This museum is also being referred to as The war museum, Memorial Museum, gulf war Museum, etc. As the Kuwait House for National Works museum houses the terror of the crimes committed by the Iraqi regime during the invasion in 1990, it’s also called as Saddam Museum. Visitors are welcomed by a couple of anti-aircraft weapons (or some kind of surface to air missiles) parked at the entrance with a signboard.

How to go?

The museum is located near the headquarters of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and Arab Fund Building in Shuwaikh.

Drive towards Shuwaikh on the Gulf road, go all the way to Arab Fund Building and take the turnaround at the end of the road that exits to Port road. On the second right turn, visitors can find the museum situated on the right.

Inside the museum

Also known as the Memorial Museum, it scripts the dark period in the history of the Arab world and for Kuwaitis particularly. On 1990, 2nd of August, Iraq invaded Kuwait and Gulf War was started by coalition forces from 34 nations led by the United States. The great majority of the Coalition's military forces were from the U.S., with the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt as leading contributors, in that order. The museum displays the account the events that led to the start of the First Gulf war, the Iraqi annexation of Kuwait and the country’s subsequent liberation. The museum is divided into ten sections.

The tour of the Kuwait House for National Works Museum begins in Reception hall where visitors are welcomed into the museum with an audio visual session on the origin of the state of Kuwait and its early history. The hall is decorated with a giant map of Kuwait made up of colored glass and also contains portraits of all the country's rulers. From the Reception Hall, visitors continue to the Kuwait Heritage Hall where they will be able to gain a peek into the country’s past through miniatures of historic buildings and voice recordings. Visitors can follow the light trail till it comes to the Invasion Tunnel and then all hell breaks loose.

The Invasion Tunnel narrates the saga of the Iraqi invasion and annexation of Kuwait in 1990, all the way to the country's freedom in 1991. To make the narrative come to life for the visitors, the demonstration uses a combination of light and sound effects. There's radio chatter and machine-gun firing fills the hall with explosion sounds every second makes it more interesting.

The museum also houses a variety of artifacts from the remnants of the war, including Artillery & Mortars, uniforms and mines. There's also a section dedicated to the Allied and NATO Forces who participated in the war and each country has its own wall with the names of the chief officers and photographs of the troops. There are editorials and articles that show the anticipated use of Iraqi chemical weapons against Kuwait and Syria. Letters of congratulation, Official communications, military documents and wartime memos and are also featured in this section.

The final section is the Hall of Martyrs and POW’s, which is a mark of homage to the martyrs and tribute to the POWs still missing in Iraq. Few of the photographs may not be appropriate for younger audiences since they’re of men cruelly tortured, disfigured and killed by the Iraqi army.

The museum also includes a cinema, which can house around a hundred people; the Photo Exhibit Hall and the Hall of Peace. The Kuwait memorial Museum is not just a repository of the past but a beacon of faith showing that tyranny and oppression cannot triumph. The aide memoire is not just for younger generations of Kuwaitis but for all citizens who are willing to give their voice against dictatorship from around the world, making the museum one of the most remarkable attractions in the country.

Things to remember

• The museum is always open for school group tours and curious tourists who want to know more about the war of Kuwait against Iraq.
• Entrance: 3 KD per head
• The museum is accessible via a 40 minute taxi ride from the city center.
• The war photos are shocking and the Images that are never seen in the papers or any other media are displayed in the museum.

Contact details

Address: North Shuwaikh, Villa No. 32, beside the Popular Theatre 
Tel: +965 24846336 / 24845335 
Fax: +965 24834949

Visiting Hours

Monday to Thursdays, 9AM to 1PM and 4.30PM to 8.30PM