Censorship, triviality, ‘wasta’
the son of renowned kuwaiti sculptor sami muhammad al-saleh recently returned home from azerbaijan bearing a unique souvenir. growing up in a household immersed in culture and the arts, he brought back a 40 cm tall and 20 cm wide sculpture depicting a man and a woman standing face to face with a space between them. however, things took an unexpected turn when the customs inspector took issue with the statue, claiming that it portrayed a forbidden gesture, suggesting that the man and woman were about to kiss.
after some heated debate, the inspector relented, perhaps due to recognizing the young man as the son of sami al saleh. this incident later became the subject of widespread discussion.
this incident prompts us to reflect on where we stand and how we have arrived at such a state of rigid and narrow thinking. is this still the kuwait we once knew, a place that has long embraced art, culture, literature, and beauty? how can a customs inspector object to a small sculpture brought to kuwait by the son of an artist like sami al saleh, whose precious and esteemed sculptures have adorned the living rooms of countless kuwaiti homes?
this unfortunate incident brings to mind a personal story from 33 years ago when i returned to kuwait after living in england for some time. i arrived just days before the infamous iraqi invasion. as requested, i visited the kuwait general administration for customs (gac) to address some inquiries regarding the contents of a container holding my household furniture.
to my dismay, i discovered that gac had seized all my books, including valuable reference materials for research. some of these books focused on history and were by no means subject to confiscation or prohibition. moreover, the customs inspector’s rudeness and ignorance led to the distortion of statues representing animals or human figures, all under the pretense that they were forbidden.
i reached out to the then-chairman of gac, abu abdullah al ghanim, who promptly rescinded the confiscation and referred the matter to the ministry of information. the inspector at the ministry of information, of another arab nationality, exhibited little understanding of the english language and appeared to have not read any books since leaving school.
he carelessly piled the books at his feet and began assessing them as if they were mere vegetables. lacking the ability to read the content, he judged the books solely by their titles. a book by ibn rushd was banned because its cover depicted a turbaned man, while another book, “lady chatterley’s lover,” was permitted solely because its cover did not appear provocative, despite being banned in england at one point. the same arbitrary judgments were applied to the rest of the books.
it becomes evident that we, like many other third world nations, face challenges in our intellectual and cultural evolution.
this issue persists because there is no so-called “fourth world.” the task of book and research censorship, crucial for academics, intellectuals, and researchers, often falls to individuals who are intentionally chosen for their ignorance. limited knowledge and narrow-mindedness are seen as qualifications for these inspectors, as per the judgment of senior officials.
