Last night, a new exhibit opened at the Amricani Cultural Center titled “Between Two Art Objects: The Emergence of the Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah.” It’s an especially moving one, since it tells the story of the founding of Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah by the late Sheikh Nasser Sabah al Ahmad through two objects: the first piece he acquired for the collection, and the last piece added before his passing. Both objects are on display and serve as the exhibition’s anchor. From there, it takes you through a timeline, highlighting key moments along the way and sharing photos and old exhibition posters.
While “Between Two Art Objects” is on the ground floor, there are two other exhibits located on the first floor of Amricani that you should also check out. The first is called “Art of Ancient Arabia: Heritage of Our Ancestors,” and the second is “Distant and Close: Chinese Art in Kuwait.” I did find Art of Ancient Arabia interesting, but it was the Chinese exhibit that I liked the most.
“Distant and Close” celebrates the individual talent of artisans from both China and the Islamic world, and highlights the impact of shared ideas, technologies, trade, and cultures. If you’re a fan of ceramics, I highly recommend this exhibit. There were a number of pieces I found interesting, but my favorite was a stack of porcelain dishes fused with coral and excavated from a shipwreck. I liked it so much it actually sent me down a rabbit hole into a category of ceramics I hadn’t really paid attention to before, shipwreck porcelain. Since visiting the exhibit I’ve been doing a lot of random research on shipwreck porcelain and even trying to find a similar piece to add to my own collection.
Speaking of shipwrecks and porcelain, does anyone remember an exhibit in Kuwait sometime in the mid to late 1980s that featured ceramic pieces recovered from a shipwreck? I have a vague memory of it, but I can’t find any information about it online.
Anyway, if you want to pass by and check out the three exhibits, Amricani is open Saturday to Thursday from 10 AM to 7 PM, and Friday from 2 PM to 7 PM. It’s closed on Sundays, and there’s no entry fee.