Arab artists between past and future

Many claim that visual art didn’t exist among Arabs prior to last century. They believe that Arabs have no valuable art heritage when compared to the wealth and diversity of western legacy in art. This article is written to refute these claims.
Ancient civilizations were rich in artistic works that survived all these years in this very harsh and hostile environment. We are left with wonderful art works scattered all over the region for us to enjoy and appreciate.
Unfortunately, many Arab archaeological locations did not receive enough attention to highlight the treasures of the middle east.
Inscriptions and frescoes were found and documented in many Arab countries, the most prominent ones are found in Saudi Arabia specifically in Tabuk, Haiel, Najran and others. And those found in Yemen, Bahrain, Oman, Iraq and Syria. All of which depict environmental symbols, such as different types of animals namely, cows, oxes, bulls, horses, wild boars, tigers and lions. In addition to some religious symbols especially those that accompanied the monotheistic religions before the advent of Islam.

One of the discovered rocks in Saudi Arabia (Reference: alriyadh.com)

Another rock from the northern region of Saudi Arabia portraying men in hunting trip chasing ibexes. (Reference, Desert group at: alsahra.org)

(From the same archeological location in Saudi Arabia portraying different kinds of animals and ostriches plus human figures, Reference, Desert group at: alsahra.org)

Needless to mention the era of sculpting and the big number of sculptures found in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq and Syria. These characterized the period of pagan worship. We can recognize the big influence of the Greco-Roman style in some of these sculptures.
During the era of Islam, new lines of the so-called “Islamic art” had emerged. The Islamic inscriptions and the Arabic calligraphic works were a solid proof of the continuity of the artistic journey of the Arab artists, which extended their influence to include non-Arab Muslim artists who contributed a great deal of magnificent Islamic artworks.

Islamic Art at Shah Zinda, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

During all these eras, the term “artist” was not in use, artist were mainly crafters. Those artists were the crafters that decorated mosques, palaces, pots and utensils, and those who inscripted the Holy Quran and books. Even female crafters left their feminine mark in embroidery and knitting.

Sukh Chayn Masjid, Lahore, Pakistan

digging down into the rich Arab heritage and produces a unique type of art representing this region.
The last group’s view, fall between the two. They believed in studying the well-established, fully structured western art and chose what is applicable to our modest society, keeping in mind reviving the deeply rooted Arab and Islamic heritage.
These three views have been in conflict since the beginning of the 20th century in most Arab countries. Contemporary Arab art has become very diverse in content and format. In terms of content, it is has been noted that contemporary artists in Arab countries are covering a wide variety of vital issues and subjects, from local disputes to regional and even global hot topics.
In terms of format, all modern contemporary art schools have found their way into the Arab world of Art. Impressionism, Cubism, Expressive, Abstract, and even Conceptual and Hyper Realism that emerged during the last decade of the twentieth century were adapted by many Arab artists. It is worth mentioning that surrealism has a marked spread among contemporary Arab artists as well. (Reference: Encyclopedia of comprehensive knowledge).
Arab Artists struggled to find their ways. Public interest in fine art had varied from country to country, and from generation to generation. However the wide spread of art colleges in the Arab world is very promising.
Governmental and NGOs in these countries began supporting art movements from the fifties of the last century. Although the support they received was rather humble, most Arab countries nowadays give artists an increasing interest and support, because they finally realized that art movement is an essential part of nation’s culture and heritage.
Political crises and uprisings played a significant role in influencing Arab artists during the last few years, most notably artworks accompanying Arab Spring movements. Drawing an international attention to this part of the world and highlighting young unknown artists.

A graffiti painting in the occupied territory of Palestine.

A wall painting in one of the streets in Egypt portraying the last revolution (2011).

Despite of that, many full-time Arab artists continue to complain of the slow pace of art market in the region which seems to be limited to few well-established artists.
Arab artists also suffer from paucity of academic and educational resources. While art colleges are widespread some countries are devoid of any!
Artists also complain of lack of professional mentors whom young and amateur artists need to follow.
Therefore, many emerging artists have to choose between changing their careers to a more stable tax-paying profession or to join an art school that might be located far away from home and face an unpredicted future. It’s a risk that they have to take with no grantee of success, especially in these insecure circumstances where most Arab governments have “art development” at the end of their priority list.
Pretty gloomy huh! No it’s not! I do believe in the power of art that comes from individual effort. Struggling in finding our way as artists will make us strong! Uniting and combing efforts between Arab artists will even make us stronger.
Nowadays with the advent of the fascinating online networking tools we have no excuse to show our art to the world.

(Relevant topics, please click: 10 steps to promote your art online)