The proposal for the Art residency was how I would like not to bring what happening in the past but investigate how memories can effect the way we live our present and will continue to do so in the future? How the passage of time is reflected in Kuwait and where the boundaries of identity can represent traditions and coexist with the new? How the loss of cultural identity as a result of the process of Globalization in the Middle East influences our society now?
The project focusing on identity, and how it is influenced by the Passage of time and elements of change. Failaka Island is the reference point for this, and acts as a physical representation of the cause and effects of historical events. The interaction and participation of engaged audience are integral features of the artwork. Inspired by, and based on the public’s response, the work arose not only as a result of experimentation, but as a Utopian imagining of a reality which is different from what exist today.
Failaka Island - In 331 BC or in the period 324/3, the ancient Greeks colonized the island, which they named Ikaros after the Greek island in the Aegean Sea and the mythical hero Icarus, apparently in the belief that the island had a similar shape of its Aegean counterpart. Some elements of Greek mythology were mixed with the local cults.[11] "Ikaros" was also the name of a prominent city situated in Failaka. During 1990 and 1991, the invading Iraqis depopulated the island, expelling all of its residents to the mainland. The Iraqi military mined the beaches and used the island's facilities and buildings for target practice. In 1991, the allied forces forced the Iraqi army forces occupying the island to surrender through bombing and psywar operations