The Tareq Rajab Museum (Arabic: متحف طارق رجب) is located in Kuwait and houses an extensive collection of artefacts accumulated over a fifty-year period commencing in the 1950s. The Museum is housed at two separate locations in Jabriya, Kuwait: the Tareq Rajab Museum, which was founded in 1980, and the Tareq Rajab Museum of Islamic Calligraphy in 2007. The Tareq Rajab Museum includes collections of manuscripts and miniatures, ceramics, metalwork, glass, arms and armour as well as textiles, costumes and jewellery. The museum's ceramics collection is very large and comprehensive, and includes objects from pre-Islamic times up to the early 20th century and from across the breadth of the Islamic world. The museum houses one of the foremost collections of silver jewellery as well as a fine collection of gold jewellery much of which dates from pre-Islamic times. There is a large collection of Qurans and manuscripts from all periods, with the earliest dating to the 7th century AD and from across the whole Islamic world. From important Qurans, to rare manuscripts such as the Al-Kindi book on optics and a folio from the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp, the range of works is comprehensive and representative of many styles and regions.
The Tareq Rajab Museum is fully funded by the Rajab family and today, the third generation of the family are actively involved with its operations and management.
History
The collection
Tareq Al-Sayid Rajab's journey into collecting began with a trip to Baghdad as a fourteen-year-old boy in the 1940s, which then progressed to book and manuscript collecting in England during the 1950s. As a student, he received a weekly allowance from Kuwait's Educational Office in London, which he spent largely on books. The Educational Office was very supportive, often reimbursing him for book purchases without question, considering them educational. By the 1960s, Tareq and his wife Jehan had travelled extensively by car around the Middle East, sometimes even driving to England. When they spent a year in Denmark, they also made the journey by car. During these long journeys, they started collecting items from dealers in cities such as Damascus and Istanbul, as well as from remote villages in Syria, Palestine, and Iran. Jehan, with her anthropological interest in people and cultures, played a significant role in these efforts.
The aim of these trips was not only to enjoy themselves but also to photograph and collect cultural artefacts to help preserve aspects of various cultures being lost to rapid modernisation. In those days, modern road systems in many countries they visited had not been built, so Tareq and Jehan often drove across rough roads, through mountains, and camped beside villages and tribes. They would meet the local people and often managed to buy artefacts directly from them. In the 1960s, Istanbul was not as touristic as it is today, allowing them to find many interesting objects, especially ethnic items, which few people were interested in at the time.
The idea to build a museum of Islamic art originated with Tareq Rajab during his tenure as the Kuwait's Director of Museums and Antiquities in the 1960s, then a branch of the Ministry of Education. Despite his repeated proposals and ideas, there was little interest from his superiors and no budget allocated for such a project. However, Tareq had developed a genuine interest in the arts of the Islamic world, and by the early 1970s, he began collecting seriously, transitioning from a hobbyist to a dedicated collector. With the New English School firmly established, Tareq had more time to travel and attend auctions in London. He acquired items from auction houses such as Sotheby's, Christie's, Bonhams, and others. In the 1970s, it was very much a buyer's market, long before buyers from the Gulf took an interest. Tareq also attended sales in old British stately homes, purchasing artefacts such as manuscripts, ceramics, metalwork, and glass. His growing reputation in the market led several dealers to approach him, enabling him to acquire numerous interesting artefacts, including the enamelled jewels of the Sultan of Bukhara, which are currently on display.
Initially, Tareq focused on ceramics, manuscripts, metalwork, and glass. By the mid-1970s, he had amassed a sizeable collection and displayed most of the objects in his house. It was at this point that he began to seriously consider establishing a museum to share his collection with the public. At that time, Kuwait had very few educational resources on the artistic history of the Islamic world. One of Tareq's objectives was to create a venue where people living in and visiting Kuwait could learn about this rich heritage. Tareq decided to house the museum in a villa he owned in Jabriya, near the New English School. The museum remains in this location to this day. Work on the museum began in the late 1970s, and by 1980, it was formally established and inaugurated, becoming the first Islamic Art museum in Kuwait and the entire Gulf region.
Iraqi Invasion and Occupation of Kuwait (1990-1991)
The Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait commenced in the early morning of August 2, 1990. At the time, Tareq Rajab was in Jordan, and his two eldest children, Nur and Ziad, were traveling abroad. His wife, Jehan, and their youngest son, Nader, remained in Kuwait throughout the occupation. The invasion took many Kuwaitis by surprise; Jehan first became aware of the situation upon being awakened by the sounds of explosions, sustained gunfire, and Iraqi helicopters overhead. On the first day of the occupation, she managed to contact her daughter Nur and her husband Tareq, but soon after, international telephone lines were cut, severing their communication with the outside world for over seven months. However, Kuwait's internal telephone lines remained operational, allowing news to spread quickly within the country.
Aware of the need to protect the family's museum, which was fortunately situated below ground level, Jehan and Nader decided to secure and conceal it. They bolted the museum's heavy carved Indian doors, removed identifying signs, and descended into the museum to safeguard its exhibits. Priority was given to packing and hiding valuable manuscripts and ceramics. Many maintenance workers from the nearby New English School, despite attempts to flee Kuwait, stayed to assist Jehan and Nader in their efforts, which were described as "frantic though purposeful." A guard was stationed upstairs to warn of any intrusions. Jehan contacted Tareq's foreman, Nasser, to arrange for carpenters and builders to assist immediately. During the packing process, a small 19th-century grain of rice inscribed with verses from the Qur’an was so well concealed that it remains lost to this day. Meanwhile, Tareq remained in Amman for a short time, overseeing the New English School he had opened there and writing letters to Jehan, which were smuggled into Kuwait by one of his Palestinian drivers who could travel between Jordan and Kuwait.
Within a few days, the left side of the museum was filled with packed boxes, suitcases, and bags, while the showcases were emptied. These items were hidden in side rooms and a large space behind one of the bigger showcases, then blocked off and concealed. Doors were bolted shut, and carpenters used sheets of wood to seal them, painting over the wood to match the walls. David Roberts lithographs, considered of little interest to Iraqi soldiers, were hung on the false walls to complete the disguise. By the end of the occupation, Iraqi soldiers had forced open and ransacked every cupboard and drawer in the nearby New English School, leaving none unbroken.
With the manuscripts and ceramics secured, attention turned to the thousands of pieces of jewellery, costumes, textiles, embroideries, and stringed instruments on the opposite side. As most helpers had left Kuwait or could not reach the museum, Jehan, Nader, Rawa Adawa, and Nasser managed this task. They decided to completely block off that section and pretend it did not exist. The Gold Room in this area was further sealed off and hidden; the marks from the false wall are still visible today. The museum was secured, and the Rajab's awaited the Iraqi arrival. The New English School, being large and prominent, was seized by the Iraqi army and used as a base. Pillboxes and anti-aircraft weaponry were installed on the roof, causing significant disturbances in the neighborhood when fired. The school's stores contained between three and five hundred hand-woven Iraqi carpets, collected by Tareq and Jehan from the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq. This entire collection was stolen and destroyed during the occupation, with some remnants found around the school after liberation.
Their home was searched multiple times, and Iraqi soldiers attempted to rob them on several occasions. As the end of the occupation approached, Jehan and Nader's efforts to hide the museum seemed successful. However, just before the ground war began, Iraqi secret police and army personnel arrived at their home, blocking the road with a machine gun-mounted vehicle. After conducting another search of the house, the secret police demanded that Nader show them the basement, where they seemed to know the museum was located. They forced their way in but were primarily searching for arms and munitions. Satisfied with Nader's explanations regarding the jewellery's lack of value, they left, taking only two cartons of cigarettes and three cassette tapes. Although they promised to return the following day, the onset of the ground war, leading to Kuwait's liberation, prevented their return.
The timely start of the ground war meant that Iraqi soldiers and secret police did not have the opportunity to revisit the museum. While much of the collection was preserved, the destruction of the Iraqi carpets and the looting of the New English School represented significant losses for the Rajab family.
Post invasion and present day
After Kuwait's liberation in 1991, Jehan Rajab was approached by the French Foreign Legion, who requested to use the New English School as their headquarters in Kuwait. Together, they re-equipped and staffed the school, successfully reopening its doors in the autumn.
During the school's use as a base, Jehan interacted with many military personnel, including members of the American Army. She met Colonel Jeffrey Greenhut, an American officer tasked with evaluating damage to cultural sites around Kuwait, including the museum. Colonel Greenhut's unit assisted in reopening the false walls around the museum and provided generators for electricity. Jehan developed a good rapport with him, and he invited her to fly to Failaka Island on an American helicopter. Failaka had always held a special place in her heart, and seeing the destruction wrought by the Iraqi army on the island and throughout Kuwait deeply saddened her. The cultural devastation and the uprooting of an entire community, which had lived there for centuries, was particularly painful.
After Kuwait's liberation, the Hungarian government appointed Géza Fehérvári, a British citizen of Hungarian origin, as ambassador to Kuwait and Riyadh. Géza, a professor of Islamic Art and Archaeology at the University of London (SOAS), was a frequent visitor to the museum and had developed a close relationship with Tareq Rajab, becoming the museums first curator.
Collections
Manuscripts and calligraphy The Tareq Rajab Museum houses a very large and significant collection of Qur'ans and manuscripts from various periods and regions across the Islamic world.