In January, Oman announced plans to break ground on the Oman Cultural Complex, an expansive cultural compound that will cost an estimated 148 million Omani riyals ($384 million) to build. First envisioned in 2014, the 80,200 square meter complex will principally house the National Library, National Theatre, and National Records and Archives Authority as well as the Children’s Library, House of Arts, Cinema House, and Literary Forum. Its projected scale is immense, with a 1,000-seat auditorium, a five-story library, and around 12 miles of shelving for archival records. The exterior space will include a walled garden, recreational areas, restaurants, and parking. Individual buildings will be connected through a modular steel canopy, inspired by the precise latticework of the Islamic mashrabi ya, or screen, and reflective of the nearby sand dunes of Biddiya and the ocean. A play with light and curvature defines the “ambitious project, where past and present harmoniously complement one another,” according to French design firm Architecturestudio. While the sultanate has long been regarded as uniquely attentive to its cultural heritage, the vision for the Oman Cultural Complex is unprecedented in Oman and raises questions regarding the impetus behind the ubiquitous cultural complex in the Gulf.

Oman is not the first Gulf Arab state to build a cultural complex. The Saadiyat Cultural District of Abu Dhabi, which hosts the Louvre Abu Dhabi and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi as well as the National Museum, Performing Arts Center, and Arts Center, with five theaters, concert venues, and Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Academy, might be the most internationally recognized cultural complex. Announced in 2006, the complex is still perennially expanding, as the UAE asserts its leadership in Arab contemporary cultural production. Qatar’s Katara Cultural Village opened in 2010, “born out of a long held vision to position the State of Qatar as a cultural beacon, a lighthouse of art, radiating in the Middle East through theatre, literature, music, visual art, conventions and exhibitions,” according to the somewhat elaborate language of the Cultural Village Foundation. Katara has the expected facilities – an amphitheater, opera house, and exhibition space – but also a beach and outdoor recreational space in addition to a traditional souq and modern mall. In 2016, the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) was inaugurated in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, at the site of the first commercial oil field of Saudi Aramco. Inspired by oil-bearing rock formations, the cultural complex resembles a natural formation, with a 110-meter-high main tower and adjacent pebble structures designed by Norwegian firm Snøhetta. It is similar in scale to the Oman Cultural Complex, spanning 80,000 square meters and contains a museum, a library, a cinema, a theater, and exhibition halls. The Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre, in Kuwait, is the largest cultural center in the region. It spans an astonishing 214,000 square meters, with four principal buildings shrouded beneath an angular steel dome with an Islamic geometric design. It cost $775 million to construct and includes a convention center, multiple theaters, a cinema, and multipurpose spaces, with a range of dining options and outdoor spaces.

Beyond the normal competition and imitation dynamics often evident among neighboring countries, what might incentivize Gulf Arab state investment of this scale in arts and culture?

The cultural complex is an inarguable show of soft power, an indication of the ability and interest of respective Gulf Arab states to influence global cultural production in their preferred image. Consequently, it is unsurprising that the construction of cultural complexes in the Gulf has occurred in a short succession. However, soft power does not in itself explain the proliferation of the cultural complex, given that soft power in the field of arts and culture can be equally served through the building of conventional arts and culture spaces, such as museums or performance spaces. The futuristic design and imposing scale of the cultural complex allude to additional justifications.

From an economic standpoint, the cultural complex contributes to the Gulf’s transition from oil revenue to diversified economies, outlined in respective state blueprints for the coming decade. While traditional cultural forums, such as art museums or archaeological sites, generate income through ticket sales and adjacent visitor services, the concentration of cultural and commercial sites in the cultural complex attracts a wider demographic of consumers as well as more income streams. Moreover, the construction of adaptable performance spaces allows for sustained income generation from repeat visitors for years to come. This is evident to some degree in the continued use of the 2022 FIFA World Cup stadiums in Qatar, which hosted the 2023 AFC Asian Cup and are slated to host five successive years of FIFA youth World Cups beginning in 2025, although whether cultural venues can replicate the sustained use sports facilities have managed remains to be seen.

From an environmental perspective, in a region with extreme climate conditions and car-reliant infrastructure, walkable spaces are in demand. The cultural complex, through its deliberate integration of multiuse indoor and outdoor spaces, allows visitors to stroll and stumble upon places and spaces that they might not have seen if it necessitated an intentional visit. In other words, the cultural complex might be said to serve the role of a traditional downtown in a region where driving is by far the main mode of transportation.

But the most compelling explanation for the cultural complex might be the simplest: a shift in Arab cultural production and, with this shift, a deliberate act of reframing.

Historically, Arab cultural production was far removed from the Gulf Arab states. However, protracted destruction and subsequent disinvestment and emigration have ravaged the historic cradles of artistic and cultural output across the Levant and North Africa. Simultaneously, Gulf Arab states have profited immensely from the well-established oil industry. It is unsurprising, then, that the Gulf has sought to fill the cultural vacuum left after the devastation of Damascus and Baghdad, and in the wake of Cairo’s and Beirut’s economic turmoil.

However, the Gulf commitment to the cultural complex is noteworthy. It extends beyond an intention to enter contemporary cultural production through support for local artists or construction of public art spaces to connect the contemporary cultural capacity of Gulf states with their respective pasts – heritages that have long been elided – and, importantly, the distinctly Gulf focus on the frontier of the future.

With pioneering architectural structures at a palatial scale, the Gulf has produced a fundamentally contemporary cultural identity. In designing the Oman Cultural Complex, slated to open in early 2027, Oman is signaling its ability and intention to join its neighbors in a collective Gulf vision of the future while maintaining its lauded commitment to Omani cultural heritage.