Museum of the Future to unveil completely new experience in early 2027

Dubai’s Museum of the Future will reopen in the first quarter of 2027 with an entirely new visitor experience, replacing all existing exhibitions and laboratories that have defined it since its launch in 2022. While the building’s exterior will remain unchanged, the interior will offer fresh immersive environments, hands-on scientific exploration, and a new narrative, according to senior officials.

New direction, not just an update

Azza Al Nuaimi, Chief Operating Officer of the Museum of the Future, told Khaleej Times that the renewed museum will have its “own focus and direction” rather than simply updating its current galleries. None of the previous exhibitions will return in their original form, as confirmed by frequently asked questions published on the museum’s website. Instead, entirely new experiences will be woven together through a different visitor journey.

“The aim is to make the future something visitors can do more than simply imagine,” Al Nuaimi said. Guests will be able to explore new possibilities, interact with work inside the laboratories, and reflect on how today’s choices could shape tomorrow’s world.

The museum is expected to reopen around its fifth anniversary. It first opened on 22 February 2022, though an exact date for the 2027 reopening has not yet been announced. Tickets for the renewed experience will go on sale closer to the reopening date, according to the museum’s FAQ.

Massive interest in new visitor team

The people delivering the experience are also changing. The museum launched a recruitment drive called “Future Perfects” for the Visitor Experience team, which attracted more than 20,000 completed applications within the first 48 hours. The roles prioritise qualities such as curiosity, imagination, emotional intelligence and adaptability, rather than previous museum or customer-service experience.

What happens to the current exhibits?

For nearly five years, the museum’s visitor journey has taken people into an imagined 2071 aboard OSS Hope, through the Heal Institute and Al Waha, past emerging technologies in Tomorrow Today, and into Future Heroes for younger visitors. When asked what will happen to these experiences, Al Nuaimi said: “The existing exhibitions will be taken down to make way for the new experiences.”

Exactly what will become of individual exhibits is still being decided. “Decisions concerning individual exhibits will depend on their nature, condition and potential for future use. We are not yet in a position to confirm which elements will be preserved, relocated, reused or retired,” Al Nuaimi said.

Living museum adapts to rapid change

The museum’s challenge is that the future does not stand still. Since it opened in 2022, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and space exploration have advanced rapidly. Asked whether this made some of the ideas presented four years ago feel dated, Al Nuaimi acknowledged the “significant” pace of change and the new questions raised about how technology and science will affect society.

“However, the Museum was never intended to predict exactly what the future would look like. Its purpose is to explore possibilities, encourage people to question assumptions and consider the choices that may shape what comes next,” she said. “As new developments emerge, the way we explore these questions must also evolve. The next chapter will build on this approach, introducing new perspectives while maintaining the curiosity and openness that underpin the Museum’s purpose.”

The museum describes itself as a “living museum”. Unlike a conventional museum that preserves objects from the past or a science centre that explains how things work, the Museum of the Future examines what developments in science and technology could mean for humanity. Its exhibitions are designed not to remain frozen in time. “This is what we mean by a ‘living museum’: a place that continues to develop alongside the future it seeks to explore,” Al Nuaimi said.

No fixed cycle for changes

There is no fixed lifespan for any exhibition. How long an experience lasts depends on the subject, how quickly it evolves, and whether new discoveries create a different way of exploring it. “Some themes will remain relevant over the long term, while the way they are presented may evolve,” Al Nuaimi said. Therefore, while the current transformation is sweeping, it does not mean the entire museum will be rebuilt on a fixed cycle every few years.

People around the world are helping shape what comes next. More than 1,000 ideas were submitted on what the Museum of the Future should explore, with some already being incorporated into the new experience. Officials have not yet revealed which ideas made the cut.

The transformation follows a first chapter in which more than five million people visited the museum, alongside 620 events and 224 educational programmes. Al Nuaimi said that while the physical experience is changing, one ambition remains: creating a place where people from different backgrounds and disciplines can come together to think about humanity’s future.