NEW DISPLAY WILL HONOUR LIVES OF SHEIKH ZAYED AND GANDHI
▶ Digital exhibition in Abu Dhabi will examine legacy of the founding fathers of UAE and India
An exhibition dedicated to the Founding Fathers of the UAE and modern India has been designed to build a bond between the nations’ younger citizens.
A digital museum that pays tribute to Founding Father Sheikh Zayed and Mahatma Gandhi, the hero of Indian independence, will fully open in March next year.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, yesterday launched a preview of the exhibition celebrating the achievements of his father and India’s great visionary.
Sheikh Abdullah was with Sushma Swaraj, the Indian External Affairs Minister, who is visiting the UAE.
Although Gandhi was assassinated at the age of 78 more than two decades before the UAE was founded, and the pair were born 50 years apart, the exhibition draws attention to similarities between the two leaders.
Qualities the pair shared included resilience, vision, oratory and a commitment to peace, the exhibition shows.
“They lived in different parts of history but we realised the single greatest denominator between these two great leaders was love for their people,” said Birad Rajaram Yajnik, founder and director of the Mahatma Gandhi Digital Museum and curator of the new exhibition. “We took that as the primary idea.”
The museum will be split into six zones when it opens in Abu Dhabi’s Manarat Al Saadiyat arts and cultural centre. It will feature interactive exhibits allowing visitors to see and hear Sheikh Zayed and Gandhi, highlighting some of their greatest achievements in similar areas.
It has been designed to particularly appeal to younger generations. At the preview exhibition, one side of a corridor of digital screens displays information about Sheikh Zayed with the other showing Gandhi’s achievements and statements in the same areas. With Indians making up the largest nationality in the UAE and friendly links between the countries dating back decades, it is hoped the exhibition will appeal to Indian residents and Emirati audiences, who will learn about each other’s famous leaders.
“I often ask people in India, ‘Have you seen a photo of Mahatma Gandhi today’, and they say ‘no’,” Mr Yajnik said.
“Sometimes I have to remind them that he is on every rupee note. People want to learn more about him. He’s our most important ambassador, he is almost seen as having created a formula for improving the world.
“So I think the Indians over here will be very proud to come and experience his life, and at the same time will be able to experience Zayed’s life in their adopted land. Personally, I’m very focused on the youth. I think the maximum change will be with the high school pupils and the university students. We want them to come and experience this. I think this is a starting point for people to find out about Zayed and Gandhi.
“Then you have a generational change, which could be a game-changer forever for two countries.”
The exhibition will run for three weeks from March, with discussions under way about it going on tour to other places in the UAE, so it can be seen by as wide an audience as possible.
The idea for a joint exhibition about both leaders’ lives emerged this year during Sheikh Abdullah’s visit to India. Yesterday he toured the preview exhibition with Mrs Swaraj, who is one of India’s most popular ministers.
She regularly engages with members of the public on Twitter. She was heard joking with Sheikh Abdullah about her informal style as she toured the museum preview, which will run until Saturday.