Honoured through blood

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the works of six of the various local and multicultural, emerging and established feminist artists at the Abolish Article 153 exhibition held on 27 April 2019, in Kuwait. The show marks fifteen years of women gaining political rights in Kuwait. Article 153 of Kuwait's Penal Code sourced from Article 324 of the old French Penal Code (Napoleonic Law) provides relative exemption to a man who commits murder in an honour-related occurrence. It specifies penalties to women for misconducts that range from acts of passion and desire or even interaction. This article explores ways in which the artists’ strategic undertakings consider art a catalyst for dialogue and civic engagement. They attempt to make a difference either through autobiographical expressions or by emulating the sets of persistent histories of patriarchal cultures in the Middle Eastern region and worldwide. It demonstrates how their collaborative efforts stage diverse creations that generate a cultural space for engagement, reflection and action while recognising the constellation of differences and multiplicities amongst feminisms. It demonstrates how the grassroots initiative is a collective non-hierarchical working model that questions and seeks to overcome colonial and patriarchal narratives within inner and outer spaces, and individual and worldwide feminisms.