CugelVance

Germany - 16-Jun-24 -

I visited the Al Jazeera Al Hamra Heritage Village in February 2023. I was on the way from the emirate of Sharjah to the emirate of Ras al Khaimah, the last emirate in the United Emirates that I had not yet visited. The bus stopped at the bus stop Jazeera al Hamra and several passengers left the bus; I decided very spontaneously to get out there, too. According to the schedule, I had two hours until the next bus. I bought a bottle of water in a small shop opposite the bus stop and walked for about 35 minutes in hot temperatures through dusty and fairly deserted streets. You hardly saw anyone, and when you did, they were foreign workers from India or Bangla Desh.When I reached the large parking lot in front of the Al Jazeera Al Hamra Heritage Village, two Egyptian guards approached me and informed me that the area was closed.
I was sweating, in a bad mood, tired and simply refused to leave. I demanded to see the sites's manager or the person in charge. Luck was on my side. They automatically thought that I was part of the western camera team that was filming a documentary on the site with the senior local director in the middle.I could enter the Jazirat Al-Hamra area unaccompanied and without restrictions.

Within the fenced-off terrain, many areas were being built and restored; many areas were still in a very run-down and poor condition. You could see indian workers pottering around everywhere. I even met the western camera crew. Since the area was quite labyrinth-like, I had the great advantage that everyone assumed that I was part of the camera team. I could simply stick my long nose into any building, whether it had been renovated or not. The indian workers didn't pay any attention to me at all.. As the UAE’s last remaining Emirati pearling village, it is probably highly valued by the locals but has no OUV and IMO no importance at all to any foreign visitor.

What I saw didn't impress me in any way. The semi-ruins of the so-called last remaining traditional Gulf coastal town were in a sorry state. The already restored buildings looked like a spruced up version of a local historical mini Disneyland. Everything looked artificial and new, brand new.
Each building complex (Bayt) was used or intended to be used by different artists. Bayt 17 for example by Sergej Stretelev, Eunice Sanchez and Allesandro Calo. The whole area felt like one of those typical Golf Heritage Villages... everything beautifully done, but without any authenticity... everything very Disneyland-like.

Since prehistoric times, pearls have played an important role in the lives of the people of the Gulf; accordingly many of them were discovered in Neolithic sites in the UAE. Al Jazirah Al Hamra is the only remaining historic pearl farming village in the entire Gulf region; the rest were destroyed with the discovery of oil. Al Jazirah Al Hamra translated from Arabic means “Red Island”. 

I cant really see an OUV there. Besides the wonderful UNESCO world heritage site in Bahrain (Pearling Path in al-Muharraq) covers the topic of the pearls in the Gulf region very well. Furthermore, Al-Muharraq was a thousand times more important than this little town in the Emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah in the UAE. On top of that after the renovation has finished it will lack any real authenticity due to the use of new materials and structural redesigns.