'Forbidden Fruit': Kuwait's Taboo-Breaking Artist on Sex, Sin and Censorship

MIDDLE EAST EYE
By Vittoria Volgare Detaille

A writer and visual artist, Shurooq Amin's work is often seen as provocative (Courtesy of Shurooq Amin)

It came as little surprise to Kuwaiti artist Shurooq Amin that her latest exhibition was shut down by the authorities just a week after it opened. Her work has always sparked controversy; her 2012 show, It's A Man's World, was closed down just three hours after its launch. Amin's most recent defiant display, Like Russian Dolls We Nest in Previous Selves, was inaugurated on 8 January. It was planned to run for a month at the Contemporary Art Platform (CAP), one of the most progressive art centres in Kuwait. But a week after opening, the exhibition was dramatically shut down and her work ordered to be removed. Though authorities released no official statement, CAP said they were told they hadn't obtained "a prior licence from the concerned authorities" and that there were "claims that the exhibition contained elements in violation of the publishing law of the Ministry of Information". [More]