Culture
Music and dance
As a country located in Middle East according to HOLIDAYSORT.COM, the United Arab Emirates are part of the Khaliji tradition of the Persian Gulf, also known as Bedouin folk music. The liwa is a type of music and dance performed mainly in communities that host East African descendants. [1] During the celebrations singing and dancing can take place; many of these songs and these dances have been transmitted from generation to generation, managing to survive today. The young women dance, swinging their hair and swaying their bodies to the rhythm of the loud music. Young people re-enact battles or successful hunting expeditions, often using symbolic swords or rifles represented by sticks. Hollywood and Bollywood movies are popular in Dubai. The UAE has a very active musical environment, as musicians such as Amr Diab, Diana Haddad, Tarkan, Aerosmith, Santana, Mark Knopfler, Elton John, Pink, Bon Jovi, Pink Floyd, Shakira, Celine Dion, Cold Play, and Phil Collins have performed in this country. A Kylie Minogue was paid 4.4 million dollars to appear at the opening of the Atlantis hotel the 20 of November of 2008. [2] The Dubai Desert Rock Festival (Dubai Desert Rock Festival) is another big party featuring heavy metal musicians and other rock artists. [3]
Museums and art galleries
Many emirates have established museums of regional renown, the most famous of which is the emirate Sharjah with its Heritage District which contains 17 museums, [4] it was also the cultural capital of the Arab world in 1998. [5] The Abu Cultural Foundation Dhabi is also an important place for the presentation of indigenous and foreign art. In Dubai, the Al Quoz area has attracted quite a number of art galleries. [6]
Abu Dhabi has strived to become a world-class arts center by creating a culture district on Saadiyat Island. Six major projects are planned for the island: the Sheikh Zayed National Museum designed by Foster and Partners, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi museum of modern art, to be built by Frank Gehry, the classical Louvre Abu Dhabi museum by Jean Nouvel, a maritime museum by Tadao Ando, a Performing Arts Center by Zaha Hadid, and a Biennial Park with 16 pavilions. [7]
In addition, Dubai plans to build a Kunsthal Art Museum and a district for galleries and artists. [8]
Literature and poetry
The main themes in Emirati poetry include satire, chivalry, self-praise, patriotism, religion, family and love, these can range from the descriptive to the narrative.
Emirati poetry has a great influence on culture, being an Arab country in the Persian Gulf where poetry has existed since the dawn of time. The style and form of ancient Emirati poetry was widely influenced in the 8th century by the Arab Persian Gulf scholar Khalil ibn Ahmad consisting of 16 meters. This metric had a slight modification (Al Muwashahat) during the period of Islamic civilization in Andalusia (Spain), where “it was taken to a form consisting of two hemistichs, each with the same number of feet and the second hemistich with the same letter and sound in rhyme throughout the poem. “The properly Arabic poetic form did not escape Western influence and, in the twentieth century, prose began to spread in the local literary scene. [9]
The first known Emirati poet is Ibn Majid, who was born between 1432 and 1437 in Ras Al Khaimah to a family of successful sailors. Of him are 40 compositions in total, of which 39 are in verse. Another esteemed poet, in the literary milieu of the 17th century, was Ibn Daher, who was also born in Ras Al Khaimah, famous for his Nabati (Bedouin folk poetry) poems in vernacular colloquial dialect rather than classical Arabic. [9]
The UAE’s greatest literary luminaries of the 20th century, especially in relation to classical Arabic poetry, were Mubarak Al Oqaili (1880-1954), Salem bin Ali al Owais (1887-1959) and Ahmed bin Sulayem (1905 -1976); later three Sharjah poets, known as the Hira group: Musabah Khalfan (1923-1946), Sheikh Saqr Al Qasimi (1925-1993), the former ruler of Sharjah and Sultan bin Ali Al Owais (1925-2000). The group’s works were heavily influenced by neo-classical and romantic poetry. [9]
Education
The education system, up to the secondary level, is supervised by the Ministry of Education. It is made up of elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. The public schools are funded by the Government and the curricula are created to match the development of the UAE goals and values. The language of instruction in the public school is Arabic, with an emphasis on English as a second language. There are many private schools that are internationally accredited. Public schools in the country are free for citizens, while the values of private schools vary.
The higher education system is supervised by the Ministry of Higher Education to serve and guarantee the education of children. The Ministry is also responsible for the admission of students to universities, including the five largest institutions of higher education: University of the United Arab Emirates, Zayed University, Medical College of the Gulf, Sharjah University and College Superior Technology. There are also many other private universities in the country including the American University of Sharjah, Duba Institute of Technology Management, SP Jain Management Center in Dubai, Al Ain University of Science and Technology, the American University of Dubai, Abu Dhabi University and Ras Al Khamiah University for Medicine and Health Sciences. Finally, other universities based in foreign countries have established centers in the United Arab Emirates.
The UAE has shown strong interest in recent years in improving education and research. Some of the newer ones are the CERT Research Centers and the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology.
