Working in partnership with creative institutions in Kuwait and the four UK regions, Making Marks Kuwait facilitated group visits for nominated artists to Kuwait and the UK in 2019, offering funding for creative, community engagement programmes under the project’s themes over the coming year. Two short films documenting the artists’ experiences was also made by Hydar Dewachi, a British Iraqi artist and film maker.
The theme considers the positive impact of international working and exchange, and how it can shape artists and their work. Throughout the facilitated visits, artists were asked to explore transformations that can take place through the exchange of ideas and practices from one cultural environment to the next and reflect on how this marks us.
The experience provided the opportunity for participating artists to explore how the UK and Kuwait’s relationship shapes our societies and our image of ourselves. The programme actively challenges stereotypes of our respective cultures and highlights the similarities, differences, and universal challenges facing emerging creatives the world over.
Making Marks Kuwait is supported by British Council Kuwait and was run in collaboration with Madeenah, LOYAC and Manifesto 13 in Kuwait, and Belfast Exposed, Fruitmarket Gallery, Mostyn and The Hepworth Wakefield in the United Kingdom.
