The Culture and Creative Industries in Abu Dhabi

The Culture and Creative Industries are key drivers of social and economic growth and diversification in Abu Dhabi, encompassing domains that include heritage, crafts and design, publishing, performing arts, visual arts as well as film and TV, multimedia, gaming and esports, .

One of the fastest growing economic sectors worldwide, globally these fields generate annual revenues of US$2.25 trillion, provide 30 million jobs and are predicted to make up some 10% of global GDP. To capitalise on this growth, Abu Dhabi has invested significantly and strategically to create thriving Culture and Creative Industries in the emirate.

With a single custodian, and ongoing investment with a total planned outlay in excess of AED 30 billion, the growth of the emirate’s Culture and Creative Industries will support and accelerate the growth a unified creative ecosystem across the public and private sectors

What is the Abu Dhabi Culture and Creative Industries Strategy?
The Abu Dhabi Culture and Creative Industries Strategy was announced in November 2019 by DCT Abu Dhabi as part of a five-year Culture Agenda launched under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalid Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Office. The strategy aims to combine significant investment with bold actions to create an environment for the Culture and Creative Industries to flourish in Abu Dhabi, supporting the emirate’s aspirations to be a globally recognised centre of creative talent and a leading regional producer and exporter of creative and cultural content.

How is Abu Dhabi Implementing its Culture and Creative Industries Strategy?
In recent years, Abu Dhabi has been investing heavily in the Culture and Creative Industries. These investments span the creation of cultural institutions and world-class infrastructures (e.g. Louvre Abu Dhabi, New York University Abu Dhabi, Yas Creative Hub, Bait Al Oud, House of Artisans, Abu Dhabi Children’s Library) to programmes and initiatives of international relevance (e.g. Culture Summit Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Art, Abu Dhabi Classics, Abu Dhabi Talent Development Programme) that have supported the growth of creative and cultural businesses, professionals and practitioners based in the emirate and beyond.

The establishment of strategic public-private partnerships across sectors such as Culture, Education, Media and Entertainment has been crucial to Abu Dhabi’s drive to create a self-sustaining culture and creative ecosystem. Collaborations with major international institutions including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Berklee College of Music, Columbia University, UNESCO and Getty Institute complement our partnerships with global corporations like Unity Technologies, Disney, Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros, and CNN, maximising opportunities across interrelated Culture and Creative Industries domains.

Talent and professional development initiatives to generate a pipeline of high-skilled and knowledge-based talent are key to Abu Dhabi’s Culture and Creative Industries vision. These include the Creative Visa Programme, which provides sustainable employment opportunities in Abu Dhabi by enabling talented creative professionals from around the world to live and work in the UAE, further bolstering the creative scene in the emirate.

The recent move to extend the DCT Abu Dhabi role to cover the entirety of the culture and creative sectors marks a significant strategic milestone, improving DCT Abu Dhabi’s capacity to positively impact and enable the Abu Dhabi culture and creative ecosystem. DCT Abu Dhabi is expanding its portfolio to include a new sector that will support the emirate’s creative industries, create opportunities, and oversee the Creative Visa programme. Its role will include regulating, promoting and developing a number of strategic initiatives and overseeing organisations including Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Gaming, and Abu Dhabi Film Commission, as well as training and development programmes such as creative lab and Arab Film Studio.

The unification under DCT Abu Dhabi of all domains in the Culture and Creative Industries will harness natural synergies between multidisciplinary fields such as film and TV, gaming and esports with cultural fields such as heritage, visual and performing arts, crafts and design, and publishing, as well as the Arabic language.