Kuwait City Fluctuating. Investigating a City´s Urban History Through Visual Culture

Hindelang, Laura (19 September 2017). Kuwait City Fluctuating. Investigating a City´s Urban History Through Visual Culture (Unpublished). In: 24. Internationaler DAVO-Kongress. Universität Jena. 19.09.2017.

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Kuwait City was the first settlement along the Persian Gulf´s western shore to experience a rapid transformation of its urban landscape as unprecedented wealth flooded in from the oilfields in the mid-20th century. The subsequent implementation of the city´s first master plan based on the British New Town model changed the material realities of everyday life in Kuwait immensely.
The goal of this paper is to explore the material culture of Kuwait City´s urban history through images. My analysis of how the city was imagined, portrayed and depicted in maps, photographs, advertisement, drawings, films, and illustrated travel reports produced by residents and visitors alike since the 1950s provides insights into how the city was understood, manipulated or envisioned.
In order to understand the meaning of these pictures, I use art historical methodology, but also examine the socio-historic, cultural and technical circumstances of their production as well as their dissemination and reception. I argue that Kuwait´s urban history, or any city´s history in this regard, cannot be comprehensively understood without investigating its visual history, too.

Item Type:

Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Division/Institute:

06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institute of Art History
06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institute of Art History > Architectural History and Preservation

UniBE Contributor:

Hindelang, Laura

Subjects:

700 Arts
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 320 Political science
700 Arts > 720 Architecture
700 Arts > 730 Sculpture, ceramics & metalwork
700 Arts > 740 Drawing & decorative arts

Language:

English

Submitter:

Laura Katharina Hindelang

Date Deposited:

28 May 2020 16:04

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:38

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/143366

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