April 9, 2014
MOHAMMED ALKOUH
Tomorrow's Past
Mohammed AlKouh who uses an original approach towards taking his audience back to the time when stories were passed on between generations through hand colored black and white photographs. The exhibition titled “Tomorrow’s Past” serves as a catalyst to experiencing a specific Kuwaiti nostalgia to a past where this place was known as the pearl of the Gulf.
In the photography of AlKouh, the work focuses on landmarks reflecting an almost forgotten Kuwaiti landscape as well as whispers of stories told between generations as though they are dreams from a parallel reality. The photographs commemorate past buildings in a futuristic composition of a glorious past of the architecture of Kuwait. AlKouh’s photographs embark on a powerful journey into a time that refuses to be limited to just a memory of the past, but however still insist on existing as a deeper present reality. Al Kouh’s work takes viewers back to a time where buildings in Kuwait were the landmark of this “Pearl of the Gulf” city and where stories were told as if each word is a pearl of an infinite necklace.
Born in 1984, Mohammed Al Kouh lives and works in Kuwait. Al Kouh is a self-taught artist who has explored different aspects of art since childhood, After graduating from Kuwait University with BA in Business administration & Marketing, Al Kouh took his passion to a new level, As a child he was captivated with the idea of “Stealing Souls and Keeping Them in Negatives” he began to photograph everything he wish not to lose, Photography became his way to steal his favorite moments in life and keep them in his closet.
Growing up facing difficulties to adapt with reality he developed a great nostalgia to an era he never lived, an era where everything was romantic and beautiful. With his sensitive photographic techniques he reinterprets his subconscious in a staged realities that creates a contrast between past and present, which resulted what look like a dream that allows him to be here and there….
“In Dreams you’re always more beautiful than reality. You’re always happy and with
the ones you love, and no one can hurt you…”
Mohammed AlKouh