By Faten Omar
Khat Gallery inaugurated the Rehla Exhibition on Tuesday in cooperation with 360 Mall to celebrate the art, culture and history of Kuwait. The interactive exhibition took visitors on a journey made up of five beautifully-designed sections telling the most engaging tales about culture, art and craft. On the sidelines of the exhibition, Abdulrahman Issa Bourahma, Managing Partner of Khat Gallery, said: "Khat Gallery is a company specialized in designing products inspired by our cultural and civilizational heritage. Today’s journey in our exhibition is to explore the art, culture and history of Kuwaiti products that have a historical background in Kuwait. The exhibition consists of five stations — each station talks about a specific product and its history back then in Kuwait.”
He indicated that each section or "station” gives historical information about all products. "The information includes the origin of the product, when it entered the country, and how they used it back then. The visitor will be able to read information about the history of Kuwaiti trips in the past and the names of Kuwaiti perfumes used in those days, then an introduction on how Khat Gallery develops perfumes today,” Bourahma said.
"In the exhibition, visitors will experience the traditional way to seal and authenticate letters. As a product we sell, we show its history — when it started and how it came to Kuwait and what materials were used. During the exhibition, people can write a message and experience melting wax to seal it,” he noted.
Bourahma affirmed that tea has a great history in Kuwait. "Tea entered Kuwait in 1890. It will be a fascinating experience to know the methods of its preparation, and which Kuwaiti families brought it to Kuwait. Our mission was to make customers aware of the historical background of Khat Gallery products, where there is an extension of a great cultural heritage between Kuwait and tea.”
He revealed Chef Sharifa Al-Jaber will be at the exhibition in the tea section to prepare different types of teas, as well as narrate historical information about them, noting that the final section will be about printing and craftsmanship, where visitors will learn how to wrap gifts, as well as witness a presentation of the technique of printing with woodblocks — wooden molds that were previously used to decorate documents and letters. Bourahma said the exhibition is an interactive art, calling on people to enjoy the events and attend the activities that will run from Nov 15-21 at Oasis at 360 mall daily from 10 am to 10 pm.
Abdullah Al-Hamad, one of the owners of Khat Gallery, said: "Our participation in the exhibition is to link our culture, history and artistic heritage in Kuwait and the Arab Gulf region in general with today’s life. Today’s exhibition explains how we were inspired to design our products from this history, and how much we have developed in this field. We redesigned the tula (oud fragrance container), which came to us from India, with a modern design, while preserving its authenticity. We also took the concept of the old kohl container and transformed it to an unusual product where the oil is perfumed.”
Hamad revealed that one of the designs that Khat developed and revived is the Arabian incense burner. "The burner has a unique design, with a safe magnetic lid. It has a glass box for oud to see the beautiful incense specks. We have modernized the mubkhar, mixing between two objects and one in the middle — we can customize it with wood, glass or leather. One product can have 100 designs. This is one of the smart solutions that we are developing and working on,” he said.
Hamad stressed the need for citizens and residents to know the culture and art history that Kuwait had and draw inspiration from these art products to add flavor to our lives. "Kuwait was very rich in cultures and was a crossroads of cultures from India, Persia, Iraq, Turkey and others. Kuwait was a commercial gateway. Kuwait’s products are all inspired by several cultures,” he explained.
The event offers tea tasting with Chef Sharifa Al-Jaber, in addition to Arabic calligraphy by Areej Al-Salam and painting on water art "ebro” by Hamoud Al-Jfran. Khat Gallery is the result of a series of creative actions to develop home accessories, art pieces and unique gifts displayed in stores and outlets inside and outside Kuwait. The gifts, accessories and art pieces are professionally handcrafted by a team of specialists. The products are inspired by humanity’s deep-rooted culture, and they work to produce them with a modern twist, taking into consideration the values of beauty, quality, precision and an impressionable experience.