Two new museums - the Dubai Creek House and House of Perfumes - that provide not just an educational visual experience, but also satisfy one's olfactory sense were opened by the Dubai Municipality on Wednesday.
The Dubai Creek House is where visitors will discover how people settled in the region hundreds of years ago and how the Dubai Creek became a hub of international trade. The House of Perfumes is the first of its kind museum in the Middle East dedicated to highlighting the importance of Emirati perfumes and how traditional scents have contributed in the formation of Emirati values and customs.
The galleries are part of the Phase 1 of the Shindagha Museums development project, being carried out in partnership with the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. It aims at opening 25 various-themed museums as part of the plan to revive and develop the historic Dubai area.
Dawoud Al Hajri, director-general of the Dubai Municipality, said: "The historic area development project, which covers 155 hectares of Dubai, aims to enhance Dubai's status as a heritage tourism destination for citizens, residents and visitors."
Visitors to the Dubai Creek House can take a walk around the miniaturised version of the Creek, where dedicated viewfinders are placed to give them animated glimpses of how the first locally-owned bank - the National Bank of Dubai - was opened in 1963 or how the Dubai Municipality was built almost a decade earlier in 1954.
There is also an interactive presentation on how power generators were scattered across Dubai to supply electricity to homes and how a television set or radio became the focal point of community assembly.
The Dubai Creek House also pays tribute to the early expats and merchants who helped build Dubai into what it is today and how life in the emirate has developed in just a short period of time.
The House of Perfumes was the former home of the late Sheikha Sheikha bint Saeed Al Maktoum (1918-2017), gifted by her brother, the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai (1958-1990) and Vice President of the UAE (1971-1990).
Here, one will find the various natural ingredients used in making Emirati perfumes. But importantly, the museum highlights how social rituals like perfumery have been handed down from one generation to the next through practice and also in poetry.
More than 60 archaeological and historical artifacts are exhibited in the perfume museum and the most important of them is a piece of oud that weighs 28kg, which was gifted by Sheikha Sheikha bint Saeed Al Maktoum. There is also a 3,000-year old traditional incense burner, which was discovered in the archaeological site of Saruq Al Hadid.
What's in store for visitors?
House of Perfumes
>It was the home of the late Sheikha Sheikha bint Saeed Al Maktoum (1918-2017)
>60 archaeological and historical artifacts
>28kg piece of oud
>3,000-year old traditional incense burner
Dubai Creek House
>History of Dubai from 3,000BC to mid-20th century
>Geographical range of the Dubai Creek and its historical stages
>Reasons for the prosperity of the Dubai Creek and its natural elements
>150 heritage and historical artifacts, historical photographs and films of Dubai
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