Wednesday, June 22, 2011

An Afternoon With Lidia Al Qattan at Her Marvellous House of Mirrors
















I had intended to visit Lidia Al Qattan's mirrored house in Qadsiya for a very long time and this week turned out to be the perfect opportunity. AWARE  had pre-arranged an appointment with the lovely, joyful, welcoming, Italian Lidia. They organised buses and guidance, to us without a clue, to where Lidia's unusually decorated home is located. Here are some pics from a previous post that really encouraged me to visit.


Once there we were very kindly offered delicious home-baked goodies, refreshments and a fabulous tour of Lidia's home. She told us the story of how Jalila, her daughter, had broken a mirror many years ago and Lidia kept the pieces and that they eventually inspired her first work. After her husband returned from his business trip he was delighted at Lidia's artistic creation. Khalifa Al Qattan, Lidia's husband, was already a well established Kuwaiti painter. Each time Khalifa travelled he came back to a little more of Lidia's new found artistic expression.


After a huge termite infestation that would have stopped most in their tracks but not Lidia. Her determination and enthusiasm in her new hobby led to them eventually finding a solution for the termites and she carried on her work. She says it was the mirror work that probably saved the house. She found the termites when putting up her mirror work and due to the methods she uses to glue the mirrored pieces to the wall, it may have fortified the house and help put an end to the termites destructive plans.


My favourite mirrored room.






















The kitchen.


























Even the video entrance phone was not left undecorated.























The home is a myriad of art and creativeness, with Lidia as the most delightful hostess, amazing artist and curator of her and her husband's life-long work.


Thank you very much Lidia, my princess and I adored both you and the visit to your lovely home.

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