Bait Al-Othman museum reflects Kuwaiti past to current, future generations

KUWAIT, May 9 (KUNA) -- Bait Al-Othman Museum reflects the beautiful Kuwaiti past to current and future generations through its display of antique memorabilia and artifacts' collections, said Abdullah Al-Othman Heritage Center Director Anwar Al-Refai.
In a statement to KUNA, Al-Refai highlighted the success of the museum's unique collection of rare cultural artifacts showcased to visitors, which led to the museum's increased popularity.
This came during the recent 22nd meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Undersecretaries Responsible for Antiquities and Museums, in collaboration with the GCC General Secretariat in Doha, Qatar.
Al-Refai added that the museum was praised for providing a platform to present Gulf Arab heritage and cultural legacies.
Al-Refai, who is also the Director of the Heritage Team, underscored the team's efforts in focusing on cultural, civilizational, and human heritage that accentuate the authentic identity of Kuwait. The Heritage Team is compiled of Kuwaiti history, anthropology, and heritage enthusiasts and researchers aiming to preserve Kuwait's forefathers' legacies, while also emphasizing the hardships and harsh conditions previous generations endured.
Furthermore, the Heritage Team believes in communicating these legacies with current generations, sharing social, cultural and anthropological aspects through reviving Kuwaiti customs and heritage lost to time and modernization.
It is through the hardships Kuwait's forefathers' endured that current generations are able to flourish, therefore their past efforts and adversities should be commemorated.
The Heritage Team, a volunteer-led effort under the auspices of Sheikha Amthal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah founded on 19 October 2010, had been appointed by the Council of Ministers to initiate its mission in collecting and recording past Kuwaiti heritage with Bait Al-Othman Museum as its headquarters.
The museum was inaugurated in 2013 by the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, with Bait Al-Othman being considered as a Kuwaiti architectural marvel. Bait Al-Othman was built in the late 1940s in Hawally, designed as a traditional Kuwaiti house with multiple (hosh)-courtyards at the center, and a (diwaniya) which is a reception hall, elaborated Al-Refai.
Bait Al-Othman was significant for a structure of its sort being erected outside Kuwait City's parameters, leading it to become looked after and preserved by the Kuwaiti National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) for many visiting enthusiasts.
The late owner of Bait Al-Othman, Abdullah Abdullatif Al-Othman, born in 1897, was a prominent Kuwaiti figure that prospered in many fields and aspects available to him at the time, while also being a benefactor to the poor and needy. (end) shd.za