Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage

The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage (known colloquially as the ADACH) was a statutory body in the United Arab Emirates that administered cultural heritage in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. In 2012, it merged into the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority.

The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage (ADACH) was founded in 2006, in order to be the United Arab Emirate's solitary governing body for cultural heritage maintenance. Both the Historic Buildings Division and the Archaeology Division were governed by the ADACH. The organization's headquarters was located in one of the oldest cultural heritage buildings in the city, near the Qasr al-Hosn. It had a theater, amphitheater, and gallery.

It organized the representation of UAE at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009. ADACH also organized arts events in Abu Dhabi. They partnered with British Council in 2010 to present dancer Akram Khan. That same year, ADACH partnered with the Western Region Development Council, the Union Defence Force, and the UAE Civil Services Department to offer scholarships to people interested in knowledge-based economies. As of 2010, the organization was suffering from "organizational and financial problems."

In 2011 it launched a preservation project to inventory and research the cultural heritage and life of those living in the region prior to modernization in the 1960s. ADACH also started a GIS database for cultural heritage sites. It also maintained a historic preservation program for historic buildings in rural areas of the country. The organization also hosted the first WOMAD festival in the Middle East. It also held the first Abu Dhabi International Book Fair and Abu Dhabi Film Festivals. It founded the Al Qattara Arts Center.