A post on the DCT social channels seems to suggest so…
This evening, Wednesday March 9, the Department of Culture and Tourism — Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) posted a cryptic video on their social media channels, teasing the launch of something connected to ‘Natural History’.
“Natural history” it says “has a new home”.
It doesn’t take a huge leap from there, to get to the idea of ‘a Natural History Museum’, something that would fit quite snugly into Abu Dhabi’s vibrant cultural scene.
A scene that already includes Louvre Abu Dhabi, and with projects such as the Guggenheim and the Zayed National Museum currently under construction.
Natural history has a new home
13.8 billion years of natural history #InAbuDhabi.
Discover more soon pic.twitter.com/BqLpXp2jV3
— Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (@dctabudhabi) March 9, 2022
What is a Natural History Museum?
You’ll find Natural History Museums in culturally-considerate cities across the world. They tend to deal, as the name suggests, in the history of the earth — with engaging exhibits charting biological and geological evolution. The Yin to Dubai’s recently opened Museum of the Future’s Yang. Natural History Museums often feature full-skeletal reconstructions of long-extinct creatures, such as the London museum’s famous ‘Dippy’ (the Diplodocus).
The reference of ‘13.8 billion years’ in the DCT’s Tweet refers to the (fairly confidently) estimated age of the universe, rather than the age of the earth (about 4.5 billion years) — suggesting exhibits in this Abu Dhabi museum will likely tell the natural history of the entire universe. No pressure museum curators.
Just one more thing…
There’s a further clue in the Natural History Museum conundrum, from an unlikely although still absolutely legitimate source, and it seems to rather convincingly confirm the hypothesis.
This Tweet from Abu Dhabi Maritime, shared on February 23, 2022 seems to validate not only the existence of the Abu Dhabi Natural History Museum, but also the location. Saadiyat Island.
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A silt curtain is being installed at the breakwater entrance for the Abu Dhabi Natural History Museum on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. Temporary navigational buoys will remain in place for the duration of the project. pic.twitter.com/o2N1Ky6lDt
— Abu Dhabi Maritime | أبوظبي البحرية (@admaritime) February 23, 2022
If this is all true, this marks a very exciting addition to Abu Dhabi’s already considerable cultural clout.
We’re committed to sharing any further news as we get it, so make sure you’re following What’s On Abu Dhabi across all social media channels.
Images: Getty
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