By Mariam Al Mansoori ~
Amidst the very midst of the rest of the world’s speed, revolution, and advancement, no nation ever walked as perfect a line of keeping pace with their heritage and headlong rushing into the future as have the United Arab Emirates. Surrounded as it is by glass and steel giants of tomorrow and monolithic skyscrapers of tomorrow, the UAE can seem to be an overnight miracle of modernity—albeit one that behind the shiny skyscrapers presents a different tale to tell: one of pride, of culture, and the retention of identity.
At its core is a deceptively straightforward question—how does a nation make heritage a spur to the development of change that means moving on? The UAE response is being constructed day by day, in museums, festivals, heritage sites, and schools that unite past and future.
Weaving Heritage into Modern Life
The UAE itself dates back at least some centuries to Islamic and Bedouin philosophy on which it was founded, a mix which has retained its roots to the present day. And in terms of value, the nation has then sustained and propagated it in simple, revolutionary language.
These museums like Louvre Abu Dhabi, Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization are portals to world centuries and not treasure chests of past riches but teachers of things to be known as well. These are stores of world telling and hometown bragging whether package holidays of value locals and visitors experiencing the Emirati life in considered productions and experience trips.
There is still heritage architecture standing tall over other cities, which have been married to innovation. Ruin forts like Al Jahili Fort in Al Ain and the majesty souks of Dubai and Sharjah are cherished preserved, not only as tourist destinations, but simply for being continuity. That they can exist together with new icons is a reflection of how much the UAE values continuity with its architectural and cultural heritage.
Festivals of Identity Celebration
These UAE identity celebration festivals are no fun or amusement but continued display of national pride.They are not only entrance gates to acquaintance with the national patrimony, but also inter-generational bonds. The overseas and local visitors who come, the elderly and the young remember and learn the ancient crafts such as Al Sadu textile weaving, pearling, and falconry—creations otherwise headed for oblivion in the void.
Where it builds spaces halls where tradition is not simply recalled but experienced, the UAE is a pioneer with its heritage. UAE University cultural anthropologist Dr. Salama bint Mohammed Al Ketbi presented at a recent forum and asked that, “The act of celebrating our culture in public spaces reinforces a sense of belonging. It tells the world who we are—proudly and confidently.”
Technology Meets Tradition
In a country that has gone this far to have mission Mars, it is therefore not unexpected that even technology is used in the case of preserving heritage. With digital repositories, 3D models, and virtual tours such as “The Past: Virtual Majlis,” the UAE does indeed preserve as well as display their heritage.
Organizations like National Archives and Emirates Heritage Club are embracing technology applications in the digitalization of oral history and artefacts and documents and implementing heritage learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Emirati youth are future-proofed but never heritage-starved and use such applications.
Education and Awareness
One of the most forward-thinking things the UAE has perhaps ever done is the implementation of learning culture into the education system. The integration of the study of Arabic poetry (Al Nabati), Islamic calligraphy, and ancient manners (Adab) in learning together with science, coding, and robotics is a means of building the nation into a nation with culture that is alive and kicking. By proudening the children to be part of their own culture at an early age, the nation integrates the culture into the nation’s culture that is alive.
Leadership, however, has foresight to the future, and accountability. Late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, United Arab Emirates Founder Father, would never tell us that what is done makes the pace of what will be.
A Future Built on Foundations
With every step that the UAE took onto the world stage—into space exploration, green engineering, or world politics—it pulled along its own cultural center of gravity self-consciously. The country never had tradition and modernity in the classical sense, but as stimulus forces, which motivate each other.
