Qasr Al Hosn to throw open its gates after ‘immense’ restoration work
We can all imagine from the windows of this fort that these leaders looked outside and imagined a different city MOHAMED AL MUBARAK Abu Dhabi Culture and Tourism Dept
The oldest standing building in Abu Dhabi will reopen for a week of festivities next month after undergoing an extensive historical restoration.
Qasr Al Hosn will host storytelling, poetry and heritage programmes at the downtown site from December 7. The fort has been largely closed for the past decade and the public granted only limited access during three winter festivals.
In recent years, some of the city’s most detailed restoration and archaeological work has been undertaken to protect the 200-year-old site.
“This has been a long time coming,” said Mohamed Al Mubarak, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, as he unveiled launch plans yesterday.
“This is a site of history, of archaeology, of intangible heritage and a site of people – and we’re going to be bringing this back to life in a matter of weeks,” he said.
“We are opening to the public on December 7, but it is not just one day. It is going to be a week of festivities. The programme is full and the site will be full of life for the week.
“It will be a school holiday so it will be a major attraction for families to enjoy the beautiful weather and enjoy the fort under the stars.”
The opening of Qasr Al Hosn, which is not widely known outside the UAE but was host to landmark moments in the country’s history, will be accompanied by a major publicity drive to promote it as an essential visitor attraction.
“As far as I’m concerned, to the people of the UAE and Abu Dhabi, this is the most important cultural site at the moment,” Mr Al Mubarak said.
“It starts as a humbling message of what the UAE and Abu Dhabi was all about and it takes you through a voyage of time and where we are today. We will treat this as a major international cultural site that is not only a cultural feat but an architectural feat.”
The Qasr Al Hosn site also includes the Cultural Foundation, the popular but closed arts space founded in 1981 by Sheikh Zayed, the Founding Father, and the new House of Artisans.
The foundation will host works by 25 Emirati artists who began their careers there.
Future visitors can expect wide-ranging exhibits, from works by 1960s Arab artists to contemporary offerings from South America.
In March, two more buildings will be ready. They are a 900-seat amphitheatre and the Abu Dhabi Children’s Library.
The Inner Fort of Qasr Al Hosn was built as a watchtower around 1795 by the Baniyas tribes of the Liwa Oasis, who settled on Abu Dhabi island in the 1760s after discovering fresh water.
The Outer Palace was built in 1939 by then Ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Shakhbout, and served as his majlis as well as the Nahyan family home during the winter months.
It continued to be used in modern times and served as the country’s first debating chamber, the National Consultative Council, after the founding of the Emirates in 1971.
The rectangular site also comprised the first modern city block in Abu Dhabi and is now one of hundreds in a recognisable grid system.
“It started as a watchtower. It then evolved into a house of government and house of leadership and then moved to a house of society,” Mr Al Mubarak said.
“So it has been in evolution, a similar evolution to what has happened here in the emirate of Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates – a story of growth and a story of prosperity.
“We can all imagine from the windows of this fantastic fort that these leaders looked outside and imagined a different city, a city with schools, hospitals and so on.”
Among the challenges in restoring the fort and the surrounding site, which was in urgent need of structural work when it closed, was to preserve the centuries-old coral and sea-stone masonry walls.
“We have spent quite a lot of time and effort in making sure we’ve used all of the relevant tools to make sure this building comes back to life,” Mr Al Mubarak said.
Along with on-site restoration work, researchers created an audio history by tracking down and interviewing people who worked or lived in the fort.
“The conservation work has gone to a level of detail that is world class. We have international partners who have played a big role in this.
“But I think the beauty is that the majority, if not all of the work, has been done locally by the women and men here today or are still right now working on site.”