Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
young as religion used to affect the customs and manners of their Bedouin or seafaring an-
cestors. Kuwaiti society certainly can't be described as permissive, but the veil in many
areas of social exchange is discernibly slipping.
A tolerance towards other religions is evinced through the provision of services at Cop-
tic, Anglican, Evangelical and Orthodox churches in Kuwait City. Kuwait is the only Gulf
country to have a strong relationship with the Roman Catholic Church.
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Arts
Kuwait's artistic endeavours are influenced by the country's Bedouin roots and its seafar-
ing tradition.
The Bedouin arts of weaving, folk tales, songs and dancing are to less and less an ex-
tent passed on in the daily lives of modern Kuwaitis, but attempts to preserve them by the
activities of cultural centres such as Sadu House are reassuring.
Kuwait's seafaring tradition has manifested artistically in the form of sea shanties and
seafaring folklore. Shipbuilding developed into an art form, too, in its 18th-century hey-
day, as can be seen at the Al-Hashemi Marine Museum. Two modern wooden sailing
boats,
Mohammedi II
and
Al-Hashemi II,
on the same site as the museum, showcase the
aesthetic side of shipbuilding. A tradition of lavish feasting upon the return of ships,
which were often out pearling for months at a time, is also heartily alive.
Kuwait City has also developed a lively contemporary art scene with a growing region-
al reputation for the quality of exhibitions shown at venues such as the Modern Art Mu-
seum. (
Click here
)
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Environment
The Land
It has to be said that Kuwait is not the most well-endowed patch of earth, either in terms
of the sublime or the picturesque. The interior consists of a mostly flat, gravelly plain with
little or no ground water. Its saving grace is the grassy fringe that greens up prettily across
much of the plain late in the spring, providing rich grazing for the few remaining Bedu
who keep livestock. The only other geographic feature of any note in a country that meas-
