A Vist to a "Museum" and a lovely lunch

I am sure you all know ,by now, how excited I get about the very idea of a visit to a Museum (or to an Art Gallery) so when I see that there is anything on at Manarat on SadiyaIsland in Abu Dhabi I behave pretty much like a dog greeting a master at the door after a long lonely day alone. I want it all and I want it yesterday. I have to go see, smell, and generally overload  as many of my senses as I can with everything. Which is why, a couple of Fridays ago Bryan, Pip and I climbed into the car and drove down to Abu Dhabi.

What was on offer, courtesy of the British Museum, was an exhibition entitled ‘A History of the world in 100 objects” Yay all the boxes ticked. Art and Museum and learning all rolled into one tempting package.

No I do not know why he is looking up.

We are so extraordinarily lucky that the powers that be in Abu Dhabi support such endeavours so that punters like me and mine can indulge our “gimmie more interesting stuff” passion. We are rarely disappointed. And neither will you be if you head on down the road to Abu Dhabi and feast your eyes on the exhibit. If you can’t make it to Abu Dhabi you can trawl through the attached link and see if this exhibition will turn up in a city near you or you could hound your local museums to get it to you….. Good luck with that…….

Mosaic of the exhibition.

As always at these venues  there are guards about that do not take kindly to photographs being taken of the exhibits. Which got me thinking. Why? I have heard over the years that the reason is that flash photography damages artwork. That makes sense, I imagine that over time all those burst could damage delicate materials, but I assume that non flash photography does not? Anyway in my quest to have my curiosity satisfied I googled the question “Why Can’t I take you take photos in Museums?” And I found a number of interesting answers. The one I liked best was this one from the National Museum of American History   

It seems there are a few reasons.

1.     Flash Photography can damage artwork. Fair enough.

2.     Copyright – Hummmmm should object of beauty and history and learning be shared? But again I guess fair point if you are taking photos for commercial purposes you should pay for them.

3.     Crowd control- not such a problem here in Abu Dhabi, long may it continue!

Here are a few opinions or articles about the subject:

This one was a bit precious...

From ArtNews

This one shows the best reason why you should not!

And now that I have bored you with that here is a sample of what we saw:




An Arabian Bronze from Yemen AD 100-300



Early Victorian tea set. How quaint.



5000 year old Egyptian cows.



This little beauty was on the HMS Beagle between 1831 and 1836 when Charles Darwin was doing his thing on board.



Inca gold Lama - one of my favourites so cute!



Seriously old Jomo Pot from Japan



for the smokers we have a North American otter pipe, because you always want an otter staring at you while you smoke.



Ramses's 11 in Granite from way back in the day.



Taino Caribbean ritual seat.... it looked bloody uncomfortable and I would have avoided at all costs positions of power if it meant sitting on this thing!

  The other delightful thing about going to Mabarat is that Fanr Restaurant is right there. I have never been disappointed with their food. For those of you that like a bit of crisp refreshing wine with your lunch you can have a glass or two. Even better is that this does not have the usually ridiculous price tag that comes with a licensed venue. Fanr does refreshing fruit soda’s too. I try to taste a different one each time I visit. The whole menu is  a gastronomic deligh.  I am torn between the teas and the lunches as they are both yummy. Because I can’t bear to choose I   like to top and tail my cultural experience with a  taste bud tingling that includes ( if possible) both.  I recommend that you pop into Fanr, have a lovely lunch then visit the exhibition then come back to Fanr for tea or desert!!!!!!! You won’t regret the lingering stretching out of your day. 

pea risotto - delicate flavours

Arty Farty Fanr Restaurant

Yummy curry.

So much chocolate! Too much  for three greedy people!

The Exhibition is on until the beginning of August. Please go. Take your children, teach them about beautiful things and history. Or just go yourselves and  feel privileged to be able to walk amongst historical artefacts with facinating timelines linking the pieces together.