Abu Dhabi has announced Dar al Funoon Abu Dhabi, a major performing arts complex to be built near the Saadiyat Cultural District, with Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, presiding over the launch on June 25.
The project, commissioned by DCT Abu Dhabi and designed by the late Frank Gehry, is due to open in 2030. Gehry also designed the upcoming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, and the new performing arts venue shares a similar ambition: a transparent façade intended to evoke openness, with an architectural language drawn from music and performance.
The complex will hold more than 6,000 people across four distinct spaces: a multipurpose performance hall with more than 2,000 seats, a 3,500-seat open-air amphitheatre, a 400-seat studio theatre, and a 250-seat jazz venue. The programming brief covers opera, ballet, theatre, and other live performing arts, alongside long-term artistic residencies and co-productions with international institutions.
“Dar al Funoon Abu Dhabi represents our long-term investment in artistic expression and reflects our comprehensive approach to cultural development. It is an approach rooted in our values, shaped by our people, and open to the world. This is a deliberate investment in the future of our cultural ecosystem, and the scale of our ambition is clear. Dar al Funoon Abu Dhabi will be a permanent home for performance, bringing together leading artists, companies and creative talent from the UAE, the region and across the world. Through artistic residencies, international partnerships and world-class productions, it will expand opportunities for cultural exchange, inspire new generations of creatives, and further strengthen Abu Dhabi’s position as a global centre for creativity, cultural exchange and artistic excellence,” Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi said in a statement.
The venue joins an already substantial cluster on Saadiyat Island that includes Louvre Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum, Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, and teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi, with Guggenheim Abu Dhabi still to come. DCT Abu Dhabi has also indicated the project will support cultural tourism and the broader creative economy, with the aim of attracting investment and talent to the sector.
