Passing of visual artist and sculptor Sami Muhammad

Kuwaiti visual artist and sculptor Sami Muhammad Ahmad Al-Saleh has died at the age of 82, after a struggle with illness, leaving behind a prominent artistic and creative legacy and a career rich in contributions that helped consolidate the presence of Kuwaiti visual art locally, regionally, and internationally.

The late Sami Muhammad was born in the Kuwaiti capital, specifically in the Shuwaikh area, in 1943. He began his journey in visual art and sculpture early on, before continuing his academic studies at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo, where he studied sculpture in 1970. In the same year, he also received an honorary diploma from “Can Ceramique” in France.

Sami Muhammad is considered one of the founding figures of the modern Kuwaiti visual art movement. He was a founding member of the Kuwait Association for Visual Arts in 1967 and continued throughout his career to present artistic experiences characterized by exploration and experimentation, drawing inspiration from surrealist and expressionist trends in his works, which formed a significant aspect of his artistic practice.

Throughout his long career, the late artist won numerous local and international awards and honors in recognition of his artistic contributions and his role in the Kuwaiti visual art movement. The National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters also entrusted him with several important artistic tasks, including designing the State Encouragement Award in 1993, and designing and executing the State Appreciation Award along with a medal in 2000.

Sami Muhammad was among the artists whose artistic practice was particularly linked to sculpture. He succeeded in presenting works that reflected his unique vision and combined expressive power with a search for meaning, becoming one of the most prominent names in the Kuwaiti visual art scene and representing a generation that contributed to building and developing Kuwait’s artistic movement.

With his passing, the Kuwaiti artistic landscape has lost one of its pioneers who left a clear mark on the history of visual art and sculpture. His works and artistic experience remain a testament to a career that spanned decades and contributed to enriching Kuwait’s cultural and artistic scene.