The Extraordinary Ordinary - Meditating at VCUQ...

Whilst on my way to get my morning coffee, I came across the above scene, where one of the Painting & Printmaking Department's visiting artist had claimed and defined her own little nook along one of the the first floor corridors connecting the school's two halves. In many ways this spot is particularly unremarkable (it's a very 'corridory' space), but her act, be it for pure meditational or performance based purposes (probably both) added, through her subtle and benign intervention, something quite unique to this locale. 

Whilst she was there, the angle and quality of the light entering from the adjacent window became much more noticeable; the white paper she was sitting on contrasted and complimented the whiteness of the background wall; and in her absolute stillness she, nevertheless, managed to retain and manifest a tension that provided a intriguing anthesis to the space (a walking corridor - a mobility based space) in which she was stationed... Her silent, ethereal and understated, yet quite ingenious, act catalyzed the space in a much more succinct way than any more boisterous intervention ever could... 

Vi Gillar Olika...

Vi gillar olika!

Ja sama Suomeksi/ and the same in English...

Censoring the Censored (A Storm in a Tea-cup)...

Image from a Kuwaiti news-stand, showing examples of the inconsistency in censoring various women's magazine covers. The magazine to the left has its shoulders blackened out, a body part the three right hand magazines show. On the other hand the side of the chest and armpit have been censored in the second magazine from the right, an area left exposed in the cover to its left. The magazine to the right shows shoulders, upper arms, chest as well as her abdomen...

Today I was informed that the project exploring censorship in Kuwait (featured earlier in this blog) has provoked an angry reaction by some of the powers that be at Kuwait University. I apologise for that, the intention with the project was never to cause offence - its aim was to explore a particular aspect of Kuwaiti culture which, particularly in the context of various art and design related practices (particularly within graphic design, the major of all the students in the class) is of significance.

However, beyond the fact that I feel it's a bit of a storm in a tea cup (as, after all, even the included images are 'censored', albeit in a different manner than what can be observed at local news-stands), if this type of benign exploration and research can't take place in academia, within the confines of a university (amongst the brightest of bright in the nation), where can they? The images included in the piece show nothing that can't already be seen at any news-stand in Kuwait (as can be witnessed by the image from a Kuwaiti news-stand above, and the images from local newspapers below) and, actually, improve and provide alternatives to the way in which censoring can be achieved. They were also done within the confines of the censorship regulations of Kuwait, sourced from the Kuwait Ministry of Education, and have passed all relevant authorities in the UAE, where the magazine in question is published.

It has to be re-emphasized, all the featured images in the article remain censored - they just achieved the the censoring in a different, more designed and less intrusive, way...

I also have to emphasise that the decision to do this project was done solely by me. The responsibility of its theme and outcomes are mine alone. No other staff, let alone any of my students, are accountable for its conclusions.

It would be interesting to hear what you think about this. Feedback on this issue would be appreciated...


... And some pictures from some of today's Kuwaiti newspapers...

KU Student Work Featured in Canvas Magazine...

Some of the work produced by my students has been published in the latest issue of Canvas Magazine's Canvas Guide... The project featured aimed to find an alternative or better way to achieve the aims, and perhaps even question the validity, of the 'black blotch' censorship currently practiced in Kuwait... The Canvas piece can be accessed by clicking on the included images, and a related piece featured earlier on this blog can be accessed by clicking here...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Addendum 06/01/10 - I've been informed by powers that be at Kuwait University that due to the, what some consider 'delicate' nature of the images featured in the article ,they would have to be 'neutralized'... Thus included below are (done as a favour to a friend) the now re-(or double) censored images from the Censorship project...

SAM St. - Adjacent Peripheral Plots...

Two open areas, currently used as parking lots (but why not one day as, say, a place for a Organic Farmer's Market, or Second-hand Furniture Market - places that lend themselves for strolling, something this proposal aims to encourage...

A few additional panoramas of some of the plots adjacent to SAM (Salem Al-Mubarbak) Street, which introduce their own challenges and potentials to the development of the area. SAM St. and its surroundings contain so many interesting and unique qualities which are difficult to find elsewhere in Kuwait. As a district it still, even after some extended demolishing, a distinct character of its own that, as it stands, is hanging by a thread - if too much additional demolishing is done a threshold will at some stage be breached beyond which what this neighbourhood still currently is, will inevitably be lost...

The musings on this blog about SAM Street are an attempt to understand what makes this area so special, and an initial shot at proposing how what it has could be developed to accommodate a viable future...

The included panoramas start at the Eastern end of the proposed pedestrianized zone and move westward, towards the 4th Ring Road. The parking lot at the western end (by the large ad billboards) hasn't been included as I forgot to photograph it properly...

Please click on the images to enlarge them...

The demolished back lot behind the Educational Book-store...

Above and below - Two views of the demolished open area - one looking from, the other towards, SAM street - located roughly halfway down the proposed stretch of the SAM Street pedestrianized zone...

The paved central square between this stretch of the street's two U-turns...

SAM Street Proposal - Let's Start by Bringing a Tram line to Kuwait...

Before the metro, before even the train line, we should introduce a tram-line to Kuwait. Not all of Al-Kuwait, but initially only a very select section of the city – SAM Street (Salem Al-Mubarak Street in Salmiya)...

A tram line would not only encourage, usually full-time, drivers to become (part-time) pedestrians by alleviating finding a parking spot, as it would be easy to park at one location and take the tram to another. It would also be a faster means of getting around as it would mostly be the sole occupant of the central, currently more or less unused, central island separating the lanes. Using this space would entail that some of the trees which reside in this space would need to be removed, but hopefully this could be achieved by simply relocating them to an adjacent pavement. Developing a tram line would also, as infrastructure projects go, be a undertaking that in scale wouldn't, economically nor effort wise, be too insurmountable a task and would provide both an initial incentive and test-ground to explore the value, the do's & don'ts, for similar or other alternative means of transport in Kuwait. It would also furnish SAM Street with a unique character that's distinct from any other locales in Kuwait and would befit and support it as a pedestrianized district. It could also easily be expanded or integrated into other complementary transport systems. Perhaps it's the type of catalyst the city needs to begin doing something instead of just talking (about doing something).

Above and below - Two mappings proposing the potential routes of the tram-line along SAM Street. Proposal A would mainly occupy the central island between the street's two lanes, whereas Proposal B snakes and loops around a bit more, providing a slightly less confrontational approach to both the street's pedestrian and vehicular traffic...

There's been some very constructive debates and proposals going on between this and the re:kuwait blog regarding how the implementation and detailing of Kuwait's urban plan could be improved. Much of it has focused on how to lessen our dependence on the car in everything we do in Kuwait.

A chart exploring the approximate speed a tram could advance along SAM Street. It also provides a suggestion for stops along the street...

I think some of the points made in recent re:kuwait posts by Barrak (click here and here to access these) regarding only concentrating on the development of SAM Street's narrower western end are valid ones, and the most viable place to begin such an endeavour. Supporting this, however, it can be argued that to simultaneously also keep in mind the surrounding and related areas down east from 'Old Salmiya', which currently is the more populous and active end of the street, needs to be considered, if only for the sake of balance. Connecting these two ends, through a tram or some other means, would strengthen the character of the area as a whole, and allow it to develop and hopefully thrive as a continuous collective rather than the set of separate piecemeal entities it presently reads as. Currently few people realize how close some of the key nodes are along SAM Street. Walking from the 4^th Ring Road end to the little junction point plaza by the U-turns takes about five minutes; walking from there to the Al-Salam building end takes another five minutes; continuing onwards it's only a five minute walk to Marina Mall (a stretch of road which could be even shorter if crossing the Hamad Al-Mubarak Street junction was made easier). From the Marina Mall down to the next large intersection, Qatar Street, takes about five minutes, and again it's only about a five minute stroll down to the Al-Fanar Mall. The last stretch of SAM Street from the Al Fanar to AUK requires again only an approximately five minute amble. Placing tram stops at about these nodes and junctions would allow one to reach all of the key locations along SAM Street within a few minutes stroll...

An illustration showing some of the key nodes along SAM Street, and approximate walking distances/ times between them...

Cultural Promotion in Kuwait..?!

A detail from a painting by the Kuwaiti artist Ghadah Al Kandari...

Are there any formal/ governmental institutions in Kuwait promoting Kuwaiti culture? This query was at least partly triggered by a short snippet of a piece in one of the local English newspapers which informed us that Kuwait University was planning to sponsor Cultural Attaches at select embassies, and the somewhat seemingly unspecified role such an attache might need to fulfil (click here for a related article). It seems like here the role of a cultural attache is 'merely' to act as a liaison between Kuwait and its students abroad, a role which in itself is a worthy one, but not one necessarily affiliated with the term 'cultural attache' (click here for for the link to the Kuwait Cultural Office). Are there any governmental, or government sponsored, organizations promoting and fulfilling the role of Kuwaiti 'soft power' abroad? This practice, which aims to heighten the awareness and improve the impression of the home country through an act of 'gentle persuasion' - a more diplomatic, subtle, and benign form of conviction - has an extended history in countries such as Germany, and the Scandinavian countries, and a method of diplomacy more recently also applied by countries such as China. This practice, which usually entails promoting different cultural activities relating to the various arts, such as fine arts, design, architecture, literature, music, theatre, etcetera, as well as language and education, in a host country. It is something that Kuwait is in dire need of if it wishes to be known for more than just its oil. The British Council, the Goethe Institute, Confucius Institute, Finnish Institute, to mention a few, are all examples of related endeavours. There are, of course, organizations such as the Dar Al Athar Al Islamiyyah, but this is a privately set up and funded organization which functions, to my knowledge, without any governmental support.

For a nation that prides itself on its heritage and unique character it wouldn't do much harm to begin defining, developing and promoting such pursuits, and what the term 'culture' (be it in a historical or contemporary context) actually means, both in and outside Kuwait. For, and I sincerely believe this, it is only through different cultural activities - the exploration and testing of various ideas through various mediums - that this nation can capture and begin defining itself a role and identity that reverberates both within and beyond its sandy borders...

Designer Blotches - Exploring Censorship in Kuwait...

I teach a class in Contemporary Art & Thought at the Art & Design Department of Kuwait University. This term the class is solely attended by final year students in Graphic Design, although the department also offers a degree in Interior Design. Our first project this term dealt with censorship, a somewhat difficult and sensitive subject matter particularly here in Kuwait. The project was initially catalysed by a apparent inconsistency observed in the censoring of various magazines at a local mall's news stand, where the censoring of the various body parts depicted on the magazine covers varied from one publication to another (for an earlier blog entry discussing these please click here). It was also partly triggered by the, call it, crudeness of the current method of blocking any potentially objectionable sections of an image, which usually involves using thick, black ink daub or marker streak to blotch out the sensitive body parts, unwanted beverages, or other, in Kuwait, unsuitable element.

Title image and above - Customized 'blotches' by Muneera Al-Qinaie

The criteria for the project were stipulated in the following fashion...

The students could:

A)

Aim, through their work, to question and reset where the threshold between acceptable and unacceptable lies. In other words, through reasoning and logic establish a justification for why a revision of the current methods of censorship is called for and, even through changed, won't necessarily contradict any of the sensitivities or do harm to the general population to whom their work will be exposed. Establish an updated and empirical rationale and method for how the aims of censorship could be amended and achieved...

B)

Accept and understand the current rules, but try to find an alternative means to achieve them. In other words, the student should consent to the current degree of censorship, but try to 'design their way' around it without necessarily compromising the original aims. Establish a more 'eloquent' and 'designed' way to achieve the same objectives the censurer currently does mostly by blotching and blurring...

C)

A bit of both A) and B)...

Noura Al-Omar's intentionally mixed messages that consequently aim to neutralize some of the more provoking aspects of the image...

The related issues were discussed and debated in class, with all the students present, as well as pondered over during one-to-one or one-to-two tutorials, which allowed for a more individual and bespoke scrutinization of the projects...

Above and below are a few examples of the results (comments and feedback much welcomed)...

Aysha Al-Houli's folded image. Provides the reader with the option of either leaving the image as is, or unfolding the photo to reveal the image in its unaltered state...

Above and below - the 'peel off' designer blotch, by Maha Barakat. Allows the user to either peel off, or leave be the thematically reflective sticker...

The act of peeling off the censoring sticker entails its own subtle coreography...

The 'Rope Blotch', by Bibi Al-Wazzan which, like the example above, provides a choice for the reader to either reveal or not reveal the image, and turns the act of 'revelation' into a mini-performance in its own right...

Above and below - various 'before & after' examples of thematic switches by Dana Mohsen Al-Edwah. Camouflage above...

A selective Switch...

An anthropomorphic censoring...

Selective distortion...

Blanket branding as a means to censor, by Hessa Shams Al-Deen...

Above and below - a 'designer blur' and shadow by Ghadeer Al-Awadhi...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A brief reminder of how magazines are currently censored (left - T3 Magazine, right - source unknown)...

Presentation at the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah...

I've been invited to present at the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, Kuwait's perhaps most respected and established cultural institution, on November 11, at 7 pm. This is a great honour, and an opportunity to 'push' some of the issues discussed on this as well as some of its fellow blogs (see links below to the right) and just a chance to debate these issues in a 'live' setting with individuals interested in related subject matters...

If you happen to be in the neighborhood why not aim to joins us at the al-Maidan Cultural Center for some spirited discussions and canapes...

The Heart of Kuwait...

If someone who has never been to Kuwait before asked you to show them the 'heart of Kuwait', where would you take them? What part, neighbourhood or feature of the city is reflective of Kuwait's essence and character? Which elements are unique and culturally ingrained enough to make it distinct form surrounding places and nations? There are perhaps a few obvious answers, such as the bulbous Kuwait Towers or the blue and white striped water-towers, but the discussion needs to move beyond such national symbols as, just like one doesn't visit Paris only for the Eiffel Tower or New York for the Empire State Building, the query needs to expand beyond the notion of the iconic and begin exploring an idea closer to something that could be referred to as 'urban ambience' – the experience of being and inhabiting a city.

As a historically seafaring and trading state, there is an inherent transient quality to Kuwait's being that may be difficult to capture and retain, nevertheless, there are still scattered evidence of buildings and pubic places from a few generations ago, many of which, sadly, are in a very dilapidated state. A nation's core being and nature, the connective tissue that links one generation to the next, is retained in the collective memory of its people. These are kept alive in the stories, anecdotes, and legends, as well as the poetry, literature and art made by respective generations. Cut or ignore this link, and the dynamic thread connecting these generations is lost and pastiche, the repetitive and sterile re-appropriation of old ideas, prevails. The same applies to it's cultural foundations, the defined and experienced body and presence of a nation, which is stored and reflected by its built and occupied environment – the streets, squares and buildings of its people and cities. These are the places where the everyday, but defining, communal happenings of a population take place. In Kuwait there is a shortage of these type of spaces, as there really aren't many outside areas where people can congregate. Malls don't really count, as how they are used is overly controlled and too choreographed, with little place and space for spontaneity (how long would a busker would be allowed to perform at Avenues Mall?). Interestingly enough, however, there are sign that even here some degree of subversiveness applies, as, for example, Avenues Mall has become for many an air-conditioned arena for an ambulatory afternoon workout (power window-shopping?!) evidenced by the countless individuals in sneakers and sweatsuits (some with added hand-weights) making their way across the extended concourses. This non-planned adaptation of a haven for shopping as a place for exercise is what provides it with at least a degree of inherent character, something that is unique for Kuwait and that separates it from the predictable and generic role this type of places usually entail. In a small way this adapted use of the mall becomes a small individualistic beating Kuwaiti heart in its own right. Wouldn't it be great to begin exploring and understanding these types of hybrid uses better? Wouldn't it be interesting to actually build upon this, and adapt, say, a part of the concourse into a track with a bit more forgiving and textured friction surface, or even build an additional adjacent track only for such beneficial activities? But I'm deviating from the subject matter...

Where are the romantic places in Kuwait? Where would one go to write a novel, to meditate, to enjoy a sunrise, a sunset, for some urban flâneuring, or to privately grieve in Kuwait? A city needs places and venues for all such life events. Settings for such happenings need to both be designed as well as left to evolve by themselves in a city. Places for chance encounters, private moments, play, exercise, along with locations for more formal and choreographed affairs and ceremonies. It is also important that this type of environments are allowed a more extended presence, to develop across generations, for it is here, in the core of daily activities, that the pulsating heart of Kuwait is located...

So perhaps the heart of a place lies in the smaller, everyday, actions rather than the bigger, monumental, interventions. It is in the seemingly mundane and familiar that, paradoxically, provides a place with its identity. The stray-cats that occupy the nooks and corners of the city; the annual sandstorms that turn the air golden-yellow; the fragrance and taste of oven baked flat-bread (khobez Irani) and broad-beans (bagilla) from the neighbourhood co-op; the fragrance of shisha and murmur of muffled conversations at street side coffee-shops; the wall of heat that hits you when walking out the door, and the gust of chilled air that greets one when entering a premise – all these experiences, things one misses when away, and, after a trip, confirms one has returned to Kuwait, are the qualities that the 'heart of a Kuwait' is made of. These attributes, which can be designed but seldom re-created, are reflective of some of the timeless ingredients which, regardless of technological advances or shifts in cultural norms, provide a place with its inherent individuality.

Designed Spontaneity...

A busker in Rome...

A successful city is often a contradictory city – where the mix of various cultures, cultural sub-classes and social taxons in close proximity provide it with a catalytic and dynamic vibrancy. How, however, such elements are allowed to coexist and interplay is where the magic formula of a dynamic and resilient city lies.

This benign form of subversiveness is what innovation is all about. New ideas aren't created in a vacuum, but are catalysed by exposure to a smorgasbord of different, frequently conflicting, ideas and forms of expression. It's about being inspired by exposure to unexpected sources of creativity – music inspiring architecture, biology affecting engineering, chemistry inducing a novel take on cooking. It's also about asking questions, as asking, defining, and aiming to solve queries is what research and progression is all about. A city's role and vigour is defined by what questions are asked. The features and activities included here are all reflections of such, more casual and spontaneous, street level interventions. But what the street says, has a tendency to 'trickle up' to eventually permeate the higher echelons of decision makers.

Kuwait is an interesting concoction of concurrent conservatism and tolerance, action and apathy, passion and indifference, progression and regressiveness - qualities that can often exists within the same body - be this 'body' an individual, family, neighbourhood or governmental unit, with many of the more 'exuberant' activities taking place behind the covert enclosures of its private residences. How some of these qualities might manifest themselves more openly as a potential generative resource in Kuwait remains to be seen.

Below are some 'spontaneous' elements found in most world cities. The list is in no way exhaustive, and based on a very subjective take on the matter, but hopefully some of them touch upon issues which at least in part could be adapted here in Kuwait to encourage something closer to a more vibrant city-scape...

Buskers & Street-Performers

As of yet I haven't come across a single busker of (ad hoc) street performer in Kuwait. This is partly due to the lack of street life in Kuwait, where today much of the more casual interactions take place within the hermetic and controlled confines of a mall.

A street performer in London...

Wouldn't it be great to have a 'Busker's Corner' in one of the nooks of Avenues or Marina malls? A spot where aspiring performance artists of any discipline could come to promote their trade and gain experience performing. Create a place where anything from a shadow-puppet performance, sand-shuffle dance, or a drum & base/ beat-box rendition of an Om Kulthoum could be performed. These types of events would not only provide a welcomed distraction and alternative to the common shopping experience, but could also become something of an attraction in their own right.

A (flamenco) busker in Malaga, Spain...

A street (ladder) performer in London's Covent Garden...

A classical trio in Helsinki, Finland...

Protests & Communal Activities

Public activities, be it a protest or any other form of common event, are key to a city's health. They allow various factions to express and vent their feelings regarding issues that, at least to them, are of more heightened general interest and concern. Regardless of the gathering is for ten or ten-thousand individuals, a city needs to allow and provide facilities for them to take place. The alternative, to prohibit or discourage them, only fuels more covert rabble-rousing which seldom results in anything constructive.

The percussion section of a protest march in Malaga...

A communal dance performance (to Michael Jackson's 'Black or White') in Vilnius, Lithuania...

Communal Spaces & Locales for Casual Interaction

Based on the aforementioned heading, a city also needs spaces where such communal activities can take place. This doesn't necessarily mean (even though it can) that a city needs to retain a space only for these types of gatherings, but that there is a place which can be adapted for such public assemblages. Trafalgar Square in London is, along with being a tourist attraction, used mostly as a nodal hub for transport (there's a tube and train-station, as well as a major bus-stop next to it) but it also performs on select occasions as a place of performance and protest. The Spanish Steps in Rome is used as a central meeting point and a place for some people watching adjacent to some of the city's most exclusive shopping streets. Most cities contain this type of adaptable open areas which can be easily accessed and are commonly available. Places for a short breather, a shaded spot for reading, a quick cup of coffee or a bench for a quiet conversation as well as the occasional, more organized, sable-rattling...

The Spanish Steps in Rome...

Town square in Borgå, Finland...

A small neighbourhood square in Benalmadena, Spain...

Casual seating spots at the Alhambra, Granada, Spain...

Graffiti & Public Posters

Even though not appropriate everywhere, graffiti and various event or promotional posters can provide their share of eye-candy in any city. When done with skill and passion, and with an understanding for its context, they can enliven a usually unremarkable stretch of sidewalk or mediocre city wall. They, again, provide an outlet for various kindred, perhaps more subversive, spirits to vent their vexations and provide a skill-set which can hopefully be channelled into something more vocational (it was through graffiti, after all, that artists such as Keith Haring, Jean Michel Basquiat (Samo) and Kenny Scharf got their start)...

Above and all images below - some graffiti and a poster in Vilnius, Lithuania...

Animals

Humans are not the only consious living entities occupying a city. Beyond the roaches and rats, which any self-respecting urban environment can't seem to manage without, there are many animals which actually provide some harmless entertainment in their own right. Kuwait has its slender street-cats embellishing most garbage bins in the evenings. Other places have their own renditions of these semi-domesticated creatures, be these swans, ducks, fish, squirrels, rabbits, even city-foxes, sharing the city with their two-legged compatriots. Of course one should mention the fully domesticated animals that play their own role, and leave their own 'marks' (particularly in Paris), on the sidewalks of most more cosmopolitan cities, but, especially here in Kuwait, these seem to be few and far between.

A swan family in Helsinki, Finland...

Goldfish in Fuengirola, Spain...

Palying Kuwaiti kittens...