Manarat Al Saadiyat : a History of the World in 100 Objects exhibition to run for 100 Days

Open for 100 days from 23 April – 1 August at Manarat Al Saadiyat on Saadiyat Island, the exhibition will allow visitors to travel back in time and across the globe to see how humans have shaped the world, and been shaped by it.

Curated by Becky Allen from the British Museum, A History of the World in 100 Objects presents 100 significant objects in a narrative that brings contemporary audiences face-to-face with cultures across time and space.

Bringing to life the material culture of the past, the exhibition will feature a variety of objects such as a lifelike cast bronze hand from Yemen that was made between 100 and 300 CE, an Egyptian granite statue of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II discovered on Elephantine Island at the Temple of Khnum, and the famous Royal Game of Ur, found in a royal cemetery in southern Iraq and estimated to be around 4,500 years old.

Within the exhibition narrative the story continues to contemporary time and to the celebration of today’s objects such as Reem Al Marzouqi’s recently conceived Prototype Foot-controlled Car.

Through exhibitions like this, TCA Abu Dhabi aims to put the Zayed National Museum story into the context of the Middle East and the wider world, while encouraging the development of a cultural ecosystem that will promote and celebrate the position of the UAE within the global community.

Located in a dramatic new building at the centre of the Saadiyat Cultural District, and commanding views of Abu Dhabi and the Gulf beyond, Zayed National Museum will celebrate the unification of the Emirates and their transformation into a modern nation under Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (1918–2004) – the ‘Father of the Nation.’

In addition to Neil MacGregor’s lecture, there will be a full public program of workshops, tours and seminars derived from the objects in the exhibition.

For example, in a workshop dedicated to juniors, participants can create a blue-and-white design on pre-glazed earthenware using ceramic paint, or in another for adults, in a workshop inspired by the German artist Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) and his famous Rhinoceros woodcut (1515), people can learn about techniques and processes of woodblock printmaking.

For further details on the public programme please visit www.saadiyatculturaldistrict.a or call +971 (0) 2 657 5800.