Tucked away in the southern shore of Dubai Creek lies Bastakiya, one of the most fascinating districts in the Arabian Gulf. Not only is this area one of the most aesthetically pleasing in the region, it is also one of the most symbolic.
Not long after the Al Maktoum family laid the foundation of modern Dubai in 1833, a significant process of evolution began in the region. Commerce flourished as a result of the tax-free trading and as well as a new culture of tolerance. This new culture was manifested in the migrants from Persia and across the region who were allowed to reside and build homes in Bastakiya, within a few score metres of the Al Fahidi Fort, which then served as the home of the Rulers of Dubai.
Legend has it that the area was slated for massive redevelopment and that it was Prince Charles of Britain, known for his appreciation of Islamic architecture, who during an official visit advised that the then-dilapidated old structures were too important to be demolished. Not too long after, Dubai Municipality launched a massive conservation programme under the supervision of the capable and qualified Emirati architect Rashad Bukhash. In 2001, he was appointed as the head of the Historical Buildings Section in the municipality and oversaw the restoration of more than 50 buildings as well as designed several museums within a short space of time. In fact, it was a very personal endeavour for the architect whose own ancestral home fell victim to the rapid redevelopment that the UAE was witnessing.
Nowhere else in the Gulf is there such a diversity of architecture inspired by Arab Hijazi masharbiyas, Levantine decorations, North African courtyards and interior Arabian Peninsula windows as well as Islamic calligraphy, Persian Barjeels, and East African and Indian motifs – all within a short walking distance of each other.
Because of this diversity, this unique area, which encompasses the Dubai Museum at Al Fahidi Fort, Bastakiya and Shindagha, should be redesignated as the Dubai Museum District. There one can take a journey through several centuries and be inspired by the numerous cultures that have shaped this great city.
On a recent visit to the kingdom of Bahrain, I was given a special tour of the historic area of Muharraq island and the Souq district. The narrow alleyways and mud and coral houses reminded me very much of home and of how the cultures and peoples of the Gulf are connected.
What sets Muharraq’s historic quarter apart is something altogether different – the actual permanent residents. It isn’t only tourists and short-term visitors who can be seen on the streets, but the urban life found in any traditional Arabian town. While I was there, a group of children were playing, while others had just returned from the children’s library; old women in abayas walked to and fro, visiting their neighbours. A cultural centre houses a theatre for 330 people. An emporium of traditional textiles and an art cafe add to the splendour. A water garden has been built into the landscape where a small house once stood.
The roads aren’t perfectly kept and the flowers aren’t perfectly trimmed, but they are authentic. What made another substantial difference was the smell of Gulf Arab food emanating from the kitchens of the houses that were attached to the small converted museums.
Then it hit me: because families inhabit this area side by side with the cultural centres, it has become a living, breathing testimony to the country. This is what is missing in Bastakiya to make the magic complete.
One idea that could be studied is allocating housing to low-income Emiratis from the surrounding area, where so many consulates are being built. There could be certain criteria, such as giving preference to families that have children who will register in after school educational centres that could be established in the district.
There are many houses that have been magnificently restored to their former glory that are now standing empty, so I also propose that one or two dozen of these houses be converted into museums to display the private art collections of Dubai and UAE-based patrons of the arts. In that spirit, one building could be selected to house a permanent display of Arabic and Islamic calligraphy, another could be designated for photography, a third for modern design concepts, etc.
And because Bastakiya is so culturally diverse, we could invite non-Emirati art patrons to display long-term loan collections of Persian, African, Asian and western art in converted houses as long as the integrity of the structures was maintained. It need not be too many pieces – keep in mind, these houses are no more than 200 square metres, but it would be a case of quality superseding quantity.
By itself, one such converted house might not be enough of an attraction for people to brave the Bur Dubai traffic. But with a dozen or more permanent art displays, a few local families living nearby and the opening of the adjacent Metro stations in Burjuman and Musalla, Bastakiya could be transformed into an art destination unrivalled in the region. And it could continue to serve, as it always has, as a testimony to the ambition, diversity and culture of Dubai.
*This article first appeared in The National on Sunday 7 March 2010
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Sunday, 16 August 2009
A vital paper trail that tells the story of a nation
It was the mid-1960s, the 48-year-old Sheikh Zayed had just become ruler of Abu Dhabi, and he had already set his sights on ending the British protectorate status of Abu Dhabi and its sister emirates along the Trucial Coast.
Sheikh Zayed realised that to be able to deal successfully with the British he would need proper documentation of essential details such as border demarcations, and copies of all the treaties signed by his forefathers and other rulers of the Gulf emirates. So, upon his order, the Centre for Documentation and Research was established in 1968. Its role in providing details and archiving important documents proved to be instrumental in the negotiations that led to the formation of the UAE on December 2, 1971.
As Sheikh Zayed focused on strengthening the ties within the UAE and institutionalising the union, the Centre continued collecting invaluable documents to record the living memory of Abu Dhabi’s emergence as a regional centre for diplomacy and economics, including the formation there of the Gulf Cooperation Council in 1981 and the founding of the Arab Monetary Fund in 1976, headquartered in Abu Dhabi.
When Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed was appointed chairman of the Centre by his father in 1999, its second stage was launched. Sheikh Mansour sought the expertise of Dr Abdulla El Reyes, an Emirati linguistics graduate from the University of Wisconsin who was part of the team involved in setting up Zayed University. Grand plans for the Centre were laid, beginning with a new state-of-the-art building with a 3-D Imax cinema that greets visitors with a film about the history of Abu Dhabi and the UAE.
But perhaps the most important development for which the Centre has been responsible was the ground-breaking publication of a book containing first-hand accounts of the modern history of Abu Dhabi. Dr Jayanti Maitra, an Indian historian and researcher, was working on the treasure trove of documents that the Centre houses when Dr El Reyes noticed a first draft of the book on the historian’s desk. Until then it had not been given official approval to be printed.
Sheikh Mansour recognised the value of the information contained in the manuscripts and authorised the Centre to publish what became Qasr Al Hosn: the History of the Rulers of Abu Dhabi 1793-1966, possibly one of the most detailed and frank accounts of any ruling family in the Gulf region. Bear in mind that within the tribal structures of the Gulf, documenting history is a sensitive issue that most governments shy away from to avoid the risk of irking the family and descendants of those mentioned.
Today, at its HQ in Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi, the Centre chronicles the history of the Emirates during four principal eras. In the first of these, the Portuguese era in the 15th and 16th centuries, several Portuguese fortresses were established across the northern emirates, with a mostly military mandate.
During the second era, the Dutch one, there were growing commercial ties between that European power and the southern Gulf that lasted through the 17th and 18th centuries, to secure trade between the major ports of Basra in Iraq, Java in Indonesia, and Amsterdam. The UAE islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, currently occupied by Iran, are first mentioned in the Centre’s records from the mid-17th century.
The Centre’s third major era is the British Political Residency, which existed, initially at least, mostly to support the activities of the East India Company, and lasted from the late 18th century to Britain’s withdrawal from the Gulf in the early 1970s. Finally, the fourth era that the Centre covers is from the formation of the UAE by Sheikh Zayed and the other rulers of the Emirates all the way to the present day.
When it reached its 40th anniversary last year the Centre’s mandate was expanded to include archives of not only Abu Dhabi but also the six other emirates, and its name was changed to the National Centre for Documentation and Research to reflect this enlarged mandate. Under federal law, all government departments in the union must maintain original copies of all signed official documents to preserve those that have historical significance.
The Centre has spared no effort in acquiring significant documents, and has also been successful in attracting private collectors of historical manuscripts from inside and outside the UAE. It keeps, among others, more than 200 books donated by Sheikh Falih bin Nasser Al Thani of Qatar, to be preserved and archived.
The historical significance of such documents cannot be exaggerated; one of the first destinations of Saddam Hussein’s army in Kuwait was its National Archives. Almost two decades after the invasion in 1990 the looted historical documents have yet to be returned, and Kuwait continues to refer to them as “Kuwait’s Memory”.
By the end of this year the National Centre for Documentation and Research – the UAE’s Memory, if you like – will open an interactive exhibition that will give visitors a valuable opportunity to learn more about this fascinating nation that defied the odds and emerged as the only successful union in the modern history of the Arab world.
*This article first appeared in The National on Sunday, 16th August 2009
Sheikh Zayed realised that to be able to deal successfully with the British he would need proper documentation of essential details such as border demarcations, and copies of all the treaties signed by his forefathers and other rulers of the Gulf emirates. So, upon his order, the Centre for Documentation and Research was established in 1968. Its role in providing details and archiving important documents proved to be instrumental in the negotiations that led to the formation of the UAE on December 2, 1971.
As Sheikh Zayed focused on strengthening the ties within the UAE and institutionalising the union, the Centre continued collecting invaluable documents to record the living memory of Abu Dhabi’s emergence as a regional centre for diplomacy and economics, including the formation there of the Gulf Cooperation Council in 1981 and the founding of the Arab Monetary Fund in 1976, headquartered in Abu Dhabi.
When Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed was appointed chairman of the Centre by his father in 1999, its second stage was launched. Sheikh Mansour sought the expertise of Dr Abdulla El Reyes, an Emirati linguistics graduate from the University of Wisconsin who was part of the team involved in setting up Zayed University. Grand plans for the Centre were laid, beginning with a new state-of-the-art building with a 3-D Imax cinema that greets visitors with a film about the history of Abu Dhabi and the UAE.
But perhaps the most important development for which the Centre has been responsible was the ground-breaking publication of a book containing first-hand accounts of the modern history of Abu Dhabi. Dr Jayanti Maitra, an Indian historian and researcher, was working on the treasure trove of documents that the Centre houses when Dr El Reyes noticed a first draft of the book on the historian’s desk. Until then it had not been given official approval to be printed.
Sheikh Mansour recognised the value of the information contained in the manuscripts and authorised the Centre to publish what became Qasr Al Hosn: the History of the Rulers of Abu Dhabi 1793-1966, possibly one of the most detailed and frank accounts of any ruling family in the Gulf region. Bear in mind that within the tribal structures of the Gulf, documenting history is a sensitive issue that most governments shy away from to avoid the risk of irking the family and descendants of those mentioned.
Today, at its HQ in Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi, the Centre chronicles the history of the Emirates during four principal eras. In the first of these, the Portuguese era in the 15th and 16th centuries, several Portuguese fortresses were established across the northern emirates, with a mostly military mandate.
During the second era, the Dutch one, there were growing commercial ties between that European power and the southern Gulf that lasted through the 17th and 18th centuries, to secure trade between the major ports of Basra in Iraq, Java in Indonesia, and Amsterdam. The UAE islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, currently occupied by Iran, are first mentioned in the Centre’s records from the mid-17th century.
The Centre’s third major era is the British Political Residency, which existed, initially at least, mostly to support the activities of the East India Company, and lasted from the late 18th century to Britain’s withdrawal from the Gulf in the early 1970s. Finally, the fourth era that the Centre covers is from the formation of the UAE by Sheikh Zayed and the other rulers of the Emirates all the way to the present day.
When it reached its 40th anniversary last year the Centre’s mandate was expanded to include archives of not only Abu Dhabi but also the six other emirates, and its name was changed to the National Centre for Documentation and Research to reflect this enlarged mandate. Under federal law, all government departments in the union must maintain original copies of all signed official documents to preserve those that have historical significance.
The Centre has spared no effort in acquiring significant documents, and has also been successful in attracting private collectors of historical manuscripts from inside and outside the UAE. It keeps, among others, more than 200 books donated by Sheikh Falih bin Nasser Al Thani of Qatar, to be preserved and archived.
The historical significance of such documents cannot be exaggerated; one of the first destinations of Saddam Hussein’s army in Kuwait was its National Archives. Almost two decades after the invasion in 1990 the looted historical documents have yet to be returned, and Kuwait continues to refer to them as “Kuwait’s Memory”.
By the end of this year the National Centre for Documentation and Research – the UAE’s Memory, if you like – will open an interactive exhibition that will give visitors a valuable opportunity to learn more about this fascinating nation that defied the odds and emerged as the only successful union in the modern history of the Arab world.
*This article first appeared in The National on Sunday, 16th August 2009
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