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Sharjah

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HobWahid
HobWahid
First Reviewer
3 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
1
Review
1
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Editor Pick

Sharjah:

  • October 26, 2004
  • Rated 3 of 5 by HobWahid from Damascus, Syria
Sharjah:

The Emirate of Sharjah is usually referred to in guidebooks as "the cultural capital of the UAE," which, well, isn’t really much of claim. That’s sort of like Fargo calling itself "the cultural capital of North Dakota." Basically what this means is that Sharjah, because it doesn’t have the oil of Abu Dhabi and isn’t the center of trade that Dubai is, hasn’t completely lost itself in nouveau-riche glory and excess. It’s louder, it’s dirtier, it’s more chaotic. It is the land where alcohol is forbidden and "decency laws" are enforced, and it is desperately trying to find a unique niche inside the UAE. This niche is as its cultural capital.

What this cultural capital really has to offer is a small collection of museums and an all- too-enthusiastically restored fort. The museums are all located in what Sharjah calls the Heritage Area, an area that has been constructed using traditional techniques and designs in order to give the impression of history, and even though the construction is rather impressive, the illusion somehow just fails to work. However, despite the Disney World atmosphere of the Heritage Area, many of the museums are actually worth a look and do provide you with a good background on Emirati and Islamic culture. The main museum of the area is the Heritage Museum, which displays the same sort of stuff you will find in Dubai and al-Ain, but the architecture of the museum itself is nice. Across from the museum is Beit al-Gharbi, a "traditional" Emirati house with a courtyard that displays some lovely jewelry and costumes. The most interesting and unique museum in the Heritage Area is the Islamic Museum, which houses the best collection of Islamic artifacts in the UAE and is a good change of pace from the various "cultural" museums scattered around the UAE. Slightly less exciting are the Arts Museum and the House of Poetry, both of which have nothing really spectacular to offer the casual visitor.

One street over from the Heritage Area is the al-Hisn Fort. Built in 1820, the fort today looks no more than five years old, mainly because of the extensive restoration performed on it. The fort itself is nowhere near as impressive as al-Khandaq, but worth a look. It also houses some nice artifacts on the inside.

All-in-all, if you have the time, Sharjah is a worthy day trip from Dubai since they are right next door to each other, but it’s not necessarily someplace you should go rushing to. Also, sorry for the lack of pictures but I ran out of batteries as after taking the first photo. Trust me, though, you aren’t missing too much, because the only stuff worth photographing is in the museums.

From journal Searching for Culture in the UAE

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