I finally got the chance to visit the family museum owned by Hassan Ashkanani in Bayan. It is a grand collection of old historical items from Kuwait as well as family archives and pictures. I love the fact that each piece has a story and a lot of them are linked to his grandfathers and other relatives who held on to their documents and are now on display.
H. Ashkanani is an Assistant Professor of anthropology and archaeology at Kuwait University and has been collecting antiques since he was twelve years old. His is aim is to document the old life of Kuwait which includes the pre independence era when the Kuwaiti people limited their life inside the wall.
Inside the wall was a specific lifestyle associated with a specific economic activity. I believe literature doesn't cover the lifestyle details except for some major political, economic and such events. Through 'material culture' we will have a better insight into the old life of Kuwaiti people. How did they live? What materials did they use to survive? What materials did they use in their daily life?
It's a journey of understanding ourselves and how we helped build Kuwait.
You can find more information in Arabic on the website and his IG @has_ashkanani
Thank you Hassan for the visit and education, I really appreciated it and could've spent hours listening to your stories.
TIES Cultural Tour to the National Memorial Museum
The TIES Center has organized a fully guided tour to the National Memorial Museum, which is dedicated to the remembrance of the brutal Iraqi invasion, the resistance that took place during the occupation, and Kuwait's liberation.
This is NOT a typical museum: please be advised that this event may be hard for some to handle as the audio and visual displays within the museum are very dramatic.
The bus will leave the TIES Center at 5:30PM on September 12th. For registration, please call the receptionist at 25231015 or 25231016.
Admission is 1KD, which will be payable at the entrance.
Although it's in Arabic I like to see video of the early days, before skyscrapers and modernization. Sometimes it's hard to imagine what Kuwait was like before since the government hasn't saved too many of the old buildings but thankfully some footage was taken so people who are into history can catch a glimpse.
God bless those who gave their life during the invasion.
In the early hours of August 2, 1990, more than 100,000 Iraqi troops moved tanks,
helicopters and trucks across the border into Kuwait. Iraq maintained the
world’s fourth–largest military and had mobilized an overwhelming invading
force. Within an hour, they reached Kuwait City, and by daybreak, Iraqi tanks
were attacking Dasman Palace, the royal residence. The emir had already fled
into the Saudi desert, but his private guard and his younger half–brother, Sheik
Faud al–Ahmad al–Sabah, had stayed behind to defend their home. The sheik was
shot and killed, and according to an Iraqi soldier who deserted after the
assault, his body was placed in front of a tank and run over.
It was Saddam’s idea alone to invade Kuwait. He had gambled that he could get
away with seizing the tiny oil–rich nation to help pay off debts. But his gamble
did not pay off –– he had misread the interests of the international community
and the United States in a stable Middle East. After the invasion, Saddam defied
orders to retreat and the U.N. imposed sanctions. After months of deliberations
and with U.N. support, the United States and international Coalition forces
launched a full–scale air and missile attack on Iraq on January 16, 1991. A
ground assault followed a month later, and Saddam’s troops were quickly forced
out of Kuwait. The United Nations declared an end to the war on April 11, 1991.
The Iraqi military allegedly committed crimes while in Kuwait. Evidence
suggests that it tortured and killed hundreds of Kuwaiti nationals and people
from othernations. Foreign hostages were taken, Kuwaiti properties were looted,
and Iraqi forces set fire to more than 700 Kuwaiti oil wells and opened
pipelines to let oil pour into the Gulf. An Iraqi law dating back to the 1950s
prohibits the act of aggressive war against other Arab countries.
All of this after Kuwait had funded the 8-year Iraqi war against Iran but Iraq was in no financial position to pay back Kuwait the US $14 billion it had borrowed for the war and when Kuwait would not forgive the debt Iraq decided to attack its Muslim brothers and sisters.
Personal stories:
The war re-visited with Tahani AlAyoub, you can see the full video with English subtitles here, it makes you feel as if you are living it. Thanks Mark for the info.
My sister's ex-husband was in hiding in a house with his cousins when the Iraqi soldiers broke in and took one of the cousins, in the scuffle his cousin lost his glasses and watch which her ex-husband still has today locked in his brief case, his cousin was never found. My nephew told me his dad won't talk about it but tears up when he was asked.
My mother's husband won't talk about what happened during those months. He used to have nightmares and wake up screaming and sweating when they first got married. He only said a few things like he killed some Iraqi soldiers and watched some soldiers burn to death in a car. The war memories still haunt him.
My husband was in his last year of high school on his way to take his last chemistry test when he saw the Iraqi soldiers so instead of taking a test he went to the police station to register to fight the soldiers. He got ammunition and went to fight. His family was supposed to go in a convoy to Saudi Arabia but stayed because of him. Unlike the others my husband loves to talk about what happened and how they disguised themselves by using garbage trucks to get around and hide ammunition. I can never get details though.
I was in high school in California and remember meeting Claudia Al Rashoud during that time, she held an art exhibition at one of the local colleges which displayed her photos of Kuwait during the invasion. We also met an American married to a Kuwaiti and her kids who were staying in California at that time as well.
Sometimes it seems as if Kuwaitis want to brush this event under the rug and not speak about it anymore. I really wish they would update the Memorial Museum and move it to a better location like they have done with some of the other museums. I know as I gather historical information and documents about Kuwait I will definitely teach my children about the invasion so they can appreciate the life they have and where they came from.
I finally took the time to stop by this heritage village area by the sea. It was sooo hot that day so I took a few pictures of the buildings and went back the following weekend to check out the shops inside. It's such a neat place to visit and I will bring my family once it cools down.
Old school rides for kids
The Ministry could really make this place great with a little publicity and some groundskeeper to clean up the exterior. I would suggest having some Kuwaiti folk song groups perform there on weekends to bring in people. There will be more posts with pictures of the shops coming up.....
I spotted this old house as I was driving through Mangaf and had to stop to take pictures before it gets torn down. I wish they would make every one of these old houses a little musuem where it stands. They could just refurbish is so it is steady and build a gate around it, kind of like the old doors that were once part of the wall built around Kuwait.
Time is running out and modernization is taking over, erasing history.
Are you looking for something to do this week? TIES offers their classic car museum tour this Thursday for more information call 25231015 or visit their website.
You can visit my post about the car museum for some info if you're interested.
My husband and I had visited the Memorial Museum a few months ago and I guess I didn't make a post about it so better late than never.
Not so great translation but we get the meaning although it seems no one wants to really remember those days considering schools don't have it in their text books.
During this demonstration Iraqi troops killed Sanaa Al-Foudari
Kuwait oil wells on fire.
Citizens who were killed during the invasion.
Dedicated to the US troops
Kuwaiti babies were pulled from incubators and thrown onto the floor by Iraqi troops.
The head of Sadam given to Kuwait by the US troops.
I love this museum I just wish they took better care of it and re-located it to a better place. It's hard to find and very dusty inside. We didn't have a guide to tell us about anything, maybe we came at the wrong time. I wish the NCCAL would take control of this museum and treat it with more respect.
The Al-Messilah band of resistance fighters decided to battle against the Iraqi forces from their home in Qurain. As 20 of their 31 members made their plans on February 24, 1991, an Iraqi patrol knocked on their door thus starting the beginning of the battle which lasted for 10 hours. Three members were killed in battle, nine were captured and executed, two of them were found hiding in the attic but were saved when an Iraqi soldier decided to overlook them and six escaped before the battle ended.
After leaving the Behbehani Complex we checked out the Amricani Cultural Center also known as the American Mission Hospital which is within walking distance of the Complex. It was actually closed but we were able to have our own special tour. The outside was beautifully restored but once we got to the doors of the center it became ultra modern. I wish they would have kept some of the historical value on the inside. There must have been a lot of money used to restore it which is great but there are so many other museums and historical sites that can use some donations as well but I guess UNESCO had a hand with the restoration as well.
We were taken on a tour of the inside and saw a few historical items. We watched the history of the hospital in the theatre and learned of the American missionaries goal was to covert Muslims as they treated them in the hospitals.
The hospital opened in 1911 and was probably one of the first modern hospitals in the Gulf.
It is an ultra modern experience but I found it a little boring. I'm more into the old original buildings and architecture. I wish they would have kept one floor or area totally original that way one can get a better feel for how it used to be.
