By Lidia Qattan

Feeling is the very essence of selfconsciousness, it tests the worth of every experience; it is the entity that reveals the reality that underlies all external phenomena and triggers our emotions, which in turn stimulates our mental faculties and kindle our imagination.

Feeling, awakened by transcendent thought, ennobles and brightens our life.

Being a serious thinker Abdul Aziz Hussein never disregarded the need of emotional stimulation; for the essence of the individual is not to be found in what he does or thinks, but in what he feels.

Abdul Aziz Hussein’s interest in the Fine Arts was sharpened by the first collective art exhibition he sponsored in Kuwait on the occasion of the first Cultural Conference of Intellectuals from the Arabian world held in Kuwait in 1958.

The exhibition disclosed an unexpected number of artists and the comparatively high standard of their work, hence he thought of making the exhibition an yearly event under the name “The Spring Exhibition”.

This incidentally was the spark that set in motion the plastic arts movement spurred by the opening of the Free Atelier in 1960 with tutoring and art material provided free of charge, to encourage local artists to develop their potentials.

From the first week of the opening the Free Atelier became the attraction for all the artists in town, even from neighboring Qatar came regular visitors!

Although his interest in cultural development never faded, from the time Kuwait became a fully independent country on the 19th of June 1961, Abdul Aziz Hussein became engaged more and more in politics and government