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Lover of history turns his home into a museum

Turning his Abu Dhabi home into a museum of sorts, where his collection now occupies most of his bedrooms, Khouri's passionate initiative reflects the bond between a citizen and his country. Khouri is not just an antiques collector. He is an artist too. He has designed models of Abu Dhabi city and its landmarks and old houses. Some of his models have been bought by officials and museums in the emirates.

Commenting on his passion, Khouri said he inherited the passion for curios and objets d'art from his father. He said he started by collecting gramophones, stamps, old Indian and British currencies. Later his passion reached such a pitch that he couldn't resist buying any remarkable piece offered to him.

Khouri pointed that the oldest camera in his collection was manufactured in 1920, and that he owns a collection of negatives, projectors, radios, batteries, cars, watches, a kerosene iron, old British newspapers such as London News (1872), a negative for Sa'ad Zaglol's picture when he was exiled in Sri Lanka, an old American watch, and a range of traditional weapons including swords, knives, and rifles etc.

Elsewhere, a visitor to his museum will come across distinctive pottery and copper jars, mountain artillery, a copper Chevrolet car made in 1945, which he still uses, as well as a rare collection of photographs of VIP visitors to Abu Dhabi.

He recalls that the first cameras in UAE market were Kodaks, costing 15 Indian rupees. Then came the Agfa and Yashica cameras.

"We used to wind the film after taking pictures, and send it to Bahrain for developing. It took 10 days to reach there and from Bahrain it was sent to Britain. We would get it back only after about two months," he recalled. Regarding his obsession with gramophones, he said there were no Radio or TV channels, and "we listened to Arabic and Gulf songs on gramophones," he added.

Of course, one of the rarest items in his collection is a Kerosene Radio. He also owns a rare collection of commercial documents, handed down from his grandfather and father. One such document is a certificate of appreciation given to him by the Armed Forces Military Museum — for appreciating his efforts in preserving national heritage.

Khouri's dream is to acquire a spacious building as a permanent museum to display his collection to full effect. And given the passion with which he has pursued his hobby, that too will happen.

• UAE