DAR FIKAR
FIKAR was established in 2015 to provide a working space for artists, writers, and researchers on the ancient island of Failaka.
A committee of friends, working alongside former Failakan residents came together to identify a suitable property to host the project. Located on Al Jazeera Street, at the far southern edge of the village of Al Zawr, opposite the Failaka Museum, the Hellenistic ruins and Bronze Age settlements, the house that became Dar FIKAR had laid abandoned since the Iraqi Invasion in 1990.
Constructed in the 1980's, on a raised concrete structure, the house follows a traditional Gulf courtyard design, consisting of main house and annexe building. Despite long abandonment, the house maintained solid foundations, intact openings, and a stable cladding of sand coloured Wataniya bricks. Additionally, the house benefited from an underground water storage chamber and a well.
The renovation was undertaken by a team of twenty builders and artisans over a three-month period, in late summer and Autumn of 2015. Care was taken to maintain the original terrazzo floor tiles and several original features of the building. Materials including stucco, tiles, doors and wudh'u basins, recycled from other abandoned sites on the island were used to complete the renovation, rendering Dar FIKAR a site of architectural memory.
The gardens of Dar FIKAR have grown over time. When we began the project, there was only sand and silt, gathered like a shroud around the house. In the front courtyard, there stood a majestic Eucalyptus and two solitary palms that appeared to magically self-fertilise every summer. In collaboration with Villa Verde, and with assistance from the Public Authority of Agriculture, a tree planting project was undertaken that, today, allows DAR FIKAR to be surrounded by over 500 trees, a vegetable and herb garden that allows the house to occupy an oasis of greenery, that duly appears as a dark green splurge on Google Maps.
From its inception, FIKAR benefited from the encouragement and moral support of the late Shaikh Nasser Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, whose vision for the island of Failaka as a global centre of knowledge, learning and celebration of civilisational history continues to inform FIKAR's projects to this day.
Library
Dar FIKAR library is a collection of books divided in two categories:
- books on Failaka (history, archeology, anthropology, poetry, etc.) that will be built throughout the year to create a physical resource center in Fikar about the island;
- books offered by every visitor and resident, which can be on any topic and of any kind.
Cultural, diplomatic and scientific delegations
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NCCAL Visit / Secretary-General Mohammad Al Jassar / 2023
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NCCAL Visit / Secretary-General Mohammad Al Jassar / 2023
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NCCAL Visit / Secretary-General Mohammad Al Jassar / 2023
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Diplomatic delegation headed by Spain & Argentine Ambassadors / 2023
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![Diplomatic delegation headed by Spain & Argentine Ambassadors / 2023]()
Diplomatic delegation headed by Spain & Argentine Ambassadors / 2023
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Foreign Diplomats, Kuwaiti and Arab and foreigners guests
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Ambassador of France to Kuwait Claire Le Flecher, The Director of the French Institute in Kuwait, Benoit Katala & President of Paris International Languages University / 2022
