Manarat Al Saadiyat
Glass-and-metal exhibition hall, first building raised in a billion-dollar arts district.
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About this audio guide
This guide to Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi starts with a confiscated passport, found locked in a labor camp office as investigators looked into how this island's museum district was actually built. It traces the gallery's own 2009 opening as the first building on Saadiyat Island, then follows Human Rights Watch's interviews with the thousands of South Asian workers who built it, and what they told investigators about recruitment debts and long shifts in extreme heat. Walk through its three galleries today, where contemporary art fills the rooms behind that history.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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