Kuwaiti Embroidery Blends Rich Art and Outstanding Craft

Altaf Salem Al Ali

"Embroidery crafted by indigenous groups opens the door to their history and society; through it they speak a silent language more eloquent than written pages," says Sheikha Altaf Salem Al Ali while quoting Louis Morgan on the social significance of local embroideries.

Altaf Salem Al Ali, a Kuwaiti anthropologist and an AUB graduate (BA '71, MA '75), was invited by the Friends of the Museum to give a lecture entitled "Traditional Weavings of Kuwait: Nomadic Tent-Dividers and Urban Cloaks" on March 5. Mrs. Nora Jumblat was one among a large audience who gathered at the archaeological museum to listen to Al Ali's description of this embroidery, known as Al Sadu-a traditional craft practiced by Kuwaiti women.

Not only did she present the aesthetic and practical characteristics and the historical evolution of this embroidery, Al Ali presented also the results of her anthropological research following her interviews with numerous women who still practice this craft despite its dwindling popularity.

According to Al Ali, among the important factors that influenced the evolution of the use and appearance of the embroidery is the interplay between the desert and port life of Kuwaitis. "Despite their dependence on pearl fishing, the Kuwaitis never lost their contact with the desert, for it shows in the elaborate and extensive use of embroideries," Al Ali said, adding, "Kuwaiti women used to learn the craft of making embroideries from their childhoods, but now there exists a minority of those women at the 'house of Al Sadu' who produce traditional embroideries and export them to outside countries."

At the end of her talk, Al Ali announced the publication of her latest book Ibjad, which provides an artistic study and assessment of the traditional Kuwaiti embroidery. In it she highlights the multifaceted richness of Kuwaiti art and culture sustained by Kuwaiti women through their crafts.