Art And Culture in Dubai

Culture in Dubai starts in Al Fahidi, the coral-stone quarter behind the creek, where nineteenth-century wind towers still cool lanes too narrow for cars. At its edge stands Al Fahidi Fort of 1787, the city's oldest building, holding the Dubai Museum. Next door the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding runs shared meals where Emirati hosts answer any question about religion, dress or family life. The abra over from Deira still costs one dirham.

The counterweight sits a quarter of an hour inland. Alserkal Avenue in Al Quoz is a former industrial estate turned cluster of galleries, warehouse spaces hung with contemporary work from the Gulf and South Asia. The Museum of the Future carries its own text: 77 metres of steel facade cut through with Arabic calligraphy. Dubai Opera runs ballet and concerts all winter, and in Bur Dubai a Hindu temple stands minutes from the church of St Francis — two hundred nationalities live here.

Jumeirah Mosque is the only mosque open to non-Muslims, with two guided visits a day; shoulders and knees covered, a headscarf handed out at the door. Many museums shut Friday morning for prayers, so keep Al Fahidi for another day. October to April is the season, since it is all walking; from May the route works only before ten or after dark. Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Sheikh Zayed Mosque are an hour and a half away and are normally sold as one day trip. Ask whether entry tickets are included and which language the guide works in.