The Kuwaiti Magazine al-ʿArabi as Cultural Diplomat in the 1950 and 1960s

Hindelang, Laura (6 April 2021). The Kuwaiti Magazine al-ʿArabi as Cultural Diplomat in the 1950 and 1960s (Unpublished). In: Culture Made in Arabia. The Arabian Peninsula as a new major player on the Arab cultural scene. Abu Dhabi, Vereinigte Arabische Emirate. 5.-8. April 2021.

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The urban culture of the Arabian Peninsula is often regarded as a contemporary phenomenon, although its beginnings can be traced back to the eighteenth century at least. Eventually, the emergence of rapidly transforming cityscapes and the rise of diverse modern urban cultures on the Peninsula from the mid-twentieth century onwards coincided with the systematic oil production. Alongside these urban transformations, 1950s cultural initiatives like the Kuwaiti magazine al-ʿArabī already became important instruments to establish a cultural presence of the Gulf in the MENA region.
Focusing on the cultural magazine al-ʿArabī (founded in December 1958 in Kuwait), this paper proposes to go back even further than the turn of the 21st century to evaluate that and how the Arabian Peninsula emerged as a new player on the Arab cultural scene. Although produced in Kuwait, al-ʿArabī was distributed across the Arabian Peninsula, the Levante and North Africa at an affordable price. Its price, which was significantly lower than the cost of production, and its attractive appearance quickly stimulated a wide circulation. Compared to other cultural magazines published in Arabic at the time, like the Egyptian al-Kawākib and al-Ithnayn (cf. Armbrust 2006), al-ʿArabī was the first Khaleeji magazine of modern appeal. It excelled for at least two reasons: because of its rich graphic and up-to-date photographic illustrations, some of which were even in colour, and its aspiration to provide the latest scientific innovations and modern Arabic literature for a broader public. An agenda that earned it the name the “National Geographic of the Arab world.” Funded by the Government of Kuwait, the Arabic monthly also served as a tool of cultural diplomacy to reshape relations between the newly emerging nation state Kuwait and long-established states like Egypt and Irak beyond investments of the Kuwaiti Oil Fund. Using a multi-disciplinary approach that combines textual analysis and an image/graphic design analysis of 1950s and 1960s issues, the article explores not only the establishment and cultural agenda of al-ʿArabī but also the magazine`s intellectual and visual contribution to laying the first stepping stones for the Arabian Peninsula as a major player on the Arab cultural scene.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Division/Institute:	06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institute of Art History > Architectural History and Preservation 06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institute of Art History
UniBE Contributor:	Hindelang, Laura
Subjects:	700 Arts 700 Arts > 720 Architecture 700 Arts > 740 Drawing & decorative arts 700 Arts > 750 Painting 700 Arts > 760 Graphic arts 700 Arts > 770 Photography & computer art 800 Literature, rhetoric & criticism
Language:	English
Submitter:	Laura Katharina Hindelang
Date Deposited:	01 Mar 2022 09:17
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 16:08
Additional Information:	These authors contributed equally to this work
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/165469