There is a melting pot of the creatives here in Kuwait whose midst are poets, artists, and word weavers who are interlacing words to unveil the soul of the heart of the Gulf. They are certainly trying to catch yesterday’s culture here in the country while, in the process, casting today’s issues into what they create.
He is a number one best-selling re-teller of tales whose nail-biting oral retelling leaps Kuwaiti legend and history into the here-and-now. Each tale sends the listener back in time, and he is dared to be one of the men of the desert and their issues of yesteryear. His tales are thrilling, besides being a means of conveying know-how and morals. To him, the people are drawn to a culture of learnings of strength, unity, and embracing heritage.
She is among the Kuwaiti women poets who write from the passion and fire of Kuwaitian life today. She grapples with her poems with matters of identity, dis-placement, and belongingness. With each carefully chosen word, her poems are able to pen the completeness of living in a world in perpetual motion but rooted in one’s origins. Her voice as a poet is also a shared voice for the many in the Gulf, particularly the youth struggling with cultural duties in globalization. She establishes denominator common to readers so that she may write from experience and observation on her voice.
They are a group of artists using whatever medium it chooses to chart Kuwaiti life’s richness that is dense. Their works, paintings, installations, and pieces aim at comprehending the dismantling of usual norms and elicit controversy on issues of much importance like environmental balance and justice. Their work evokes debate on how language is used as well as cultural differences so people can connote reverse ideas in their minds. Their art community contributes to the city’s art culture and puts Kuwait on the world’s arts map.
There has been a Cultural boom of cultural events and celebrations in the past two years commemorating Kuwait’s living culture of art. The festivals are stages upon which artists get a chance to perform, with a widened audience. She had returned a few hours before from a festival of literature where new writers and established writers read their work aloud, reminding us all about the role of literature as a reflection of society’s values and desires. These practices were the foundation of much of society’s longing for creativity in a nation suspended between the past and the future.
They are the ones whose words, the poet’s words, the story teller’s words, the artist’s words, define Kuwait’s cultural identity. They are custodians of the country’s heart and soul, and through art, is molded the national soul. In their tireless pursuit towards life, love, legacy, they are reflections to their country, holding up hopes and dreams.
He. She. They. They are the Kuwaiti imagination of the future who coexist with diversity and feed imagination. They awaken the Gulf in every story that is heard, every page that is read, every splash of colour unveiled and bringing it and pulsing with life, that sense of society which stretches out a good deal further than here.
