Culture is not a luxury — it is the UAE’s next growth engine

Old superstitions die hard. An outdated, unwritten rule that many still cling to today posits that science, business and finance are “grown-up” concerns. Art is secondary. Culture is what we turn to once the serious work is done.

Fortunately, the UAE’s leadership decided to challenge this dusty belief in 2021 with an unequivocal response: a National Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) Strategy that is deploying 40 major initiatives, 16 of which support talent and creatives with ambitious objectives - to have the CCI reach five per cent of GDP by 2031. That is not a dream. It is our future.

Indeed, our country understands that culture is serious business. It drives growth and frames it. Energy and data might fuel the economy, but imagination is its mastermind. Art in all its forms gives meaning and humanity to technology. American businessman and inventor Steve Jobs put it perfectly: “Technology alone is not enough. It is technology married with liberal arts and humanities that yields results that make our hearts sing.”

Before advocating any further for culture, I must clarify: art has a value of its own. I dream of a world that lives by the motto “Ars Gratia Artis” (Art for Art’s Sake), which encircles Metro Goldwyn-Mayer’s legendary roaring lion. But I understand that this alone might not be enough to convince many, so let us consider what benefits art and culture truly offer.

Culture’s extrinsic value

The intrinsic qualities of art – to build empathy, and to create human connection and shared experiences – are well documented. But those seeking hard data might prefer to begin with culture’s extrinsic value. UNESCO has established that culture and creativity already represent 3.1 per cent of the world’s GDP and 6.2 per cent of global employment. The Automotive Industry Review (2024), citing OICA and World Bank data, sets the automobile industry at 3 per cent of global GDP – slightly below the cultural and creative industries (CCI). The pharmaceutical industry represents 0.7 per cent of the global GDP. These figures tell a clear story: creativity is productive capital. This data makes the business case for the CCI and how they can “supercharge” the economy. But how do we translate this power to the ground?

This is where we step in. At the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation we have made it our mission to leverage the power of culture to foster our youth’s creativity and, ultimately, create a society of knowledge and imagination. In our education programmes, we see daily how art shapes minds, skills and economies. The creative process cultivates capacities that every future-ready nation needs: critical thinking, problem-solving, resilience and empathy.

More than skills

But art is more than just skills. It is a way of seeing. The goal is not to make everyone an artist, but to help everyone think like one: to question assumptions, to imagine alternatives, to embrace the unknown instead of clinging to repetition. Daniel Pink said: “The new MBA is the MFA”. In tomorrow’s economy, leadership will belong to those who combine analytical intelligence with creative intuition.

Research in the United States shows that schools offering strong arts programmes record five to 10 per cent higher attendance and lower dropout rates. Art, like sport, is an entry point into education. Fewer children left behind automatically expands our talent pool across all fields, not just the arts.

That is why ADMAF has always placed education at the heart of its mission. Through initiatives such as Festival in Focus, Festival Academy, Young Media Leaders and the ADMAF Awards, we work hand in hand with schools and universities to make art and creativity more than just an extracurricular activity. It is a way of learning. Some see art as peripheral to education; we know culture is integral to education. Our programmes give young people artistic, emotional and intellectual tools to collaborate and communicate better, because art teaches us to work together and share vision.

Creativity transforms into confidence

Our education programmes have shown us how creativity transforms into confidence, and that becomes contagious. Once the joy of creating is released, it feeds the ecosystem to create more.

Above all, culture as a tool for education has a superpower: art plays well with others. Culture draws from science, fashion, technology and society to keep creating. This allows students to experiment first-hand, and from an early age, the cornerstone of all innovations in science and technology: interdisciplinary thinking and cross-pollination.

Art gives wings to imagination

Last, but certainly not least, art gives wings to the imagination – particularly in science and technology – because it allows us to unlearn. Education systems based on repetition and compliance do not move knowledge forward. To create new advances in science, we must first unlearn what limits us. To pioneer is to choose to ignore constraints and imagine a better world on the other side of the rainbow. Art teaches that courage and sense of reinvention.

Our Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, said that “a country is not measured by the size of its area on the map, but by its heritage and culture.” His words remain our compass. Art and culture are not afterthoughts for development. They are where it all begins.

The Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation was created to serve that vision. Our leadership has charted that course for it to become reality. It is now for us – the civil society – to act accordingly: to start seeing art not as cost but as investment; to make art an active partner to education, not a sidekick. If we do this, art and culture will become the roaring engines of the future economy and, beyond that, the foundation of a creative civilisation that will, all over the world, “make hearts sing”.

Huda Alkhamis-Kanoo is Founder of the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF), and Founder and Artistic Director of Abu Dhabi Festival