in the founding of the nation's first museum in Al Ain in 1971 and the Cultural Foundation's launch in 1981. 

Many of the amazing artifacts in the museum's collection today were discovered by archaeological teams more than fifty years ago and are from the Palaeolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages. 

These finds—which range from the oldest falaj irrigation system in the world to remnants of Bronze Age copper mining—reflect Sheikh Zayed's dedication to exposing the UAE's prehistoric past and serve as enduring proof of the resourcefulness and tenacity of the country's first inhabitants.

Highlights of the museum will include the Blue Qur'an, one of the best manuscripts of Islamic art; the Abu Dhabi Pearl, one of the oldest natural pearls in the world, which will provide new insight into the history of pearling in the Arabian Gulf; and a reconstruction of an ancient Magan Boat, which is the result of the museum's first research collaboration with Zayed University and New York University Abu Dhabi.

Lord Norman Foster, a Pritzker Prize-winning architect from Foster + Partners, created the museum's design, which is at the forefront of sustainable architecture and captures the legacy of the United Arab Emirates. Inspired by the wing of a falcon in flight, five steel structures rise above the museum. Falconry is regarded as an essential part of Emirati culture.

People from different generations and places will be able to connect through the museum's accessible and inclusive experiences. It will introduce international viewpoints and engage with the UAE's history and modern identity through its galleries, educational initiatives, and groundbreaking research. 

In addition to promoting international scholarship and motivating youth and People of Determination, the Zayed National Museum will serve as a vibrant hub for cross-cultural dialogue and mutual understanding.

The Zayed National Museum will showcase exhibits and stories that honor the region's rich history and symbolize Abu Dhabi's position as a crossroads of civilizations, in keeping with Saadiyat Cultural District's objective to encourage varied discourse and advance cultural fairness. 

The museum will be located in the District alongside a number of internationally recognized cultural institutions, such as the Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi, Mecanoo's Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, and Jean Nouvel's Louvre Abu Dhabi, further solidifying Abu Dhabi's position as a hub for innovation, culture, and ideas.

All images are courtesy of Zayed National Museum.

> via Zayed National Museum

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