Over 60 activities lined up for Heritage Surprises week

Boasting a wide array of varied activities, the week's events revolve around the history and culture of the UAE focusing on its rich heritage handed down from generations.

The announcement of the events schedule for the upcoming theme week came at a Press conference held at Heritage & Diving Village in Al Shindagah on Monday. The media gathering was attended by Ahmed Bin Lahej, Senior Manager Client Partnership Department of Dubai Customs and Abdul Rahman Issa, Manager of Events and Hospitality Administration of Dubai Customs and Head of the Heritage Surprises Committee. "The Heritage Surprises week's importance this year stems from our interest in showcasing the rich heritage of the emirates in all its forms. It's our attempt to connect the past with the future and to keep alive the rich cultural heirloom that we inherited from our ancestors.

"Focusing on the heritage also shows our strong roots, our real identity and what we stand for as a community to the Arab world and the west alike. Our rich Islamic heritage in values and knowledge is the best means to reach our designated aims," said Ahmed Bin Lahej of Dubai Customs.

He added,

"This year's Heritage Surprises week will be filled with heritage activities, reflecting on the vital aspects of life in the UAE. We shall cover life in all forms on the land, sea and mountains. There will also be handicraft displays and other popular arts which will remind us of our history and our past."

Ahmed Bin Lahej also extended an invitation to every one to attend the Heritage Surprises week and promised a lot of entertainment all the way. "The Organising Committee has put together a varied programme which will be to everyone's liking, with many activities and loads of surprises in the true spirit of the DSS. The visitors get a glimpse of the past and the wonderful history and rich culture of the UAE through a series of entertaining and well-rounded activities to be held during the week," said Abdul Rahman Issa, Head of the Heritage Surprises committee.

"The activities have been planned at several shopping malls to give everybody a chance to partake of them. The opening ceremony for the theme week will be at 7:30pm on Thursday at the Mall of the Emirates. The opening ceremony will be marked by breathtaking performances laced with superb laser and sound effects," he added.

"The concept of our activities is based on three environmental aspects - the land environment, the marine environment and the mountain environment. There will also be heritage songs and music which reflect the UAE's heritage. Renowned Emarati singer Ahmad Al Ali will perform three songs, produced by Ahmad Al Abdouli. Over 100 people will also perform at a show in the specially created Heritage Village measuring 250 square meter inside the Mall of the Emirates. The audiences will be seated in a coffee shop on stools and served food and refreshments while they watch the amazing performances. A popular group will perform folkloric pieces such as the mountainous Shuhouh. The group will tour all participating shopping malls during the week," he concluded.

All shopping malls will get a lion's share of these activities. Seven of the main malls will be hosting the cultural shows to be performed by popular groups and artists. On August 20, there will be an exhibition of Dubai's historical buildings from 11am at the Mall of the Emirates. The Heritage Surprises festivity finale, also a show to remember will be held at 7:30pm in the Mall of the Emirates, on the August 23. Folkloric groups will perform at different malls in Dubai from 5pm to 10pm every day during the theme week. A heritage competition will also be held daily from 6pm to 8pm.

The Mall of the Emirates will host a number of activities during this week from 5pm till 10pm such as Warsh Fareej Al Dagaya, the Heritage of Al Khawaneej Oasis, and the Jumairah Heritage workshop and others. Several activities will also take place at Deira City Center. These include the Birza Al Shawab and the Khorfakkan marine crafts. Masfoot heritage performances and the Folkloric fashion show and several other heritage activities will be take place at Hamarain Center.

Al Ghurair Center will host Al Raifa village activities, Falaj Al Muala exhibition and the marine Yawara exhibition.

The activities to take place in BurJuman will be Wadi Ghalila activities, Shaam Sails activities, Al Sharia place, Ibn Majed Heritage workshop and a number of other activities that reflecting the mountain heritage.

The activities to be held in Mercato include Al Akamiya houses activities, the Heritage Friday Market, Al Krain house, Al Dahreez heritage exhibition, Birzat al Shayeb and the memory oasis.

Abdul Rahman Al Issa also said that several performances will also be held at the Dubai International Airport between 10am and 10pm on different days during Heritage Surprises week.

One of the performing groups will do Al Harbiya dance on August 17 and 19, while crafts activities will be conducted on August 20 and folkloric games will be conducted on the August 23.

In its early days, Dubai Customs was entrusted with various income-generating tasks primarily centered on the levying of Custom duties on goods imported in dhows, trade taxes from traders and rent collected from leased government properties. Although goods also came by land, the Creek or Khor Dubai epitomized Dubai Customs. It provided convenient port and docking facilities to absorb a large number of dhows entering the creek.

As a result, many businesses came to be located on both sides of the creek that provided a favourable which saw them flourish. A typical scene from the past is that of dhows approaching the bank of the creek to anchor as close as possible to merchant's sheds to offload their cargo. Goods used to be ferried to the banks by small boats and then dispatched to the stores nearby. In the olden days, goods were inspected and custom duties collected at the merchant's store by customs officers and their clerks or karanis. These officers also acted as collectors of rents on behalf of the Ruler.

Underlining the importance of Customs, the Ruler of Dubai had his main office on the first-floor of the Customs building. He ran the affairs of the state from that office, which was next to his Creek-side winter palace. As such, Customs evolved as an integral part of the Ruler's Office and assumed a wider, more important function than just imposing and collecting duties. Customs' role increased even more when the late Ruler of Dubai HH Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum succeeded his father, HH Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum, as the Ruler of Dubai in 1958. HH Sheikh Rashid was groomed much earlier for his role. In the 1940s, his attention turned to exploring the Emirate's economic potential and specifically to reorganize Customs since it was the main revenue maker in a developing trading City.

In the middle of 1990 Dubai Customs started to follow the latest electronic technology for clearing the documents by using the e-clearance system. By the middle of this year around 500,000 documents have been cleared by using this facility. The Department's goal is to work together with private sector so that both benefit by the electronic system.