The Sharjah Heritage Museum continues its commitment to preserving and reinterpreting Emirati culture through Local Plants in the UAE: From the Roots of the Past to the Shades of the Present, an exhibition running through 29 April 2027. Conceived by the Sharjah Museums Authority (SAM), it offers an immersive exploration of the country’s native flora as living carriers of memory, identity, and knowledge.
The exhibition focuses on 46 species of native plants, which include emblematic varieties such as the ghaf, sidr, arta, and moringa. They are presented through a combination of living displays and carefully preserved samples, so visitors can encounter them both as scientific subjects and as sensorial experiences. Each plant is situated within the specific ecosystems of the UAE: desert, mountain, and coastal, highlighting the adaptability and resilience that define the region’s natural landscape.
Divided into four sections — Medicines and Poisons, Ornamentals, Handicrafts, and Food — the exhibition traces the roles that plants have played in Emirati life across generations. It reveals how flora once functioned as essential infrastructure: it provided nourishment, healing, shelter, and raw materials for tools and crafts. This presentation transforms the exhibition into a narrative of interdependence, where human survival and cultural expression are inseparable from the surrounding environment.
Historically, life in the UAE demanded an intimate understanding of the land. Before the rapid urbanisation of the late 20th century, communities relied on plants to navigate harsh climatic conditions. Trees like the ghaf offered shade and sustenance, while sidr leaves were used in traditional medicine and hygiene practices. This illustrates how ecological knowledge was embedded in daily routines, craftsmanship, and even oral traditions. The exhibition thus positions plants as both practical resources and symbolic elements within a broader cultural system.
One of the most compelling aspects of the show is its attention to intangible heritage. Alongside botanical information, visitors encounter references to folklore, poetry, and collective memory, where plants appear as recurring motifs. By bridging scientific knowledge with cultural narrative, the exhibition creates a holistic understanding of the UAE’s relationship with its environment.
Workshops that accompany the exhibition further reinforce this connection. Activities such as the production of sidr soap demonstrate how traditional knowledge can be translated into contemporary practices, engaging audiences in tactile, process-based learning. These activities are particularly significant in the context of sustainability discourse. They encourage a renewed appreciation for local resources and highlight the potential of indigenous knowledge systems in addressing modern ecological challenges.
While Local Plants in the UAE draws on the past, it also addresses the present and future of environmental stewardship. By foregrounding issues like biodiversity loss and resource preservation, the exhibition aligns itself with broader global conversations about sustainability. It prompts visitors to reconsider their relationship with nature as active participants in its protection.
Within the broader framework of the Sharjah Heritage Museum, which is dedicated to documenting traditional Emirati life and knowledge systems, this exhibition feels particularly resonant. The museum itself, with its focus on landscapes, livelihoods, and oral traditions, provides a fitting backdrop for a project that situates plants at the intersection of environment and culture. Here, the show extends the institution’s mission by foregrounding an often-overlooked dimension of heritage: the botanical.
Ultimately, Local Plants in the UAE expands the boundaries of what a heritage exhibition can be. It is at once educational and poetic, scientific and cultural. By presenting plants as agents of history and identity, it challenges visitors to rethink the hierarchies that typically separate nature from culture. In the process, it offers a nuanced portrait of the UAE, one that is rooted not only in its rapid modernisation, but in the enduring relationship between people and the land they inhabit.
In an era marked by environmental uncertainty, such exhibitions take on renewed urgency. They remind us that sustainability is not a new concept, but a deeply rooted practice, one that has long been embedded in local traditions and ways of life. Through its thoughtful curation and layered storytelling, this exhibition invites us to rediscover those roots and imagine how they might continue to shape the shades of the present and the possibilities of the future.
To get more information about Local Plants in the UAE, please go to the official website of the Sharjah Museums Authority.
You might also be interested in attending Cultural Landscapes of Al-Andalus and Of Land and Water: Works from SAF Collection.
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