Another tour!!

On Monday, January 27 I went with Lucia on the House of Mirrors tour (also with the AWARE Center). (I know, it sounds like a carnival ride!) A wonderfully eccentric older woman, named Liddia, who is the artist of this unique place, gives the tour.

details of the process for putting mirror mosaics on surfaces: lecture number 1

Liddia at the entrance to her kitchen

She is a tiny bit of thing – maybe almost 5 ft. with what appeared to be 3-inch platform shoes. After her husband died in 2004 (I think), she turned the mirror portion of the house into a museum. As we toured, it sounded like her grandchildren might live with her in another portion of the house not open to the public. I am guessing she is pretty close to 70 years old, if not over that and was an energetic dynamo! She began by having us sit down while she served us two types of tea, ginger and cinnamon, along with cake, cookies, and bread sticks. What we didn’t eat was packaged up in plastic bags to send home with us.

sitting room where we were served tea on individual folding tables that were also covered in mosaic mirror pieces

ceiling, and yes, even the ceiling fan was tiled in mirrors! (and it even worked!)

another room where we were lectured about the birth of the Earth.

each room had a theme and this one was the ocean. This was the floor!

It all began with mirror mosaic pictures.

She philosophized and preached to us as she told us about her artwork, including the detailed process of how it is done. She uses different colors of mirror.

The birth of the Earth.

ceiling in the birth of the Earth room.

birth of the Earth room where we received lecture number 2.

every surface was covered in mirror mosaics, even cabinet and drawer fronts, as well as the sink and shower

Her husband was also an artist and we also saw some of his work.

she does paintings as well

one of her husband’s paintings. Pretty unconventional, especially for a Kuwaiti.

She also makes these gouache-type figures. This one incorporates a sheep horn.

The museum was not huge, but it took us over 2 hours to get through it. There were many experiential opportunities.

The Universe Room. It was dark (I used flash for this.) and we were “taken” on a journey: lecture number 3

entrance door from courtyard and her signature corner

the only window in the mirror part of the house.