A show of contemporary artwork that reinterprets Kuwait’s textile heritage, known as Sadu, will go on view this week at the Middle East Institute, a U.S.-based policy think tank in Washington, D.C.

The Middle East Institute, which regularly hosts cultural programming alongside its foreign policy research and public events, will open the show “Beyond the Weave: Contemporary Dialogues with AlSadu” on Friday. It will run through August 23.

The exhibit is curated by Kuwait’s AlSadu Society, a cultural organization dedicated to preserving and promoting Sadu weaving, a traditional Bedouin textile practice known for its bold geometric patterns. It is sponsored by Kuwait’s National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters.

The works featured in the show were made by 12 artists during the Sadu Art and Design Initiative, a three-month residency offered annually that invites five emerging artists from various creative backgrounds to explore Sadu weaving.

“The works that emerge move between distilled abstraction and immersive inquiry, tracing Sadu across image, object, and experience,” the Middle East Institute said in a news release.

“Together, they form an evolving record of exchange between past and present, affirming that tradition remains vital not through preservation alone, but through continuous dialogue with new voices and vision.”

The Middle East Institute noted that the exhibition is aligned with the Kuwaiti government’s “Threads of Friendship” initiative, marking the 65th anniversary of Kuwait’s Independence Day and the 35th anniversary of its liberation from Iraq.

Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, invaded and occupied Kuwait on August 2, 1990. After weeks of aerial bombardment, U.S.-led coalition ground forces launched a swift campaign that forced Iraqi troops to retreat. Kuwait was freed from Iraqi occupation on February 26, 1991.

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