The head of the Qattara Center for the Arts, Ahmed Mohamed Barziq, confirmed that the center, which was recently restored and reopened in 2011, is one of the destinations that aim to encourage, practice and develop arts and culture in the local community, noting that the center offers extensive cultural and artistic programs for the arts in Classrooms for pottery, music lessons and studios for practicing plastic arts in all its mediums.

He added that the center also includes a hall for teaching Arabic calligraphy arts, a digital room for photography and computer lessons, in addition to a gallery for art galleries, a coffee shop and a reception desk to serve visitors, and next to the center there is the Qattara Oasis and the Qattara Market, where it organizes many popular performances.

He stated that the center is located in Al Qattara Fort in the Al Ain region, which dates back to the Iron Age 3000 years ago, and that was restored according to a method that takes care of the heritage and historical values ​​while providing them with modern facilities.

Barzeeq explained that the Qattara Center for the Arts was established around the old Bin Atati Al Darmaki House, which consists of a tower and a residential house built in mud brick, overlooking the orchards of the Qattara Oasis, and during the construction of the center, archaeological excavations revealed a group of layers or "horizons" that are five meters long, Its history dates back to the period between the late Islamic and Iron Age, that is, more than 3000 years.

Oasis effects

The center includes the Al Qattara Archeology Gallery, which was specially designed to display the first stage of this archaeological sequence, represented by industrial installations dating back to the Iron Age, and this exhibition represents a small part of the extensive history of the effects of Al Ain sites and oases.

In conjunction with the festival of handicrafts and traditional industries, the Al Qattara Arts Center presents the "Al Suwayya Program", and includes heritage workshops that aim to develop craft skills, and emphasize the importance of preserving the Emirati heritage and its ancient traditions. Barzeeq praised the "microphone" program, which provides a series of diverse dialogue sessions that deal with topics of interest to society at the Qattara Center for the Arts, and transport visitors on a journey of knowledge and exploration with designers from the UAE, who specialize in this artistic field, to talk and exchange experiences, to explain the differences and changes in fashion Emirati through time.

Archaeological Cellar Gallery

As for the archaeological basement exhibition, which was opened by the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi at the Al Qattara Center for the Arts in Al Ain, it witnessed exceptional interest from visitors, according to the director of the center, who stated that the exhibition contains industrial facilities dating back to the Iron Age, which confirms the vital role that Al Ain oases played in shaping The country's environmental and cultural heritage.

Barziq added that archaeological excavations during the establishment of the Al Qattara Center for the Arts in the Al Ain region revealed the presence of five meters of successive archaeological layers, which extend from the period of the late Islamic era to the Iron Age, and the industrial installations of the Iron Age, which formed the first layer of this sequence, were preserved. On the site, inside the lower floor, which was specially retooled as a new permanent exhibition, it narrates the history of Al Ain oases using artifacts discovered from the site, and a group of media outlets, in new evidence of the existence of previous human settlements in this region, and he explained that the exhibition reveals two different stages of The industrial activities date back to the Iron Age in the historical house of Ibn Ati, and explain to the public how archaeological sites were formed throughout history, within accumulated layers one after the other, and how the archaeological excavations from the upper layer towards the bottom took place by removing each of these layers separately. The exhibition includes a number of artifacts discovered through the different layers of excavation works, including a small statue of a lion dating back to the second stage of the Iron Age (1100 - 600 BC), and this statue was perhaps part of a large pottery, and is one of the most beautiful discovered figurines from Iron age in the Emirates.

Theater and cinema

The Qattara Theater presents artistic and theatrical performances in an inspiring experience that touches the senses and artistic taste, while the Qattara Cinema Program offers viewers, and movie lovers to independent films from the Arab world and the region, various artistic trends of short films, features, documentaries, and fiction, and a cinema platform is celebrated The films bring them closer to the masses, in addition to strengthening the link between the local community and the arts in one of the historical sites owned by the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi.

It contributes to preserving the Emirati heritage and its ancient traditions.

Music lessons and studio studios for practicing plastic arts in all its modes.

2011

The year in which the center was reopened after its restoration.

Ahmed Mohamed Barziq:

"The center is located in Qattara Castle in the Al Ain region, which dates back to the Iron Age 3000 years ago."

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