The Zayed National Museum, designed by Foster + Partners, is preparing to open its doors on 3 December 2025, becoming the national museum of the United Arab Emirates and the newest architectural icon of Saadiyat Cultural District in Abu Dhabi.
Located between Louvre Abu Dhabi by Jean Nouvel and the future Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi by Mecanoo, the museum is envisioned as a place where heritage, innovation, and identity come together in an immersive journey through the history of the land and its people.
Honouring the UAE’s Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the museum reflects his lifelong commitment to culture, education, and knowledge as engines for national unity and progress.
As His Excellency Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak notes: “Zayed National Museum presents the story of our land, our people, and our heritage in a way that is alive, evolving, and open to all… In opening these doors, we reaffirm our commitment to culture as a source of knowledge, connection, and inspiration for generations to come.”
A Journey Through Time Designed by Foster + Partners
Foster + Partners’ design guides visitors along a narrative pathway that traces human presence in the region from ancient times to today.
The museum blends archaeological artefacts, historic objects, multimedia installations, and sensory environments, forming a multilayered experience that reflects the UAE’s cultural depth and ongoing transformation.
The visitor journey begins at Al Masar Garden, a 600-metre outdoor gallery connecting the Saadiyat coastline to the museum entrance.
Here, native plantings evoke the UAE’s landscapes — desert, oasis, and coastal ecologies — dotted with sculptures, multisensory installations, a functioning falaj irrigation system, and a timeline tracing Sheikh Zayed’s life and the nation’s history.
Inside, the museum’s collection comprises over 3,000 pieces, with 1,500 on display.
Six Galleries Mapping the Story of a Nation
The museum’s permanent galleries unfold as a chronological and thematic journey across six chapters:
Our Beginning
Dedicated to Sheikh Zayed’s life and leadership, presented through his voice recordings, photographs, film footage, personal possessions, and early documents that shaped the birth of the nation.
Through Our Nature
A sensorial exploration of the UAE’s diverse landscapes — mountains, desert, sea, and oases — showing how geography shaped ways of life over millennia.
To Our Ancestors
A gallery presenting more than 300,000 years of human presence, featuring archaeological discoveries from early settlements to the Bronze Age, including one of the world’s oldest pearls and a recreation of the Hili Grand Tomb.
Through Our Connections
A narrative from the Iron Age to the 1100s CE, highlighting trade routes, new technologies, the spread of language, and the dawn of Islam.
By Our Coasts
The story of maritime culture: legendary navigator Ibn Majid, the pearl-diving economy, and centuries of commercial exchange.
To Our Roots
A portrait of Emirati identity through traditional inland lifestyles, customs, and social practices.
A Cultural District Shaping Global Dialogue
To celebrate the museum’s opening, a diverse public programme will offer performances, workshops, tours, and activities, along with dining options including the fine-dining Emirati restaurant Erth, Al Ghaf Café, and the Garden Cafés.
Zayed National Museum joins a remarkable constellation of institutions on Saadiyat — Louvre Abu Dhabi, teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi, the upcoming Mecanoo's Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi — forming a cultural landscape where global ideas and local heritage meet.
With its soaring architectural presence and its deeply rooted narrative, the museum will stand as a national symbol, a centre of learning, and a space for dialogue between past, present, and future — a landmark for the UAE and for the world.
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Photos courtesy of Zayed National Museum
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