Here is a short compilation video I put together after visiting several of the museums mentioned below.

Sadu House: located within a home built in 1936, you can learn about the traditional woven textile known as “Sadu” here. They also host workshops and art exhibits, which they post about through Instagram.

Museum of Modern Art: located within a school built in 1939, this museum houses a permanent collection of works by Sami Mohammed, a famous Kuwaiti sculptor. The watercolor is by Zahra Marwan and it depicts, “Kuwaiti artist Sami Mohammed making his first sculpture from beach stones in Al-Sharq in 1952 as a young teenager.”

Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah American Cultural Center: located within a hospital built by American missionaries around the turn of the century, the building was renovated in 2011 and now houses the Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah Collection, or “House of Islamic Antiquities.” They also have a center in Yarmouk that hosts events, including an annual cultural season, including lectures, musical performances, workshops, and more.

Kuwait National Museum: previously located within an old palace built around the turn of the century, this museum was built in 1983. While I was living in Kuwait, you could only visit the Hall of Archaeology and Heritage Hall, but apparently the planetarium is reopening soon.

Bait al Othman Museum: located in a old home built in the 1940s in Hawally, this may be my favorite museum in Kuwait–a perfect combination of kitsch and history (and live birds!)

Tareq Rajab Museum and Tareq Rajab Museum of Islamic Calligraphy: Tareq Rajab was born in Kuwait in 1934. He married Jehan Rajab, an Englishwoman who had lived in Brazil and Jamaica as a child, in 1955. The two were extremely dedicated to the documentation and preservation of Kuwaiti culture and history. On this blog, I have cited Jehan’s work, such as Voice of the Oud and Failaka Island, many times. Today you can visit two museums they set up, one focusing on Islamic Calligraphy and the other with an almost overwhelming amount of artifacts.

Dickson House Museum: located in a pre-oil home built around the turn of the century that HRP Dickson, the British Political Agent of Kuwait, and his Violet moved into in 1929. She continued to live there after Harold’s death in 1959, all the way until the Iraqi Invasion in 1990 when she had to be evacuated to England. Violet and her daughter Zahra wrote several works about Kuwait and the process of urbanization that they witnessed in the 1950s and onwards. The old home stands as a remembrance of pre-oil Kuwait, its small homes and winding streets.

Mirror House: created between 1972 and 2006 by artist Lidia al Qattan (seen below)

Al Jahra Red Fort: the site of the Battle of the Red Fort, which took place in 1920. It is now a heritage museum, very similar to the heritage hall in the National Museum

Maritime Museum: next to the Museum of Modern Art, the Maritime Museum details the history of Kuwait’s seafaring past (which you can also learn about with the film Bas ya Bahar)

Ahmed Al Jaber Oil & Gas Exhibition: it tells the story of the discovery of oil in Kuwait in 1938 and the establishment of the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), which radically transformed Kuwait

Sheikh Mubarak Kiosk: Sheikh Mubarak ruled Kuwait from 1896 to 1915, a transformative time in the country’s history. He established Mubarakiya, the central souq. Within the market he built a “kishk,” in which to hold his daily meetings with the townspeople. Furthermore, he used the building to observe and monitor all activity in the market (he also toured Mubarakiya every afternoon in a black Victorian carriage drawn by two black horses)

Bait Ghaith: located in a pre-oil home in Sharq, built in the 1930s. According to some sources, it housed a “ceramics house,” but during my time in Kuwait, I never saw it open. Below you can see the process of modern urbanization in Kuwait, which demolished much of the old city, saving just a few remnants of Old Kuwait.

Al Salam Palace: in May of 1969, Nat Geo had an article on Kuwait. They reported that Al Salam Palace was, “Kuwait’s official guesthouse. Planned as the private pleasure dome of a royal sheikh… Peace Palace was purchased by the government $8,400,000. It witnesses glittering receptions held by and for the Emir.” Like many other buildings, the palace suffered severe destruction during the invasion. It was abandoned for many years, but was recently renovated. The older photographs below show the Al Salam Palace under construction in the early 60s. They come from Brett Jordan. Today the palace is a museum, but you can only visit with an appointment.

Here are others:

• Scientific Center
• Al Qurain Martyrs Museum
• Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre
• Al Hashemi Marine Museum
• Police Museum
• Hassan Ashkanani Museum