The Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah seemed to be everywhere in 2005. Exhibitions, excavations and expeditions took the DAI to a variety of destinations abroad and local trips invited friends to explore Kuwait.

Treasury of the World: Jewelled Arts of India in the Age of the Mughals left Spain for the Museum für Islamische Kunst & Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin, Germany.
Loans from the collection were on display in the Bellini and the East exhibition at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, in Boston, Massachusetts; others could be found in London, England in the Natural History Museum’s Diamonds exhibition. Sheikha Hussah Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah also travelled to London to attend a 3 day conference on “Ancient Persia Legacy and Magnificence” at the British Museum, organised in conjunction with the Forgotten Empire exhibition.

The archaeological excavation team participated in a Japanese-Kuwaiti joint excavation in the Raya/al-Tur area on the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. This was the first of a multi-year cooperative effort between archaeologists and scholars from Kuwait and Japan. The objective of the dig was to trace the spice route from Arabia to the Mediterranean Sea.

Travellers with the international cultural expedition discovered the delights of Old Damascus in Syria. In Kuwait, trips to Failaka Island and historic Kuwait City shared the country’s past with participants, while visits to the al-Marzouk Stables and the Sulaibyah Farm gave them a new perspective on modern Kuwait’s Arabian horse breeding and racing programmes and agricultural culture.

Of course, all this happened in conjunction with the end of Cultural Season 10 and the beginning of Cultural Season 11. Films, readings and musical evenings kept the stage busy and three editions of Bareed ad-Dar were published in 2005, as were two editions of Hadeed ad-Dar.

Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the US: the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah was everywhere in 2005.