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29 March 2024

Dubai Metro Art Galleries: Click to find out what theme your station will have

Al Owais and Al Tayer signing the two MoU (SUPPLIED)

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By Staff

Plans are afoot to transform Dubai Metro stations into art hubs. A MoU was signed between RTA and  the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) to transform six Dubai Metro stations into art museums showcasing artistic and creative cultural works.

The total cost of the project is estimated to be Dh184 million.

A similar MoU, signed by the two bodies, provides for decorating bridges and underpasses in Dubai in a bid to add artistic touches to the streets of the emirate.

‘Gallery’ Stations

Accordingly Burjuman Station will be transformed into music and art gallery; Emirates Towers Station will be transformed into Islamic decorations and manuscripts; Financial Center Station will be transformed into an Islamic Numismatics (coins) Gallery; Burj Khalifa / Dubai Mall Station will be transformed into an e-library; and the Business Bay Station will be transformed into a photo gallery.

Noor Bank Station will play host to a Museum of Contemporary Art offering a unique and comprehensive look into modern art through a diverse collection of artifacts depicting the contemporary creative expression, where the museum will feature paintings, designs, graphics, sculptures, and other collectibles that reflect the intellectual and expressive styles created by contemporary artists from all over the world.

Strategic objectives

Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman and Executive Director of RTA said, "The RTA, in collaboration with the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority will strive to complete the project pursuant to the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in March 2015.

"The project will be particularly appealing to Dubai Metro riders and add an aesthetic dimension to Dubai Metro stations which are mainly designed to be unique architectural showpiece characterizing Dubai Metro, contributing to achieving RTA's strategic objectives of increasing the number of mass transit ridership.

The initiative also contributes to communicating the sublime mission of Art, as an international language of communication between civilizations and peoples, given that the UAE in general and Dubai in particular embrace more than 200 nationalities.

The MoU was signed on behalf of the Dubai Culture by Abdul Rahman Al Owais, Minister of Health and Chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, and on behalf of the RTA by Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA, in the presence of Saeed Al Nabooda, Acting Director General of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, Abdulla Yousef Al Ali, Acting CEO of the Dubai Rail Agency, and a host of Directors from both entities.

The RTA will also attend to providing and preparing the infrastructure needed for stations, cater to interior designs and contents, put a tender for interior design and contents besides marketing and promoting the project.

The Dubai Culture and Arts Authority will figure out the required infrastructure in terms of power, ventilation, information systems, interior design, gallery contents, tender documents for interior design and developing gallery contents, in addition to identifying and preparing artworks, and setting a plan for modernizing artifacts and gallery contents.

Latest technology

The meeting agreed to the theme and pattern of gallery in each station. It was also agreed to equip the museums with the latest technologies as well as smart and interactive applications in line with the Smart Dubai initiative. There will also be a variety of artistic performances including music synchronized with the movement of the metro, light show on the roofs of stations, 3-D shows at stations, interactive screens via smartphones in all stations, and wrapping metro carriages using e-paper technology.

Abdul Rahman Al Owais, Minister of Health and Chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, said: “We are excited to proceed ahead in our close and constructive cooperation with the RTA so that we can together add more glamour and elegance to our city through artistic touches illustrating the rich, innovative and unique cultural fabric of Dubai.”