One of the most frustrating parts of a daily commute on public transport is that dead space the commuter is required to fill while waiting for their train to arrive. But how best to occupy that time? Leafing through a good book, listening to some music or staring blankly at whatever advertising messages are currently jostling for space on your local Metro station. If none of these sound like appealing alternatives, help might soon be at hand for the time-pressed Dubai commuter.
As The National reported yesterday, Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority has joined hands with the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority to transform six metro stations by 2015 into art museums and galleries, and to paint and decorate bridges and underpasses in the emirate. Exhibits will include a music and art gallery, photo gallery, Arabic calligraphy and manuscripts gallery and an Islamic numismatics gallery. A museum of contemporary art will display a diverse collection of paintings, graphics, sculptures and other artefact created by artists from all over the world.
The project aims to transform the Metro from being just a means of transport into something all of us will be engaged by. Indeed, it may even get some commuters out of their cars and onto public transport.
