The Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah presented a new exhibition and a new book in 2004. The exhibition, Temples and Kings in the First Millennium, was held at Kuwait University in Shuwaikh and was created for the visit of an important Iranian delegation led by Dr. Atta Allah Muhajirani. The book, “Ceramics from Islamic Lands”, by Oliver Watson, presents more than 300 ceramic objects from The al-Sabah Collection with photographs and vivid descriptions.

Treasury of the World: Jewelled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals continued to attract large audience, this year at the Palacio Real – Patrimonio Nacional in Madrid, Spain. The First European Publications of Islamic and Arab Civilisation exhibition opened at the First Comprehensive Cultural Festival in Dubai, UAE.

Sheikha Hussah, DAI director general, participated in conferences at home and abroad. In March, she spoke on “Three questions regarding art” at Kuwait University Teaching College. In May, she spoke on “Art in Exile” at the Kuwait University Department of English Literature. In June, she travelled to the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia for “The Study of Persian Culture in the West: 16th to Early 20th Century” conference.

A cultural expedition to Turkey was the highlight of the education activities for many. But visits to sites within Kuwait, including a visit to the stable of DAI friend and supporter, Mr Mohammad al-Marzouk, a working farm, an archaeological dig site on the mainland and a trip to Failaka Island were also popular additions to the cultural season programmes.

With new exhibitions, new publications, new destinations, new information and, of course, new takes on established activities: 2004 was a year of growth for the DAI and a wide variety of audiences.