First Cycle of the Modern Heritage Grant Program (2025–2026)
First Cycle of the Modern Heritage Grant Program (2025–2026 )
The inaugural cycle of the Modern Heritage Grant Program awarded 20 grants supporting creative and scholarly research into the UAE’s modern heritage.
The recipients represent a diverse range of disciplines, including academics, researchers, architects, designers, and independent practitioners, reflecting the program’s commitment to interdisciplinary approaches to documenting, exploring, and interpreting modern heritage.
Overview
Selection Committee
Adina Hempel
Associate Professor, College of Arts and Creative Enterprises, Director, Zayed Institute of Architecture, Heritage, and Arts Zayed University
Antonia Carver
Director, Art Jameel
Fatima Alsuwaidi
Head of Cultural Legislation and Policies Section, Ministry of Culture
Malak Salaimah
Senior Specialist Strategic Partnership, Majra – National CSR Fund
Suha Hasan
Founding Director of ASH Studio, Course lead at the AA School
Wael Al Awar
Principal Architect and Founding Partner, waiwai
Zahra Al Baba
Head of Conservation and Restoration Division, National Council for Culture, Art and Letters – Kuwait
Projects
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Creative Research
Lines in the sand
Creative Research
Features of local culture in the modern architectural heritage of the United Arab Emirates
Creative Research
Material Cartographies: Rethinking UAE Architecture Through Material Histories
Creative Research
Digital Modern UAE
Creative Research
Beyond the Facade
Creative Research
Ruwais: Uncovering ADNOC’s First Company Town
Eligibility Criteria
- Open to researchers, practitioners, and academics, who are interested in the modern architecture heritage of the UAE.
- Proposals must address the built environment of the UAE from mid to the end of the 20th century. Current and/or future impacts and influences of the period can also be considered.
- Submissions can be made by individuals or collectives and are open to residents and non-residents of the UAE. However, lead grant holders must be UAE residents. If you are a non-resident of the UAE, you can be part of a collective submission.
- Project proposals that are related to or building on a master’s dissertation can be considered.
- All proposals (including creative works) must be built on validated primary research and must be original.
- Ongoing work shall not have previously been funded by another grant for the same project or the grant proposal must add a new aspect to the ongoing work.
- The applicant/lead investigator of the grant must be residing in the UAE during the grant period.