After the invasion, occupation and liberation, infrastructure work that served the basic needs of the people of Kuwait was the priority, so the museum reconstruction would have to wait. With that, the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah faced a dilemma: what do you do with a museum-based organisation that has no museum?

Between 1991 and 1993, several options were discussed and by 1994, the decision was made. The Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah would push forward, continuing to work to promote awareness of and appreciation for Islamic art and culture. And while it would be years before a permanent exhibition space would be available, the DAI planned to continue those activities that were still viable and add new ones.

The DAI’s travelling exhibition Islamic Art and Patronage: Treasures from Kuwait moved to the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, Italy. DAI objects were again on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, on loan to the Persian Painting of the 1330s and 1340s exhibition.

In conjunction with the exhibition of Islamic Art and Patronage in Florence, Sheikha Hussah spoke at the Accademia Delle Arti Del Disegno there. In her lecture “The Story of a Door” she talked about the impact of the invasion on the DAI. She used a very special pair of 14th century carved doors from Fez to tell the story. The doors were displayed in the KNM and were destroyed when the Iraqis burned the museum on their way back to Iraq. She explained that those doors, carved with a Kufic inscription which read “Good Fortune and Success and Good Company”, were the symbolic ‘door’ to the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah. But despite the loss of the doors, the organisation was still open and serving the community.

That spring, Hadeeth ad-Dar made its official debut. Now an internationally known publication, Hadeeth ad-Dar was the first of the new tools added to the DAI’s portfolio.

The DAI might never look the same, but from 1994 on there was no question that the organisation would continue the work begun in 1983.