A collection of Arabic coffee pots (dallah) at the Qatari-Kuwaiti Relations Exhibition which opened yesterday at Katara.
DOHA: Extremely rare documents dating back over a century ago on the commercial relations between Qatar and Kuwait are some of the pieces on display at an exhibition which centres on the strong longstanding ties between the two states, launched yesterday at Katara Cultural Village.
The exhibition collection includes an archive of over two million documents about Kuwait and the Gulf States, some of which are more than 200 years old. The archive also includes a collection of rare Kuwaiti official documents such as passports issued during the reign of Sheikh Abdallah bin Sabah in 1887.
Moreover, the exhibition displays Islamic antiques, gold and silver coins from the pre-Islamic Sassanid empire era, weaponry from the Umayyad, Abbasid and Fatimid eras, 950-year-old parchments and an ancient piece of gold-embroidered Kiswah, the cloth covering Kaabah.
The show presents a wide variety of traditional items representing the Kuwaiti marine culture comprising fishing kits and accessories as well as books on pearl diving. In addition, there are objects from Amiri palaces of Kuwait including personal belongings of the rulers of Kuwait in different periods.
The exhibition is hosted by Katara in cooperation with the Expo 965 for Heritage and Handicrafts Exhibition Centre and features 17 Kuwaiti private museum owners, handicraft and heritage experts.
Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, General Manager of Katara Cultural Village, tours the exhibition along with guests.
“Expo 965 Team has more than 140 members, 17 of whom are taking part in this exhibition. Some of us are museum owners while others are collectors and artisans in various aspects of arts and heritage,” Abdul Majeed Behbehani, the youngest museum owner in Kuwait, told local media yesterday.
For this exhibition, Abdul Majeed bought a rich collection of old car plates in Kuwait since the 1960s.
“This is my first time to travel outside Kuwait to showcase these items. This is a great exhibition which is being held for the first time in Qatar and certainly won’t be the last,” he added.
Kuwaiti astronomer and historian Adel Hassan Al Sadoon, one of the participants who owns a private museum, was also upbeat of the significance of the exhibition in further boosting the already cordial relations between Kuwait and Qatar as brotherly countries.
“We are very glad to be here with our friends and brothers in Qatar and we feel much welcomed with all the nice facilities for this exhibition,” said Adel, who bought a wide collection of ancient maps and manuscripts.
“I brought here 17 maps, the oldest of which dates back more than 500 years,” he said, referring to an original map of the Arabian Peninsula printed in 1482 based on the old map in Ptolemy’s book on geography.
Also on display at the exhibition are jewellery, handicrafts and artworks by some of Kuwait’s talented artists and skilled artisans, some of whom hold live demonstrations on the process of creating their unique pieces with great craftsmanship.
The exhibition was formally launched by Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, General Manager of Katara Cultural Village, in the presence of diplomats, heritage enthusiasts and dignitaries.
Al Sulaiti said that this exhibition comes as part of the continuous cultural cooperation between Qatar and Kuwait.
“Katara’s support to this kind of events assures our commitment to raising awareness on our heritage, and this exhibition enables Kuwaiti and Qatari heritage enthusiasts to exchange expertise in this important field,” said Al Sulaiti.
The exhibition is open to the public until July 10 at Katara Building 18.
