Dubai Creek: Birth of a City stands as the gateway exhibition to Al Shindagha Museum. It situates visitors by introducing them to Dubai through its pivotal creek, which has been the source of Dubai’s prosperity going back thousands of years. It sheds light upon geography, trade, society and wise leadership of the Al Maktoum family through historical artefacts, archival photographs and documents, interactives, oral histories and an immersive multimedia show.

GSM Project took on the research, design, production and installation of this permanent exhibition within a historical house. Given the immense task of providing an overview of Dubai’s entire history, society and evolution, the challenge lay in covering such a variety of topics in captivating ways. Accomplishing all of this within an important heritage building which was not only to be kept intact, but honoured and enhanced, was a challenge which our team was excited to take on.

So how did GSM Project introduce the entire geographic, societal and historical story of Dubai and its prosperity and progress in a single pavilion? By focusing on the notion that beyond the geography of the creek, its ultimate importance is about the human connections and potential that it has always enabled. A mix of historical objects coexist seamlessly with futuristic, cutting-edge technology. Featured are the voices and memories of actual Dubai residents, integrated during the planning phases and present in the exhibition itself. Visitors are taken on an authentic journey through history, starting with today as their reference point.

From original research to installation, GSM project was behind the creation at every stage of this project. Now open to the public, this pavilion sets the stage for people’s appreciation and understanding of the other Al Shindagha Museum exhibitions, as well as for the city of Dubai as a whole.