If you didn’t know it was there, you could drive straight past it. This is one of the many charming elements of the Art House Café, which opened its doors this summer in Abu Dhabi’s Al Bateen neighbourhood.
Adjacent to the Etihad Modern Art Gallery and its sister institution, the Etihad Antiques Gallery, The Art House Café is a haven of peace, tranquillity and, most importantly in the scorching heat of a UAE summer, coolness.
Behind the gates there are wooden tables and stools in a cosy courtyard filled with plants from all over the world; a perfect spot to read, reflect and create during the cooler months.
There is also a metal grille against the wall upon which numerous padlocks bearing the names of their owners have been hung. It is Abu Dhabi’s answer to Paris’s Pont des Arts, the bridge over the river Seine where lovers famously proclaim their feelings with a “love lock”.
This is all before you get inside.
The Art House Café is intended as a place to welcome and inspire, and to encourage its visitors to spend long afternoons exercising their creativity. It is also a spot to come to eat and drink and soak up the atmosphere, which is unlike anything else in the capital.
When you walk through the door, the first thing you notice is the huge trunk of a frangipani tree coming up through the floor, going out through the ceiling and spreading its branches over the roof. No trees were felled during the construction of the cafe — instead they were left in place and wrapped with colourful second-hand T-shirts to form part of the unusual decor. This environmentally friendly ethos continues throughout the rest of the place, with every single item made from recycled material.
Metal fish buckets hang from the ceiling as lampshades and, on the walls, old glass bottles also double up as light fittings.
The tables are slabs of tree trunks and bar stools are made from used gas canisters. The covering for all the seating comes from old billboards, which are made from a kind of durable plastic that is otherwise impossible to recycle, and the couches are made from carpentry pallets on wheels for ease of movement.
The floor is reused parquet and even the shelving has been cleverly constructed from old suitcases that pull out as drawers.
The more time you spend, the more recycled materials you spot and you cannot help but be impressed by the inventiveness of the design. With floor-to-ceiling glass and Perspex walls, the place is flooded with light, so it is really a pleasure to walk through the doors and feel immersed in a new world.
From an art-lover’s perspective, there is also a lot to discover. On the walls hang pieces of affordable art from emerging artists.
When I visited, there were some abstract pieces from an Emirati artist named Ammar Almehikhi and quaint village scenes by an artist called Shams.
For a cafe owned and conceived by Khaled Seddiq Al Mutawa, the founder of the Etihad Modern Art Gallery, it is hardly surprising that the focus is on art. It is the perfect place to come either before or after a visit to the gallery next door, which has four rooms filled with a wide variety of contemporary art.
In the UAE there are far too few places like the Art House Café. It is fresh, new and independent, which makes you feel like you are making a discovery every time you go.
• The Art House Café is in Abu Dhabi’s Al Bateen area. Street 4, Villa No 4/2 (opposite Al Bateen Mall). It is open from Saturday to Thursday, 10am to 10.30pm and on Fridays from 1pm to 10.30pm. For more information call 02 666 0175 or visit www.etihadmodernart.com
aseaman@thenational.ae
