Emirati hospitality and sport: UAE House in Paris brings nation's culture to Olympics 2024

Visitors can expect a taste of falconry, cycling and football, as well as camel and dhow races

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The UAE National Olympic Committee on Saturday opened UAE House to the public in Paris to showcase the nation's culture and hospitality, with a focus on its top athletes.

The exhibition is the first of its kind and will be open free every day until August 11 in the heart of Paris.

It offers visitors the chance to experience a traditional Emirati home, along with the country's deserts, sea and mountains.

“The UAE House at the 2024 Paris Olympics symbolises our commitment to unity and dialogue, showcasing our rich heritage, cultural understanding, and innovative spirit to the world,” Noura Al Kaabi, UAE Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The National.

“This initiative highlights the UAE’s dedication to the Olympics and to fostering international friendships and understanding through sports."

UAE House director Rawdha Al Qubaisi has put hospitality at the heart of the pavilion's philosophy by designing the space for visitors to feel like they are guests entering a traditional Emirati home.

Greeted with Arabic coffee and dates, visitors are invited to walk through curtains set inside what has been made to look like the colourful outside walls of a large traditional home, with individual rooms built around a central courtyard.

Known locally as a shaabi house, this style of house gained prominence in the UAE in the 1970s.

At UAE House, first is featured the corridor, or sikka, then the welcoming area, or majlis. In each room, Emirati volunteers stand ready to give explanations in English, French or Arabic.

“These colours you see here were painted in our home country and were brought here to Paris to represent the exact doors” as they are in the UAE, said volunteer Amal Mazmi.

Far from the rainy streets of Paris, the majlis's large, well-lit windows and soft soundtrack – the regular thumping of racing camels – serve as backdrop to showcase representations of a number of cultural icons.

They include sources of livelihood from the past, including a pearl nestled in a large oyster, in a nod to the historic role of pearl-diving in the UAE, as well as a dhow, the traditional sailing boat that pearl-hunters used to dive from.

Nearby stands Louvre Abu Dhabi, a symbol of cultural ties with Paris, surrounded by favourites from the animal kingdom, such as the blue whale, the falcon and the Arabian oryx.

Behind them, a cyclist appears to climb a mountain – a reminder of the increasing popularity of cycling in a country with a varied landscape, said Ms Al Qubaisi.

“They know us as the UAE with deserts and camels, but we are more than that,” Ms Al Qubaisi told The National. “We wanted guests to know that we have mountains in the UAE.”

The largest room in the UAE house, the al liwan – place of connection – showcases eight athletes of particular pride to the UAE, starting with Sheikh Ahmad bin Hasher, a shooter who won his country's first gold medal in 2004.

There is also Safia al Sayegh, the first female cyclist from the Gulf region to compete in the Olympic Games, and Ayesha Al Shamsi, who has qualified to participate in the Paralympics which will run from August 28 to September 8.

Visitors are then invited to walk through large screens in the following room, meydan, meaning public square in Arabic, which offers an immersive experience of sports in the UAE.

They include falconry, a dhow race, football, a camel race and cycling. “You hear it and you feel it … without hearing any conversation happening,” said Ms Al Qubaisi.

For younger visitors, the following room may be the most fun. The aim at hiwy, the place of play, is to re-create century-old UAE games in a digital and interactive manner.

Players have the choice between tag games, races and ball games. “We need to represent our old games and our heritage to the people,” said volunteer Wafaa Al Dhanhani.

The last room, erth, or legacy in Arabic, was set up in collaboration with top French cooking school Ecole Ducasse and showcases the best of French and UAE fusion cuisine.

The menu has been thought up by 22-year old Maitha Warshaw, the first Emirati national to study a bachelors in culinary arts.

They include a dish of French foie gras, date paste, and balsamic panna cotta, and chocolate with the cardamom and saffron flavours of Arabic coffee.

By showcasing UAE culinary arts, sports and games, organisers hope to reach a wide audience.

“This landmark presence at the Olympics is part of our continuing commitment to cultural exchange and co-operation and underscores our commitment to promoting unity and collaboration,” said Ms Al Kaabi.