Output details

Diwaniyah - An Architectural Space of Political Exchange

This exhibition consists of a two-track film that investigates a typology of Kuwaiti architecture, the diwaniyah, through which the country's political process has found an indirect form of democratic expression linked to a deeply-rooted cultural tradition. The diwaniyah is a simple, four-sided room, with seating on each side, in which daily meetings are held. Here, political opinions are freely expressed in informal gatherings in the homes of government officials, leading citizens, lobby groups or even on street-corners. It is said that the term originally referred to the section of a Bedouin tent where the men and their visitors met apart from the family; in the old City of Kuwait, the diwaniyah was the reception area where a man received his male colleagues and guests. Numerous typologies of diwaniyahs have evolved from the original archetype, adapting to specific functions. The film and exhibition investigate the direct relationship between this specifically Kuwaiti typology and political life in the country.