The past and future of culture on the island of happiness

Details are not concrete until the last moment. Literally, the final confirmation didn’t come until a few hours before boarding, so I didn’t mentally think about the idea until the last moment. And I was encouraged to go for it because of the promise that the Phenomena team’s lab would be captivated more than the temporary existence of Lucy, probably the most famous film on the circuit that even a layman like myself would have heard of, if only because of the ludicrous Luc Besson and Scarlett Johansson movie.

Again I found that instead of the massive convening of the international media that I had hoped for, the group was tailored to a very limited group of journalists of all stripes and conditions. Only the French representative was proficient in palaeontological matters, although she was also considered unsuitable for her specific knowledge of palaeoanthropology. We were the only Europeans in the group. The rest were contemporary writers lifestyle region.

The Saadiyat Cultural District is the leading cultural enclave of the UAE and a pioneer in transforming the capital into a tourist reference point like neighboring Dubai, a hypertrophied metropolis transformed into an irresistible magnetic center. influencers y cryptobros westerns.

The complex includes an impressive selection of museum installations and cultural centers including the Louvre, the Guggenheim, the Berklee College of Music, the Natural History Museum, the Zayed National Museum, the Abrahamic Family House (an interfaith center that seeks to highlight the points of interest between the three monotheistic religions), and the Phenomena teamLab.

After years of work and receiving various reviews, the vast majority of the buildings finally opened during last year 2025. However, the buildings on the horizon are still visible and it is clear that the district will continue to grow to accommodate the visitors they hope for, creating synergies that are likely to give rise to new inclusions.

Abu Dhabi Museum of Natural History

We spent the first day visiting the Natural History Museum. El building, yes de por yes, es a commendable work of architecturecombining geometric structures (irregular pentagons) with strategic plant decorations that will be consistent over the years, the hasta cover much of the facade, which now glows pure white. After the security check, the visitor passes into the atrium of mammoth dimensions, from where exactly five huge statues of dinosaurs are erected, seated on a bitter substrate, which allows one to see the majesty of these Cretan beasts.

The matter is simple because the combination is one a mix between authentic forests and modern recreationto clearly distinguish between the two, although it is important to note that the index varies enough, in some cases, to be expected to be 80% complete. When asked, the museum staff explained to me that the heaviest pieces were stored in the galleries so that they could be studied more easily and not have to use suspended maple cables to support their enormous weight in the heights of the atrium.

After a presentation by the museum director, we proceed to an informal meeting with a very rare visitor: Donald Johanson, now a celebrity in the world of paleoanthropology for the discovery of Lucy in 1974 in Ethiopia.

Considering his advanced age (82 years), Donald offered us a vivid account of those who traveled more than the Middle Ages in the Afar region in the heart of Africa, while working in the field, because God knows that what they encountered was not only relevant, even transformative, and like the iconic Beatles song that played on the radio, I gave her the idea of ​​bautizarthecus, this million years of antipharmacy 32 Australapisis.

The museum investigators treated Donald with a respect that made me feel completely out of place when they offered to speak with him for a brief five-minute interview. However, Donald, introducing himself as a Spanish journalist, started talking about meaning of Atapuerca and the envy we held of the French for the quality of the yacht.

Next, we go to visit the galleries with teachers from different parts of the museum who gave us tours. The journey plunged into the unfathomable depths of outdoor space with immersive installations above the stars and a diverse collection of meteorites, the most solid objects of this form that could be freely touched. It was very impressive to note the existence of extrasolar materials with greater visibility than our entire planetary system. One of the most distant meteorites is more than 7000 million years old.

Next we move to a section where many prehistoric animals and fossils were found, not only dinosaurs, but even beasts with an evident evolutionary connection with the present fauna, but showing very different dimensions. Everything is presented in a spectacular form, with all the details and the technological presence of the first level to make the visit a first-class sensory experience. Special mention goes to the huge structure of LEDs which It represents an asteroid impact with its intense illumination which accompanies the life of megafauna on the planet.

The great joy of the crown we hoped for more: Lucy, or what she had for more than 3 million years, which is enough, 40% of the original cry of this ancestor, who at the time of her death should have turned 12 years old. The museum is keeping the fossil in the same room where the replica rests and will monitor it until March 23, when the rest will be flown to Ethiopia.

Although the legend is obvious, Lucy’s contemplation and panoramic view of the huge flow chart, which includes the various evolutionary lines over the past few days, provokes a moment of thought and it is possible to decide in which case a certain opinion. Before roads that never stopped, before different kinds of people that collapsed before our unstoppable rush or were killed before our unsalvageable demise.

The rest of the visit focused on the various ecosystems of the planet, with further emphasis on conservation dogma, which can be very sensitive in the context of a natural history museum, but which I was way off track to recognize.

Antes de salir de las galerías por la tienda de regalos, el museo se permite dispensar una admonición severa para que reflexione sobre el impacto de su huella de carbono y asuma la responsabilidad personal en la conservación de las especies, animales y vegetales, con las que compartimos el planeta.

Me pareció un detalle completamente fuera de lugar, un discurso desprovisto de cualquier atisbo de ironía ante la motivación petrolífera del espectacular desarrollo de la región. Muy en la línea de las celebridades y autoridades políticas que reprenden a las masas por el uso del coche privado y luego usan sus aviones particulares hasta para ir a comprar el pan. O cómo Noruega se vanagloria de ser una economía verde después de construir el mayor fondo soberano del mundo gracias a sus explotaciones de combustibles fósiles.

Zayed National Museum

Al día siguiente, volvimos al distrito para visitar otros dos edificios. Por la mañana acudimos al Zayed National Museum, enclavado en una maravillosa creación de Norman Foster caracterizada por sus formas curvilíneas y unas magníficas plumas de halcón que se alzan hacia los cielos con ambición desatada.

El museo está dedicado al padre de la nación, el jeque Zayed bin Sultan Al Nayhan y una de las principales galerías está dedicada por completo a ensalzar su figura, sus orígenes y sus acciones en la configuración del estado moderno.

El ánimo propagandístico es innegable, pero pude constatar que el jeque goza de una excelente reputación entre los autóctonos, incluso dos décadas después de su muerte. Es justo reconocerle que, a diferencia de otros modelos autoritarios, la realeza de Emiratos comparte la riqueza de los recursos naturales con la población, desarrollando una barbaridad lo que en esencia es un yermo y también una versión propia del Estado del Bienestar, con muchísimas prestaciones sociales, educación y sanidad de calidad.

El resto del museo está dedicado al pasado arqueológico de la región. Hay alguna piezas muy valiosas, fruto de su posición como encrucijada en la expansión marítima del Islam, pero es cierto que, en comparación con museos similares en otras partes del mundo, el contenido se queda un tanto corto.

Aun así, lo que tienen lo exhiben con orgullo y con un lujo impactante. Me llamó poderosamente la atención la recreación de las embarcaciones, a escala natural, de los trabajadores de la industria de las perlas, buceadores que arriesgaban su vida para recopilar los tesoros del lecho marino. También las construcciones funerarias de su pasado neolítico en ritos chamánicos y los frutos de su comercio con las dinastías enriquecidas del Extremo Oriente.

teamLab Phenomena

Ya por la tarde acudimos a lo que consideraría como mi principal área de interés: el teamLab Phenomena. Las imágenes y los videos no le hacen justicia. Describir las propiedades de las diferentes obras tampoco tendría sentido. Es un viaje que merece la pena emprender sin spoilers, dejándose llevar bajo la guía de los artistas, que han dispuesto un recorrido lineal con mucha intención, estableciendo paradas en diferentes emociones, aunando sonido, imágenes y sensaciones táctiles para sugerir una clarividencia estética superior.

Mientras merodeaba por los espacios umbríos de la instalación, por los suelos deformados de sus pasillos y sumergido en las reverberaciones tectónicas de su paisaje sonoro, mi mente divagaba irremediablemente por las creaciones videolúdicas de Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Especialmente Tetris Effect en realidad virtual, con su impecable conflagración de mecánicas, efectos visuales, imágenes y música para efectuar una personalísima apoteosis trascendental.

Una visita al teamLab Phenomena tiene mucho de concierto de Sigur Rós. Un muro de sonido colapsando tus terminaciones nerviosas para disolver los grilletes de la realidad física. Post-rock en vena maridado con lo que Roger Callois denominaba el Ilinx, ese vértigo que nos embarga al montarnos en una montaña rusa y nos provoca una euforia irrefrenable. Materia oscura, teoría de cuerdas, universos holográficos, multiplicidad cuántica, el tercer ojo, la conquista de Shambala.

Digital mysticism. Transhumanist reality, a step towards the next evolutionary leap, is the fruit of the synthesis between organic gray matter and the spectrum of silicon. Projection mapping, illuminated spheres in the depths of vantablack, water sculptures, suspended forests in the sky, harmonious constellations and light vortices. An abundance of different techniques and methods to illuminate the boundary between the observer and artistic expression, facilitating Pavlovian blending, immersing the player in the overall work.

I decided to visit Abu Dhabi because of the presence of teamLab Phenomena and I was not disappointed. I believe it’s an approach to many of the realities of video games without the associated streaks, a more accessible and visceral experience, but purely aesthetic, without that narrative aspect that elevates video game creation on many occasions. But I have to admit that I also enjoyed my visits to the Natural History Museum and Zayed, especially the reservations I detailed earlier.

It was during these moments, when I was wondering whether or not it was necessary to remove the niqab from public life, that I was surprised by the wide range of attitudes of Emirati women. Basically everything is done. Women wearing nothing, some with a veil as a fashion accessory, or others with a tighter chador. We could clarify something about the level of training. One of the detached investigators from the Natural History Museum held to the most accurate interpretation of the garment, although he always displayed it on the stand.

It is evident that these things are changing and that the influence of immigrants is evident in the conformity of the majority of the population. Saadiyat Cultural District is a destination that has decided to attract tourism while opening up to the world. But it’s a process you want to do on your own terms, without any formal requirements. Things are changing, but they can’t do it overnight.

Such a short visit is totally insufficient to get a good idea of ​​any place, let alone the Emirates. But yes, I would venture to suggest what it is a place with fixed contradictions, As a representative example, I return a cynical admonition at the end of a visit to the Natural History Museum. It is very likely that everything must be done the impulses that run through the country as it attempts to modernize and embrace the future.

Every few years to miss those things. Inversions will follow, as will mixing of ideas and perspectives. As for me, I admit that I learned a lot from talking to other journalists from the region with very different backgrounds than myself. Isn’t it instructive to observe how culture and art are created from a point of view: a view of two directions, the past and the future on the island of happiness?