Both a celebration of and a requiem to Kuwait’s past, Ali Sultan & Hamad Al Saab’s Reminiscing Kuwait II reads like a story which has prematurely reached it’s happy ever after in the sixties and witnessed a steady decline ever since. I do, however, also think it’s a story of hope. Although my first impression when I walked in was one of pleasant shock, almost like a buzz, faced by two walls displaying primary-colored minimalistic paintings, it was the central piece, The Distracted Path, which held my attention. And the funny thing is, this piece wasn’t in the center at all.
It’s the only one of its kind at the gallery, save another which isn’t as cacophonic and includes the stitching only in one part. It’s such a turbulent piece that the rest of the exhibition feels like calm waters after swimming out of a terrible stretch of rapids.
The exhibition is up at the Sultan Gallery until tomorrow afternoon.