Kuwait is well known in the region for its exploration of many different and new forms of music and dance. [1] Kuwait is the birthplace of various popular musical genres such as sawt. [2] [3] Kuwait is widely considered the centre of traditional music in the GCC region. [3] [2]
Kuwait is the birthplace of various popular musical genres, such as sawt and fijiri. [2] [3] Traditional Kuwaiti music is derived from the country's seafaring heritage. In pre-oil times, Kuwait was regionally renowned for its music and 20–30% of Kuwaitis were professional musicians. [4] Kuwait is widely considered the centre of traditional music in the Persian Gulf. [3] [2] Traditional Kuwaiti music reflects the cosmopolitan influence of many diverse cultures. [5] The Habbān is a popular Kuwaiti music instrument.
Kuwait's seafaring tradition is known for songs such as "Fidjeri". [6] "Fidjeri" is a musical repertoire performed traditionally by male pearl divers. It involves singing, clapping, drums and dances with earthen water jars. "Liwa" and "Fann at-Tanbura" are types of music performed mainly by Kuwaitis of East African origin. "Al Arda Al Bahariya" is a well-known Kuwaiti sailor song, as are the "al-Nahma", a class of songs that accompanied many sailing activities.
Kuwait pioneered contemporary Khaliji music. [7] [8] [9] Kuwaitis were the first commercial recording artists in the Persian Gulf region. [7] [8] [9] The first known Kuwaiti recordings were made between 1912 and 1915. [10] Kuwait is known as the center for "sawt", a bluesy style of music made popular in the 1970s. Saleh and Daoud Al-Kuwaity pioneered the Kuwaiti sawt music genre and wrote over 650 songs, many of which are considered traditional and still played daily on radio stations both in Kuwait and the rest of the Arab world. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]
Kuwait has a reputation for being the central music influence of the GCC countries. [17] [18] Over the last decade of satellite television stations, many Kuwaiti musicians have become household names in other Arab countries. For example, Bashar Al Shatty became famous due to Star Academy . Contemporary Kuwaiti music is popular throughout the Arab world. Nawal El Kuwaiti, Nabeel Shoail and Abdallah Al Rowaished are the most popular contemporary performers. [1]
Kuwait has academic institutions specializing in university-level music education. [19] [20] The Higher Institute of Musical Arts was established by the government to provide bachelor's degrees in music. [21] [19] [20] In addition, the College of Basic Education offers bachelor's degrees in music education. [21] [19] [20] The Institute of Musical Studies offers music education qualifications equivalent to secondary school. [21] [20] [19]
The Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre contains the largest opera house in the Middle East. [22] Kuwait is home to various music festivals, including the International Music Festival hosted by the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL). [23] [24] The annual Gulf Music Festival features internationally renowned jazz musicians and local musicians. [25] [26]
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council, is a regional, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The council's main headquarters is located in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The Charter of the GCC was signed on 25 May 1981, formally establishing the institution.
The music of Saudi Arabia includes both Western and traditional music. The most distinguished musician in recent Saudi history is Tariq Abdulhakeem, who composed hundreds of famous Saudi songs for himself as well as for other singers; Saraj Omar has become a very prominent composer after writing the music for the Saudi national anthem; Mohammed Abdu, the most famous singer in the Arab world; Talal Maddah who died in August 2000 while singing in the summer festival on the stage of Al-Muftaha Theatre in the southern region of Saudi Arabia. The 1st Arab Pioneers Festival, which was held in Cairo under the patronage of the Arab League, honored four of the lead composers in Saudi Arabia: Tariq Abdulhakeem, Ghazi Ali, Mohamed Alsenan, and Mohammed Shafiq. Of the same generation are the oud virtuoso Abadi al Johar, Rabeh Saqer and Abdul-Majeed Abdullah.
The music of Bahrain is part of the Persian Gulf folk traditions. Alongside Kuwait, it is known for sawt music, a bluesy genre influenced by African, Indian and Persian music. Sultan Hamid, Ali Bahar and Khaled El Sheikh are among the most popular musicians from Bahrain.
Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah or Jaber III was Emir of Kuwait from 31 December 1977 until his death in 2006.
The music of Qatar is based on sea folk poetry, song and dance. The historical importance of pearl fishing have deeply resonated within the region's artistic expression, manifesting in melodies, tunes, and dances that reflect the enduring bond between humanity and the sea. Traditional dances in Doha are performed on Friday afternoons; one such dance is the Ardah, a stylized martial dance performed by two rows of dancers who are accompanied by an array of percussion instruments, including al-ras, mirwas and cymbals with small drums. Other folk instruments include the oud and rebaba, both string instruments, as well as the ney and sirttai, which are types of flutes.
The music of Oman has been strongly affected by the country's coastal location, with Omani sailors interacting with, and bringing back music from, Egypt, Tanzania and elsewhere. More recently, a Portuguese occupation has left its own marks, while geographic neighbors like the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Iran have also had a profound influence. In contrast to other Arab countries, Omani traditional music has a strong emphasis on rhythm.
Culture of Kuwait describes the cultural aspects of the Kuwaiti society and is part of the Eastern Arabian culture. Kuwaiti popular culture, in the form of dialect poetry, film, theatre, radio and television soap opera, flourishes and is even exported to neighboring states. Within the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, the culture of Kuwait is the closest to the culture of Bahrain.
Sawt is a kind of popular music found in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Fidjeri is the specific repertoire of vocal music sung by the pearl divers of Eastern Arabia's coastal Gulf states, especially Bahrain and Kuwait. A lead singer is backed up by a chorus of accompanying singers and clapping. The accompanying instruments to a fidjeri ensemble are a small double-sided hand-drum, known as the mirwās and the jāhlah, a clay pot played with both hands.
Saleh (1908–1986) and Daud (1910–1976) Al-Kuwaity were Kuwait-born Israeli musicians of Iraqi-Iranian ancestry who rose to prominence in the Arab world in the early twentieth century. The brothers had a pioneering role in the modern classical music of Iraq and Kuwait, especially the Iraqi maqam and Kuwaiti sawt genres. In 1951, the brothers immigrated from Iraq to Israel.
The culture of Bahrain is part of the historical region of Eastern Arabia. Thus, Bahrain's culture is similar to that of its Arab neighbours in the Arabian Gulf region. Bahrain is known for its cosmopolitanism, Bahraini citizens are very ethnically diverse. Though the state religion is Islam, the country is tolerant towards other religions: Catholic and Orthodox churches, Hindu temples as well as a (now-defunct) Jewish synagogue are present on the island.
Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the north and Saudi Arabia to the south. With a coastline of approximately 500 km (311 mi), Kuwait also shares a maritime border with Iran. Most of the country's population reside in the urban agglomeration of Kuwait City, the capital and largest city. As of 2023, Kuwait has a population of 4.82 million, of which 1.53 million are Kuwaiti citizens while the remaining 3.29 million are foreign nationals from over 100 countries.
Eastern Arabia, is a region stretched from Basra to Khasab along the Persian Gulf coast and included parts of modern-day Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The entire coastal strip of Eastern Arabia was known as "Bahrain" for a millennium.
Khaliji music is the music of Eastern Arabia, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and it is popular across the Arab world. It is traditionally characterized by heavy use of the rebab, oud and other string instruments such as the violin, the occasional use of habbān, and the inclusion of percussion instruments such as the mirwas, tabl, and duff drums. Khaliji music first started as a bedouin tradition with poetry sung by a tribe's shaa'ir, which means poet, usually accompanied by a rebab, the lyrics dealt with tales of honor, love, camel riders, and glory warriors.
There is a rich and ancient culture in Eastern Arabia. The culture in this region has always been oriented towards the sea.
The Khaleeji was a proposed name for a common currency of the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The Gulf Railway, also known as the GCC Railway, is a proposed railway system to connect all six Gulf Cooperation Council member states in Eastern Arabia. The rail network will have a total length of 2,177 km. The project is estimated to cost US$250 billion. It was scheduled to be completed by 2025, although as of 2023, construction work has yet to start.
Salem al-Allan was a popular Fijiri singer from Bahrain. He was born in Galali, a village in Muharraq Governorate.
Dr. Lisa Urkevich is a specialist in music and heritage of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the greater Arabian Peninsula, and has undertaken extensive additional scholarship on Northern European Renaissance music. She is currently the Director of a Music and Research Center in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She is former professor of musicology and ethnomusicology, and founding division head (dean) of the arts and humanities and chair of the music and drama department at the American University of Kuwait (2004-2023). Previously, she was a full-time professor at Boston University. Since 2017 she has been the general editor of Symposium: Journal of the College Music Society, the largest consortium of college, conservatory, university, and independent musicians and scholars. Urkevich is a two-time Senior Fulbright Scholar, the recipient of the 2015 University of Maryland Alumna of the Year Award, a Harvard University Fellow, and the author of numerous publications including the "pioneering work," Music and Traditions of the Arabian Peninsula: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar.
Salim Rashid Suri was a 20th-century ṣawt singer and oud player from Oman. He is particularly associated with the ṣawt genre called Ṣawt al-Khaleej.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help){{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help){{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help){{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)Kuwaiti musicians Daoud Al-Kuwaiti (oud) and his brother Saleh (violin).