1988 was a year of preparation, as will be obvious when 1989 is reviewed. That is not to say the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah wasn’t busy during these 12 months. The exhibition in Bahrain continued into the year, as did the loans to The Age of Sultan Suleyman, a travelling exhibition now at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The lectures, still not an official “series”, continued in 1988, as visiting scholars were eager to share their knowledge with an interested audience that was earning a reputation for being active listeners. The newsletter was published twice that year and art courses on traditional Kuwaiti and Islamic art were offered.

Photographs of Old Jerusalem, an exhibition hosted by the DAI at the Kuwait National Museum, sparked a flood of emotion. Visitors reflected not just on the location of the photographs but also on the life depicted in them.

In early March, a handicraft centre, al-Muhtaraf (meaning “workshop), was established in Bayt al-Bader, offering courses in ceramics, jewellery making, metalwork, drawing and water-colour painting. It is worth mentioning that the one hundred and fifty year old building is considered one of the finest remaining traditional clay houses in Kuwait.

On the surface, some years look tranquil because you can’t see the activity bubbling underneath. For the DAI, 1988 was one of those years.