In Focus # When the Wells Run Dry - Visions for the Gulf Part 4: Cultural Development # 05.06.2010

Within decades, the United Arab Emirates have transformed themselves from desert territories into modern statehood, thanks to oil. The speed of these changes and the influx of millions of people from all around the world have transformed Islamic-influenced societies into a cultural melting pot. Four German artists - a painter, a conductor, a designer and a museum curator - have moved to the Emirates to advance understanding and to help create a new, cosmopolitan Gulf culture.