The Department of Culture and Tourism, DCT, in Abu Dhabi will relaunch its Manarat Al Saadiyat cultural hub this November. With a diverse new programme tailored for children, youth, adults and families, Saadiyat Island’s cultural centre will offer a wide range of interactive activities focusing on art, design, music, film, innovation, and lifestyle.

Saif Saeed Ghobash, Director-General of DCT, said, "As Saadiyat Island’s first multidisciplinary creative space, Manarat Al Saadiyat has mirrored the development of a vibrant cultural community in the capital. As our audiences have grown, we have responded to create additional artistic and interactive cultural spaces. We are opening the newly renovated Manarat Al Saadiyat to reflect the growing public interest in the culture of the emirate. The new space and its diverse programme will offer a vibrant and interactive platform for the community to engage with a variety of artistic activities that bring the vision of Saadiyat Island to life. Manarat Al Saadiyat aims to provide a focal point for all audiences to connect in a community where artistic creativity is actively welcomed and celebrated."

Manarat Al Saadiyat will now include an Art Studio specifically designed to engage visitors in a variety of creative processes, a Photography Studio offering the highest levels of technical expertise, and the Garden Pavilion, an outdoor area, which will provide the space to host a multitude of events. There is also the new Larte restaurant, to sit alongside the already established central events space, as well as a 250-seat auditorium and three gallery spaces for temporary exhibitions. All of which underlines Manarat Al Saadiyat as the cornerstone of the Saadiyat Cultural District and the place for the annual Abu Dhabi Art, which opens this year on November 8th.

Alia Khalid Al Qassimi, Head of Manarat Al Saadiyat, said that the cultural hub will now provide the perfect place for anyone and everyone to visit, nurture and explore their creative skills. This new space will offer the public somewhere to indulge their artistic appetites, whilst it will also help the creative community to expand and grow further, she added.

Opened in 2009, in the heart of Abu Dhabi’s Cultural District, Manarat Al Saadiyat has since then hosted several exhibitions and programmes that have contributed to the artistic scene of the emirate, and has been the central location for its annual anchor event, Abu Dhabi Art.