Sharjah’s ‘Rain Room’: What you need to know before you go
▶ The installation is a perfect break from the summer heat, says Melissa Gronlund
Recently, I headed to the Rain Room in Sharjah in search of some hotweather respite. What could be better than a gambol through the rain, without any of the negative side effects of your typical rainfall – such as sopping-wet clothes or an ugly, running-mascara face?
The Rain Room is an art project on permanent display at the Sharjah Art Foundation, in its own, bespoke building. It allows you to move through rain without getting wet: sensors detect where you are to stop the water from falling.
But I could have planned my trip better. Here are four things to know before heading to the installation.
Lesson one: Book
Rain Room is popular, but you can easily book ahead by phone or via the website. Maybe I should have thought of this before driving two hours to Sharjah from Abu Dhabi. But I can now tell you that no feminine charm, New York-bred chutzpah nor art-correspondent credentials will get you to jump the queue. The Rain Room people are firm but fair.
Lesson two: Move slowly
The big tag line about the
Rain Room is that you don’t get wet. That’s true, but only if you have the self-control of, say, a non-frenetic adult. Any movement quicker than the sensors can handle – roughly speaking, the speed of someone wanting to cross a street and not get hit by a Land Cruiser – and you get a big, surprisingly frigid plop of water right down your back. Although you might think that all you want in life is a big, surprisingly frigid plop of water right down your back, when it actually happens, nope, you actually don’t. Turn it into an exercise in Zen.
Lesson three: Pack clothes
This is key if you’re not an adult, or if you are an adult packing for non-adults. I have been twice now and seen few greater displays of happiness than children running through the Rain Room water. True, unfettered joy, made all the better by not being allowed to so – and making rules so that children can merrily break them is one of the unexpected pleasures of parenthood. But having wet, teeth-chattering children in the middle of the overly air-conditioned Emirati summer is not. Prepare yourselves.
Lesson four: Have cake
The purple cake at the Fen cafe and restaurant is absolutely delicious, but will turn your tongue purple and, depending on your grace as an eater, your lips, too. Now that the Rain Room is seemingly doubling as the UAE’s largest selfie-taking station, let this be a public service announcement: choose your cake with care.
Rain Room is at the Sharjah Art Foundation, in the Heart of Sharjah. Tickets are Dh25 for adults, Dh15 for teachers and students up to the age of 22, and free for children under 5. Saturday to Thursday 9am to 9pm, Friday 4pm to 11pm. To book, visit rainroom.sharjahart.org