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A few weeks ago, I shared photos of old Kuwait taken by Ghazi Sultan (1941–2007), a Kuwaiti architect and urban planner. Ghazi was regarded as one of the key figures in Kuwait’s modernization and is best known for the waterfront project, including Green Island.

Since that post got so much engagement, I was granted access to his full archive and I will be publishing posts in collaboration with @ghazihamadsultan whenever I come across something interesting. I already have a few posts lined up, starting with these photos taken by Ghazi Sultan of Kuwaiti homes in the 1960s, many of which were either under construction or newly completed.

To check out all the photos from his archive, click here.
To find out more about Ghazi Sultan, visit ghazisultan.com

Ghazi Hamad Sultan Bin Isa (1941-2007) was a Kuwaiti architect and urban planner who is regarded as one of the key figures in the modernization of Kuwait. He is best known for the waterfront project (including Green Island) which was developed jointly with Sasaki while working for the Ministry of Public Works. Ghazi Sultan is also renowned for his significant contributions to the Arab art movement. In 1969, he founded Sultan Gallery (@sultangallery) with his sister Najat Sultan, and it remains active to this day.

Ghazi’s son, Zahed Sultan (@zahedsultan), recently launched a website and Instagram page (@ghazihamadsultan) to honor his father’s legacy. According to Zahed, both platforms will be updated regularly, as his father’s archive holds a wealth of material to share.

One section of Ghazi Sultan’s website contains photos of Kuwait taken by him in the 1960s. I’ve decided to share these for now and will hopefully post more stuff from his archive in the future, espcially the architectural projects.

If you want to find out more about Ghazi Sultan, or view the photos he took, head over to ghazisultan.com

Local musician and artist Zahed Sultan has a new music video out that is a cover of the old school Bandaly Family song, “Do you love me?“. Here is what Zahed had to say about the track:

Recorded during the Covid-19 lockdown in London, ‘Layl’ is a reimagination of a famous Lebanese disco song from the 70’s by the Bendaly Family ‘Do You Love Me.’ In this song, I reframe the original version as a contemporary cinematic piece; placing it in a more melancholic and sombre space. With spiraling vocals, deep synths, and rich violin textures, I give greater meaning to the song by expanding on its themes of love and loss; particularly fitting in light of the tragic explosion in Beirut and the crippling of its creative community.

I found a personal connection in ‘Layl’ through the original version’s music video which was shot in Kuwait on the Waterfront, a project designed by my late father Ghazi Sultan. The release of ‘Layl’ marks a new path for me as I dedicate myself to rethinking Arab culture through music and multimedia performance.

You can follow Zahed on Instagram @zahedsultan

Ghazi Sultan (1941–2007) was a Kuwaiti architect and urban planner. He was regarded as one of the key figures in Kuwait’s modernization and is best known for the Gulf Road waterfront project, including Green Island. The project also included a number of smaller artificial islands along the coast with my favorite being Turtle Island (Google Maps).

Turtle Island is a small artificial island located behind the Italian restaurant Johnny Carino’s. It has a children’s play area featuring a giant fish structure in the middle, while the rest of the island is filled with large turtle sculptures.

Part of the Ghazi Sultan photography archive includes photos he took when the project was completed. Although the photos aren’t dated, I’d assume they were taken in the late 80s. The island looked so different back then compared to today!

First off, what happened to all the colors? The island used to be so much more vibrant — a bright orange frame structure, colorful toys, and the giant fish even had a crawl space for kids. Even the turtles that surround the island were painted olive green with brown accents. Today, the island feels monotone. The orange frame is now white, the fish lost its crawl space and just looks like a grey blob, and the colorful toys were swapped out for dark red ones that are now in bad shape. As for the turtles, they’re now just dull grey concrete color.

To find out more about Ghazi Sultan, visit ghazisultan.com or @ghazihamadsultan

While going through Ghazi Sultan’s photography archive, I came across a photo of the Seif Palace clock tower under construction. I don’t recall ever seeing photos of Seif Palace being built, especially the clock tower. When I previously posted about the clock’s history, I searched but couldn’t find any images of it during construction, which is why I found this simple photo so interesting.

Seif Palace was originally built in 1904, but over the years it was renovated and expanded a number of times. In the 1960s, as part of the second expansion, a new building was constructed which was characterized by a high tower that ended in a gold-plated dome with a clock. Construction of the expansion was completed in 1964.

The Seif Palace clock which was engineered by the UK based clockmakers Smith of Derby, was installed in January 1962. This means this photo was most likely taken between 1962 and 1964.