Free like a bear

Without a doubt the most marketed site of the UAE, the Sheikh Zayed mosque is a must-see in Abu Dhabi. Finished in the 2000s, it is the largest mosque of the country with a capacity of about 40,000 worshippers and also the site of the tomb of Sheikh Zayed. And more importantly, it is one of these famous places that don’t disappoint when you see them for real!

It is located about 20 km north of the center, in an unspectacular neighborhood, but can be reached quite easily by bus! Yeah! Again, I was the only one getting off the bus at the closest stop 15 walking minutes away… I loved walking to the mosque. You know this feeling when you see an iconic place at the horizon and you get closer and closer? And when the excitement gets bigger and bigger? It is hard not to think about the Taj Mahal, which is not a coincidence since Persian and Mughal architecture were the main inspiration! The mosque is in the middle of a huge gated park with parking lot.

 

After crossing the main gate, I saw the hundreds of tourist buses on the parking lot and realized I wouldn’t be alone…

 

Although it was very busy, the tourist flow was perfectly directed and the experience was enjoyable. The main entrance is located in one of two domes a few hundred meters away of the mosque. Before reaching the underground visitor center, you are reminded of the dress code for a mosque visit.

 

After registering on a tablet to get a free entrance ticket, you are screened for your outfit before X-ray control. Tourist ladies get a robe with hoodie to cover their heads . You are then directed through a never ending underground tunnel which leads to the front of the mosque.

 

What an elegant building! Tons of white marble… and a long list of superlatives as the UAE loves them: the world’s biggest chandeliers (built by a German company with Swarovski crystals), the world’s largest carpet (hand-knotted in Iran), the world’s largest marble mosaic, etc…

 

I was quite impressed by the love for details and the stunning artisan work, although some elements were a bit too much for my taste… The ridge between beautiful and kitsch is often thin…

Enjoy the (many!) pictures!

 

Unfortunately, some visitors tend to forget that a mosque is a place of worship and not an amusement park. It is allowed to take pictures and selfies but security staff needs to prevent tourists from fooling around and making stupid poses. Any trial to take a picture other than standing normally was efficiently (and aggressively) stopped by the staff! By the way, I know somebody who loves reading gossip magazines – not me of course… hahaha! –, and he told me that Rihanna got kicked out of the mosque for “not meeting the standards of decency” and sitting in “disrespectful positions”. Among the stupid behaviors I observed, a lot of girls were removing the hoodie to show their hair on the pictures. But the first price goes to Chinese tourists. I think anyone who visited busy touristic sites had some bad experience with Chinese groups. It is unbelievable how they manage to combine loudness and disrespect! I took a picture of a group getting ready to enter… They were all wearing the same robes (shopped on Wish or Alibaba?) to look super Arabic on the millions of pictures they will take: the ladies with a black and gold robe and the guys with a traditional white robe (although it’s absolutely not necessary as long as you wear covering clothes). They were obviously incredibly loud and so happy and proud of their outfits, posing non-stop. The few who weren’t busy taking pictures were yelling on their phones while visiting. Any trial of the security to control them failed and was welcomed by a silly laugh or a question-mark face…

Using a quote of Sheikh Zayed that you can read at bus stops or on billboards all over Abu Dhabi seems to be an interesting way to start this article.

“A country is not measured by the size of its area on the map. A country is truly measured by its heritage and culture”.

 

Quite a beautiful and noble cause to promote culture, but I am not sure Sheikh Zayed expected his country to “buy” culture from other countries to achieve this! It indeed sounds like an admission of weakness to build museums for the only sake of attracting visitors. It is even more questionable when it is to exhibit pieces of art of foreign cultures that you “rent” for a lot of money…

As I mentioned before, Abu Dhabi currently develops a museum neighbourhood on Saadiyat island. As an architecture fan, I must admit I am quite excited by the project. The planned buildings are indeed very futuristic and designed by some of the best contemporary architects.

• Guggenheim-Museum Abu Dhabi / Frank O. Gehry

 

• Sheikh Zayed National Museum / Sir Norman Foster

• Performing Arts Center / Zaha Hadid

• Louvre Abu Dhabi / Jean Nouvel – the only finished museum up-to-date, designed – what a coincidence – by a French architect…

 

Whereas the Louvre Abu Dhabi museum is the first Louvre “franchise” out of France, the Guggenheim museum has already experience selling its name abroad. To be honest, I don’t think it does make much sense to construct a museum in the middle of a desert which requires complex architecture for an adequate art conservation climate. But I guess the number of zeros of the money transfer to France was too attractive to think about art…! Isn’t this oddly similar to the attribution of the football world cup 2022 in Qatar?

I had a nice – and long – direct bus ride from my couchsurfer’s place to the museum. After driving on the city highway surrounded by bustling life, the bus crossed a bridge… to arrive in the middle of nowhere… or better said in a huge area under development! There were construction sites all around, and some high buildings at the horizon. I looked up this area on Google Maps satellite and there was nothing! Google cannot update its satellite images fast enough here. There are entire cities emerging out of the sand. At this point, we were only a few people in the bus. At the final stop, the museum, I was alone… The only tourist who ever took this bus?! haha!

 

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is one of the few finished buildings in this area and looks a bit lost in the middle of the construction chaos. It is constructed over the sea and stands out with its huge silver dome. It is nicely integrated in the environment, impressive but not overwhelming. The building was inspired by a souq and consists of many little white houses covered by this huge umbrella-like dome.

 

The dome structure produces great light and shadow effects on the surroundings. Elements of traditional Islamic architecture like the mashrabiya were used as well. What is a bit confusing though is that there is no guiding thread through the museum and one feels lost between all these little houses, with many courtyards and dead-ends.

 

 

The building is obviously completely over-dimensioned for the scope of the exhibition of about 200-300 pieces. However, thanks to this space, the objects are perfectly exhibited and can come into their own. Unlike most of the museums in the world showing an historical collection, this collection was man-picked. It’s a selection of pieces from Ancient Egypt to contemporary art, from all the continents. It is perfect to get an art history crash course in 2-3 hours. “Less is more” is the motto; and the small selection has to my opinion a better educational value than piles of objects.

 

After visiting, I deserved a lunch break and had a delicious savory croissant at the beautiful outdoor café, surrounded by French tourists. I felt a bit like home for a while… haha!

 

On a sad note, I am quite concerned about the construction quality of the building. Although it was opened 1 year before my visit, there were already a lot of cracks and reparation works on-going. I guess constructing a building on the open sea, with a roof opened to the winds is not the smartest idea if you want to save maintenance costs…!