Akkaz, An Anthology
Akkaz, An Anthology is a series of imagined scenarios and experimental stories referencing history as it gives voice to archaeology and personifies remnants. The aim of the anthology section is to prompt our collective imagination when it comes to the local historical landscape.
The 1960s and 1970s were a time of rapid urbanization for Kuwait. The country's coastline was altered to accommodate the increasing demand for routes. The free trade zone, Shuwaikh, Kuwait, used to be known as Akkaz Island, covering 12,000 sqm, before it was reclaimed and merged with the land in the 1970s.
In recent years, Shuwaikh has undergone massive urban changes that are considered relatively recent history, given that fishermen inhabited the island up until the 1970s. A fascinating story lies within the perimeters of a considerably small roundabout that is inaccessible at this time due
to its location in the now industrial shipping port of Shuwaikh. The roundabout is the only surviving mound of seven, and it has undergone significant archaeological work throughout the years. Each of the seven mounds or 'tells*' has historical significance.
French archaeologist Jacqueline Gachet-Bizollon was part of a French expedition in the 1990s in the same area. The expedition's findings are all collected in a book titled "Le Tell D'akkaz Au Koweit." In this work, she describes the seven stratigraphic layers of a mound in Shuwaikh. Each layer encompasses its unique discoveries, such as evidence of domestic life, animal husbandry, Musnad writing, a Sassanid Dakhma*, the earliest church in the Persian/ Arabian Gulf, and Abbasid coins. Such dis- coveries place Kuwait on the historical map and help us gain clarity on its relation to the Gulf and surrounding countries in the years before the common era.
We wanted our fascination with archaeology to manifest through narratives and visual interpretations. The result is an anthology chapter reflecting each layer's evidence. In each story, fiction is carefully woven with reality. The narrated stories are extracted from Jacqueline's descriptions to each layer in her previously mentioned book. The stories sometimes take on the voices (first person) of specters of the past described as archaeological evidence in the research, and other times have a second or third-person narrator.
Akkaz, An Anthology is a series of imagined scenarios and experimental stories referencing history as it gives voice to archaeology and personifies remnants. The aim of the anthology section is to prompt our collective imagination when it comes to the local historical landscape.
The 1960s and 1970s were a time of rapid urbanization for Kuwait. The country's coastline was altered to accommodate the increasing demand for routes. The free trade zone, Shuwaikh, Kuwait, used to be known as Akkaz Island, covering 12,000 sqm, before it was reclaimed and merged with the land in the 1970s.
In recent years, Shuwaikh has undergone massive urban changes that are considered relatively recent history, given that fishermen inhabited the island up until the 1970s. A fascinating story lies within the perimeters of a considerably small roundabout that is inaccessible at this time due
to its location in the now industrial shipping port of Shuwaikh. The roundabout is the only surviving mound of seven, and it has undergone significant archaeological work throughout the years. Each of the seven mounds or 'tells*' has historical significance.
French archaeologist Jacqueline Gachet-Bizollon was part of a French expedition in the 1990s in the same area. The expedition's findings are all collected in a book titled "Le Tell D'akkaz Au Koweit." In this work, she describes the seven stratigraphic layers of a mound in Shuwaikh. Each layer encompasses its unique discoveries, such as evidence of domestic life, animal husbandry, Musnad writing, a Sassanid Dakhma*, the earliest church in the Persian/ Arabian Gulf, and Abbasid coins. Such dis- coveries place Kuwait on the historical map and help us gain clarity on its relation to the Gulf and surrounding countries in the years before the common era.
We wanted our fascination with archaeology to manifest through narratives and visual interpretations. The result is an anthology chapter reflecting each layer's evidence. In each story, fiction is carefully woven with reality. The narrated stories are extracted from Jacqueline's descriptions to each layer in her previously mentioned book. The stories sometimes take on the voices (first person) of specters of the past described as archaeological evidence in the research, and other times have a second or third-person narrator.
Akkaz, An Anthology
Written by -
Maryam Mohammed
Nada Abu Daqer
Sara Al Zeer
Designed by Hamad Al Mujeem
2023
Written by -
Maryam Mohammed
Nada Abu Daqer
Sara Al Zeer
Designed by Hamad Al Mujeem
2023
