Cases from one of India's largest museums have been unlocked and shipped to the UAE after they were allowed to leave their homeland for the first time. Treasures dating back to 13th century were shown outside India at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation, which opened the exhibit yesterday.

The United States could not achieve its global goals without the co-operation of the UAE and other countries in the region, a former US diplomat said in the capital this week.

Sheikh hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Public Works '&' Chairman of the National Media Council (NMC), has expressed pleasure after UAE Pavilion was named by Shanghai Jiao Tong University as the most popular international pavilion at EXPO 2010.

The British Museum will help set up the UAE's national museum through the loan of art and assistance with exhibits on falcons and the oil and pearl industries.The Zayed National Museum will receive advice on the training of its Emirati staff and the establishment of its programming from the world famous UK institution.

President Pratibha Patil, who is on a visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Wednesday inaugurated the Indian Islamic Centre (IIC) here and said the centre will prove to be a cultural bridge between the two countries.

Kurt Blum, the general manager of Swiss Art Gate UAE, said: "I came up with this idea to set up Magic Lantern throughout the Emirates over the next three to four years." Swiss Art Gate is a non-profit group that aims to promote cultural ties between Switzerland and the UAE.

“Abu Dhabi Art is part of a greater vision to build transnational cultural institutions to ensure that the Arab world is not isolated,” said Rita Aoun Abdo, director of the cultural department of Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development and Investment Co., or T.D.I.C., which co-organized the fair and is the agency behind the development of Saadiyat Island.

Doha has a prestigious Islamic art museum and Abu Dhabi is building offshoots of New York's Guggenheim and Paris' Louvre. But it is film festivals that have emerged as the prestige cultural event of choice since Dubai launched its version in 2004 - poster child for its drive to become a glamorous destination for the international jetset.