Jaunted

Tags: Middle East / UAE / Art Museums / Guggenheim / Culture Travel / → All Tags

Abu Dhabi Sneaking Out Of Dubai’s (Big) Shadow

Playing little brother to international city of the moment Dubai would definitely suck, but tourism officials are keen to make the UAE’s second city Abu Dhabi famous for something other than bizarre morphing skyscrapers. Abu Dhabi is proudly striving to become the cultural capital of the Middle East instead.

And while we scoffed a bit at first, on closer investigation it seems like Abu Dhabi does know something about culture. There’s going to be a Guggenheim Abu Dhabi by 2012, and in keeping with the UAE's penchant for world records, it'll be the world's biggest Guggenheim museum.

They've also got a bunch of national cultural buildings in Abu Dhabi like the National Theater and the main national library. Perhaps we’ll soon be able to skip the skyscrapers of Dubai and spend our layover soaking up the museum culture of Abu Dhabi. Pity the shopping will probably never be as good.

Related Stories:
· Oil’s Well in Abu Dhabi [The Age]
· The Incredible Morphing Skyscraper [Jaunted]

[Photo: Ioan Barbulescu]