CRSK retains about 20 million documents: Official

Classification of half-a-million documents complete

KUWAIT: Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait (CRSK) keeps about 20 million official and civil documents, some dating back to the mid-19th century and many others back to the first half of the last century, said Dr Abdullah Al-Ghunaim, the center’s director.

Ghunaim said in an interview yesterday that the center is exerting great efforts to protect those documents from damage and restore the ones that need it, in addition to classifying and digitizing them to be reached easily. The center has completed the classification of half-a-million documents of General Organization for the South and Arabian Gulf, and indexed more than a million documents of government and other official bodies, in addition to a collection of civil documents and papers of the Iraqi aggression; a major achievement of the center.

The center has also been keen in translating many books into different languages, such as English, French, Spanish, Ghunaim noted. The center has links with many regional and international similar centers, and have contributed in various cultural and scientific exhibitions in Riyadh, Sharjah, Manama, Frankfurt, Paris and London. The center’s last prominent publications was “Messages from Kuwait” by Dr Peter Lienhardt, which was translated by Dr Tarek Fakhr El Din. This book won the country’s award of best-translated book in Kuwait. Another book published by the center, prepared by Ali Ghuloom Al-Raees, billed “Old Kuwait Markets”, which encloses a number of photographs of old Kuwaiti markets from 1916 to 1966.

Ghunaim said that with a generous donation from His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber AlSabah, the center afforded a special device to sterilize cultural heritage materials including different types of documents, photographs and records without causing any damage to these materials.

CRSK was established in December 1992 by an Amiri decree, aiming to be a main source for knowledge on Kuwait’s history and heritage. The center’s goal is to conduct research on Kuwait and publish them both locally and internationally. —KUNA

A worker restores a historical document at the center.

Documents from the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait.

A special device donated by His Highness the Amir to sterilize cultural heritage materials including different types of documents, photographs and records without causing any damage.