A layered lightbox installation reviving Kuwaiti folklore through collective memory and visual storytelling.
This installation reimagines five iconic Kuwaiti myths, long passed down through oral tradition but rarely visualised. Created for Souq Al-Mubarakiya, one of the country’s oldest and most beloved markets, the piece brings these childhood legends to life through layered silhouettes and illuminated dioramas.
Each person who grew up with these stories imagined them differently. One saw Um El Sa’af as a tree with eyes, another as a shadow hidden between the leaves. This work captures that multiplicity and those blurred, shared memories by giving form to the intangible, making space for intergenerational connection and cultural reflection.
Placed in a public walkway, the installation invites passersby to pause, peer inside, and remember the stories they once heard whispered after dark. It becomes a point of shared nostalgia, bridging imagination and tradition.
Um El Sa'af Wl Leef
ام السعف والليف
Legend has it she was once a grieving mother, her children lost after fleeing from her in fear. Twisted by sorrow and rage, she wanders in search of disobedient children, luring them in when no one is watching. They say she boils their sins away, though no one knows what truly remains when she is done.
Hmarat El Gayla
حمارة القايلة
It is said that if a child wanders outside during the peak of the midday sun, she appears. Half woman, half donkey, with heavy limbs and sun-scorched skin, Ḥmārat al-Gayla stomps through the heat in search of those who disobey. Her steps are slow, but they shake the ground. Some say she tramples misbehaving children into the dirt, a warning to stay indoors when the sun is at its most unforgiving.
Al Tantal
الطنطل
When a child dares to sneak out in the middle of the night, he appears. Al-Tantal is an eerie, towering, lanky figure with a twisted grin and a laugh that echoes through empty streets. They say he doesn’t just chase his victims—he drags them into another world entirely. One that no one has ever returned from. The only way to be safe is to stay home before darkness settles in.
Sahirat Oman
ساحرة عمان
The adults say it’s just the wind rustling the palm leaves. But the children know better. They see her—Sāḥirat ‘Ōmān—floating just beyond the window, her eyes fixed, her smile patient. They say she glides past on a broom woven from fallen palm leaves. She doesn’t knock. She waits. And if a child lets her in, she takes them, leaving nothing behind but silence and swaying trees.
Baba Deryaa
بابا درياه
Sailors speak of a sea demon who surfaces before dawn, laughing in the dark. Baba Deryaa is a trickster, luring his prey with illusions while his minions slip beneath the waves to tear the boat apart. If the crew hasn’t anchored or begun their fajr prayers before the first light, it’s already too late. Only the sea knows what he leaves behind.
