Abu Dhabi event recreates 1990s shops and arcade games, The National reports

The RAGE 90s is recreating everyday scenes from 1990s Abu Dhabi at the Cultural Foundation, with shop displays, arcade games and entertainment, The National reported on November 4. The event runs until November 8 and admission is free, according to the newspaper.

Visitors can attend between 5pm and midnight each day. The venue is near Qasr Al Hosn, placing the temporary recreation of the city’s commercial life beside one of Abu Dhabi’s landmarks.

A recreated shopping street brings together displays representing a photography studio, a toy retailer and a cassette shop. A taxi painted gold and white is also on display, while a recreation of El Dorado Cinema features a neon sign.

Games range from arcade machines, including a cabinet carrying the Atari brand, to hopscotch. The National also describes fairground-style attractions and games offering prizes, extending the programme beyond the recreated shops and cinema.

The newspaper reports that 20 retail brands and 20 food-and-drink concepts are participating, with stalls spread through the foundation’s outdoor areas. Film screenings with a theme, performances and other entertainment drawing on the 1990s take place in an amphitheatre.

The setting has its own history of bringing cultural activities together. The Cultural Foundation housed a national library as well as spaces for exhibitions and a theatre or auditorium, according to the Ministry of Culture.

The ministry says Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan commissioned the institution in the early 1970s and personally supervised its development. Its origins therefore predate the decade represented by the event.

The Architects Collaborative designed the building, with Iraqi architect Hisham N. Ashkouri leading the team. The ministry dates the design’s international competition win to 1976 and says construction was finished in 1982.

The ministry also identifies the foundation as the first registered modern heritage site whose rehabilitation followed international best practice. That heritage status concerns the cultural venue itself, now hosting the temporary shops, games and performances of The RAGE 90s.