Aseel AlYaqoub's work is an inspection of the past and how it emerges into the present. She uses nostalgia as an instrument for critical thought rather than the longing for the past. This allows her to investigate the invention and reinvention of heritage and tradition. This often results in an examination of both the human need for conclusive stories and the question of how anecdotes come to represent history.

Her theoretical practice digs up Kuwait’s own archaeology of knowledge. AlYaqoub interrogates official history by challenging Kuwait’s taken-for-granted cultural and structural episteme. From her contestatory video work (Embargo, 2014) questioning the reasoning behind the prohibition of filming in public spaces and local hierarchy, to the microscopic stamp collection (Culture Fair, 2015) created through the destruction of a national artifact, AlYaqoub’s socially engaged practice aims to understand her national identity through deconstructing and demystifying tools.