Kuwait Art Show Puts Charity and Family Values on Display

The Kuwait Caricature Society has opened its third “Dutiful Son” exhibition and competition, placing a public campaign about family values under the patronage of a charity chairman. The show features portraits of the late astronomer Dr Saleh Al-Ojairi and more than 100 works on honoring parents. Its organizers describe the exhibition as a way to promote devotion to parents and introduce young generations to a Kuwaiti figure they consider inspiring.

That is the stated purpose. The report identifies the event’s patrons, committees, award and intended messages; it doesn’t describe how artists or visitors have responded, or whether the exhibition has any connection to state policy. The details available are about a cultural institution organizing a values campaign, with a charity and award structure attached.

A message organized through institutions

Society President Mohammad Thallab told reporters that the event is held under the patronage of Ibrahim Al-Baghli, chairman of the Ibrahim Al-Baghli Dutiful Son Charity. Thallab said the exhibition includes a series of portraits of Al-Ojairi, chosen for the moral and national values he embodied and helped instill in young Kuwaitis. Those are the organizers’ terms for the choice and the work’s purpose.

The exhibition’s focus is broader than the featured personality. More than 100 caricatures address the moral and social values of honoring one's parents, while the 2026 edition aims to send awareness messages to all sections of society, according to Ali Hassan, head of the higher committee of the Al-Baghli Dutiful Son Award. The event turns that stated aim into a public program: artwork, an exhibition, a competition and prizes.

Hassan said the choice of Al-Ojairi reflected the award’s aim of highlighting inspiring Kuwaiti figures and introducing their contributions to new generations. The report doesn’t specify which of Al-Ojairi’s contributions the exhibition presents, beyond the portraits and the organizers’ description of his values. Nor does it give details about how the works interpret the theme of honoring parents. Those choices remain with the artists and the exhibition’s organizers.

A contest with a global roster

Artists from more than 50 countries are taking part, Thallab said. First-time participants include artists from Scandinavian countries, Brazil and Malaysia, alongside artists from China and Gulf Cooperation Council states. The exhibition runs for a week, after which the organizing committee will announce the top three winners.

The competition gives the event a clear institutional shape: a committee organizes it, a named award supplies its theme, and a panel process will produce three winners. The report doesn’t name the judges or explain the criteria they’ll use. It also doesn’t identify participating artists individually. What it does establish is the breadth of the roster as described by Thallab and the planned announcement of the top three.

Ibrahim Al-Baghli received a certificate of appreciation at the exhibition. The report gives no further details about the certificate or the selection process behind it. KUNA information was credited in the report, published November 05, 2026, at 07:03 a.m. The exhibition’s public message is clear in the organizers’ account; the available report leaves the artists’ individual responses and audience reactions unrecorded.