Contemporary Art Photography in Saudi Arabia

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Contemporary Art Photography in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mirror of a Complex Identity. Case study through four contemporary Saudi photographers from different provinces. This dissertation is the work of 12049708 and has been completed solely in fulfilment of a dissertation for the MA in Mass Communications at the London Metropolitan University. Word count: 14,385

Transcript of Contemporary Art Photography in Saudi Arabia

Contemporary Art Photography in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mirror of a Complex Identity.

Case study through four contemporary Saudi photographers from different

provinces.

This dissertation is the work of 12049708

and has been completed solely in fulfilment

of a dissertation for the MA in Mass

Communications at the London Metropolitan

University.

Word count: 14,385

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ʻThe photograph is as much a reflection of the ʻIʼ of

the photographer as it is of the eye of the cameraʼi - Graham Clarke

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to understand how contemporary art photography in

the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia represents the complex national identity using

symbolism as well as direct references to cultural and religious elements and

artefacts.

In order to do so, a combination of qualitative analysis and semiotic is used

to describe and interpret the coded message implemented in the photographs of

the selected artists. With the help of my personal experience in the Saudi

Kingdom between 2008 and 2012, and my personal relations with some artists

there, I will demonstrate how the complex, and sometime troubled, identity of

Saudi Arabians is reflected throughout these works.

Based on this method, the research asserts that the troubles faced by Saudi

citizens regarding self-identity, national identity and the relation to the external

world in building identity is complex and a widely recurring theme in

contemporary art photography.

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1. Table of Contents

ABSTRACT  ................................................................................................................................................  3  

1.  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  .......................................................................................................................  4  1.1  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  ...................................................................................................................  6  1.2  IDEOGRAMS  AND  ABBREVIATIONS  ...................................................................................................  7  1.2.1  IDEOGRAMS  .................................................................................................................................................  7  1.2.2  ABBREVIATIONS  .........................................................................................................................................  7  

2.  ACKNOWLEDGMENT  ........................................................................................................................  8  

3.  INTRODUCTION  ...............................................................................................................................  10  3.1  RESEARCH  QUESTION  .....................................................................................................................  11  

4.  LITERATURE  REVIEW  ...................................................................................................................  12  4.1  THE  NOTION  OF  IDENTITY  .............................................................................................................  12  4.1.1  THEORETICAL  CONCEPTS  ......................................................................................................................  12  4.1.2  IMAGINED  IDENTITIES  ...........................................................................................................................  14  

4.2  THE  SAUDI  IDENTITY  .....................................................................................................................  14  4.2.1  ARAB  IDENTITY  .......................................................................................................................................  14  4.2.2  ISLAM  ........................................................................................................................................................  15  4.2.3  ‘ME’  VERSUS  ‘WE’:  NATIONALITY  AND  FAMILY  ................................................................................  16  4.2.4  CONSUMERISM  AS  IDENTITY  .................................................................................................................  18  4.2.5  YOUTH  IDENTITY:  REACTION  TO  DEVELOPMENT,  THE  WEST  .........................................................  19  

4.3  CONTEMPORARY  ART  PHOTOGRAPHY  .........................................................................................  21  4.3.1  PHOTOGRAPHY  AS  AN  ART  ....................................................................................................................  21  4.3.2  THE  NOTION  OF  ART  IN  CONTEMPORARY  PHOTOGRAPHY  .............................................................  23  4.3.3  PORTRAIT  .................................................................................................................................................  24  4.3.4  OBJECTS  ....................................................................................................................................................  24  

4.4  CONTEMPORARY  ART  PHOTOGRAPHY  IN  SAUDI  ARABIA  ............................................................  25  4.4.1DEVELOPMENT  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY  IN  THE  KINGDOM  .......................................................................  25  4.4.2  SAUDI  PHOTOGRAPHY  TODAY  ..............................................................................................................  25  4.4.3  ISLAM  AND  REPRESENTATION  .............................................................................................................  27  

5.  METHODOLOGY  ..............................................................................................................................  28  5.1  QUALITATIVE  METHOD  AND  SEMIOTIC  ANALYSIS  ........................................................................  28  5.2  LIMITATIONS  ..................................................................................................................................  29  

6.  DATA  ANALYSIS  ..............................................................................................................................  30  6.1  AHMED  MATTER  ............................................................................................................................  31  6.1.1  IDENTITY  THROUGH  ISLAM:  MAGNETISM  ...........................................................................................  32  6.1.2  RURAL  IDENTITY,  MODERNITY,  AND  CONSUMERISM:  ANTENNA  ..................................................  35  

6.2  ABDULNASSER  GHAREM  ................................................................................................................  39  6.2.1  CONSUMERISM  VS  RELIGION:  THE  PATH  ............................................................................................  39  6.2.2  IDENTITY  IN  PROGRESS:  DETOUR  .........................................................................................................  42  6.2.3  RESEMBLANCE  AND  DIFFERENCE:  ROAD  TO  MAKKAH  ....................................................................  45  

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6.3  MANAL  AL-­‐DOWAYAN  ...................................................................................................................  47  6.3.1  NATURE  AND  IDENTITY:  I  AM  …  ...........................................................................................................  48  6.3.2  IDENTITY  AND  TRADITIONS:  THE  CHOICE  ..........................................................................................  51  

6.4  SAEED  SALEM  .................................................................................................................................  52  6.4.1  CONSUMERISM  AND  THE  WEST:  NEON  GODS  ....................................................................................  53  6.4.2  TRADITION  AND  MODERNITY:  NEONLAND  III  ...................................................................................  55  

7.  CONCLUSION  ....................................................................................................................................  56  7.1  RECOMMENDATION  FOR  FURTHER  STUDY  ....................................................................................  57  7.1.1  YOUTUBE  OR  THE  CINEMA  OF  ARABIA  ...............................................................................................  57  7.1.2  WADJDA:  THE  PRELUDE  OF  THE  MOTION  PICTURE  IN  THE  KINGDOM  ...........................................  58  

8.  REFERENCES  .....................................................................................................................................  59  8.1  BIBLIOGRAPHY  ...............................................................................................................................  59  8.2  NOTES  .............................................................................................................................................  63  

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1.1 List of Illustrations

  And We Had No Shared Dreams, Manal Al-Dowayan; 2011 2

2.1 Saudi Arabia Map; Edge of Arabia; 2010 8

4.1 60 Years of Progress without Change; The Times; 1992 19

4.2 Photography Prohibited; Moe Kahtan; 2013 26

6.1 Ahmed Mater; Edge of Arabia; 2010 30

6.2 Magnetism III; Ahmed Mater; 2012 31

6.3 Magnetism II; Ahmed Mater; 2012 32

6.4 Antenna; Ahmed Mater; 2010 34

6.5 Antenna (prototype); Ahmed Mater; 2010 35

6.6 Abdulnasser Gharem; Edge of Arabia; 2009 38

6.7 Al Siraat (The Path); Abdulnasser Gharem; 2007 39

6.8 Al Siraat (The Path); Abdulnasser Gharem; 2007 39

6.9 Detour (Original photograph); Abdulnasser Gharem; 2009 41

6.10 Detour (Lightbox); Abdulnasser Gharem; 2009 42

6.11 Detour; Abdulnasser Gharem; 2009 42

6.12 Road to Makkah; Abdulnasser Gharem; 2011 44

6.13 Road to Makkah; Abdulnasser Gharem; 2011 44

6.14 Manal Al-Dowayan; Camille Zakharia; 2011 46

6.15 I am… (Series), Manal Al-Dowayan; 2005-2007 47

6.16 I am a Saudi Citizen; Manal Al-Dowayan; 2005-2007 48

6.17 The Choice; Manal Al-Dowayan; 2011 50

6.18 Saeed Salem; Edge of Arabia; 2012 51

6.19 Neon Gods; Saeed Salem; 2012 52

6.20 Neonland III; Saeed Salem; 2013 54

   

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 1.2 Ideograms and Abbreviations

 1.2.1 Ideograms

 

ʿalayhi as-salām: Peace Be Upon Him (said by Muslims upon hearing the :ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص

name of Islamic prophet)

1.2.2 Abbreviations

 

KSA: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

GCC: Gulf Country Council

MENA: Middle East and North Africa

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2. Acknowledgment

This research project would not have been possible without the support of

many people. The author wishes to express gratitude to Dr. Mike Chopra-Gant

for his assistance, support and guidance.

Deepest gratitude is also due to Dr. Marion Banks without whose knowledge

and assistance this study would not have been successful.

Special thanks also to all the amazing people that I have met during my stay

in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who inspired me this project and gave me the

strength to pursue it till the end. Specially Ilham, Anas, Moe and Fawaz who

helped me with Arabic translation and amazing moral support.

The author also would like to thanks Elena Scarpa from Edge of Arabia for

her kind advices.

9 Figure 2.1 Saudi Arabia Map, Courtesy of Edge of Arabia (2010)

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3. Introduction

The name of Saudi Arabia is well known all around the world. Known to be

the worldʼs largest oil producer, the regionʼs leader in trade and diplomacy, the

heavyweight military of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the homeland of

Sunni Islam; but the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) itself is not really well

known, and often subject to stereotypes. While living in Jeddah between 2008

and 2012, I was often ask fi I ride a camel to go to university, if I dig a hole in the

garden to fill up my car, or worst, if I became a terrorist. The events of September

11 have brought the country to light for providing fifteen of the nineteen suicide

hijackers, exposing their face all over Time Square, their anger, their bitterness,

and their desire to destroy the symbols of capitalism as well as themselves. They

were on average 23 years old.

However, what the world does not know about Saudi Arabia is the

burgeoning cultural wave brought up in the Kingdom by the new generation. The

Saudi society continues to move forward, toward a more modern and

contemporary mode of being, expressed through the work of various artists who

celebrate the positive and liberating side of globalization. But their art also serves

as a paean to a culture highly endangered of losing its identity. Arts in the

Kingdom have developed through music with artist like Qusai and Jeddah

Legendii, contemporary artists, and photographers. Photography is of a particular

importance in Saudi Arabia due to its particular relation to representation in Islam

but also to the exponential interest the population takes in the field. When I

arrived in the Kingdom in 2008, photography was the hobby of a few, but by 2012

it became almost impossible to go out without seeing someone holding a camera,

all his/her senses opened to find the perfect shot. This development has been

made easier through apps like Instagram that enables almost everyone to

simultaneously be the audience and the artist of an interactive gallery.

Art, and photography in particular, is the core mean of expression of the

individual as the central subject thanks to the explosion of figurative

representation through marketing. Saudi photographers are exposing a powerful,

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meaningful and personal portrait of a self in the 21st century Saudi Arabia, a self

sometime whole, sometime under construction, sometime lost. These artists are

questioning the notion and the meaning of Identity in Saudi Arabia but also within

a wider and more global context.

As this year the collective Edge of Arabia is celebrating its tenth anniversary,

that the artists studied are represented throughout the summer at the Venice

Biennale, I though it was the time to look more closely to a rising art scene, to its

new values, messages, codes, rules. This is Saudi Arabia seen by Saudi citizens,

in contrast to the imagery European photographers have brought from the region,

or how their Middle Eastern apprentices have perpetuated this false ʻAladdinʼ or

ʻa thousand and one Nightsʼ idea of the Middle East. The aim of this research is

to show to the world what I found in Saudi Arabia. Truth, hospitality, kindness,

religion, traditions; far from the stereotypes of Sultans having harem, far from the

idea that the oil wealth benefited everyone, far from terrorism. This research will

therefore look at the notion of identity in general before to focus of the notion of

identity in the Arab world and in Saudi Arabia. I will also explain the notion of art

in contemporary photography before to apply the concept to photography in the

Middle East and specially Saudi Arabia. This background will help us understand

how, through medium and content, the four selected photographers (Ahmed

Mater, Abdulnasser Gharem, Manal Al-Dowayan, and Saeed Salem) express the

complex Saudi Identity.

In the pages that follow is what I have found in the land that once gave the

world 15 suicide-hijackers, but today send worldwide dozens of wonderful artist

promoting a rightful religion, peace and identity message to the wider world.

3.1 Research question

 Does the Contemporary Art Photography in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

illustrate the multi-faced culture of its people?

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4. Literature review

In order to understand how the recent development of contemporary art

photography in the wahhabist Kingdom of Saudi Arabia express the state of a,

sometime confused, Saudi identity, it is necessary to introduce the notion of

identity and its theoretical concepts. Once the concepts have been defined and

understood, it is worth to deal with Andersonʼs idea of imagined communities

(1983) as it encompass both the notions of nation and religion. With these basic

concepts of identity in mind, it is worth focusing on the Saudi Identity by placing it

in the larger concept of ʻArab Identityʼ and what is it to be ʻArabʼ. We cannot study

the Saudi Identity without its relation to Islam. This will help us understand the

building of a ʻMeʼ, a self-identity, in the ʻWeʼ of the realm of family and nationality,

as well as the youth identity in reaction to development. As the study will focus on

contemporary art photography, it is essential to define what is it. We will first see

why photography can be defined as an art form and analyse its specific

concepts. We will focus on the notions of portraits, objects, and landscapes as

the chosen artworks focus on these specific concepts. This background will then

enable a better understanding of Saudi contemporary art photography; its origin

in the Kingdom, its relation to Islam and the question of representation in Islam;

and finally, how the collective Edge of Arabia enhanced this development.

4.1 The notion of identity

 4.1.1 Theoretical concepts

Buckingham (2008) gave a twofold definition of identity in his book Youth,

Identity, and Digital Media. On the one hand, he associates identity with the

notion of resemblance, ʻidentity is about identification with other whom we

assume are similar to usʼ (Buckingham, 2008, p. 1). This mean that we identify to

people we think are similar to us, for example the national identity (that gave birth

to nationality) or the identity of genders, religions, or sexuality. On the other hand,

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he defines identity as difference, ʻsomething we uniquely possess: it is what

distinguishes us from other peopleʼ (Buckingham, 2008, p. 1). In the case of

Saudi Arabia this could be defining the Saudi Identity in its difference to the

Western Identity for example. Thus, ʻidentity is established in and by relationship

both of similarity and difference, association and distinction, collectivity and

singularityʼ (Barney, 2004, p. 143). Identity is an abstract and complex concept

from which many questions arise concerning development on a personal level

but also the relation to society. However, Goffman in The Presentation of Self in

Everyday Life (1959) see the ʻworld as a theatre arenaʼ (p. 246) and states that

we are all, in fact, giving performance, acting. But this so called performance is

built of two levels, the ʻfront regionʼ where the performance is actually given

(pp.109 – 110) and the ʻback regionʼ where our impression and performance are

built (pp. 109 – 110). George Herbert Mead defines the human as composed of

three essential characteristics that prove that ʻit is impossible to conceive of a self

arising outside of a social experienceʼ (Mead, 1962, p. 140). These

characteristics are that humans ʻ1) consciously adjust their behaviours to the

environment, 2) take advantage of symbols to communicate, 3) are self-

conscious of themselves and the identities they project to othersʼ (Cited in

Slattery, 2003, pp. 195 - 196). For Cronk, the construction of a self is not the

product of a inactive reflection of others although it is a ʻproduct of socio-symbolic

experienceʼ (Cronk, 2005). This echoes Mead idea that ʻthe self is something

which has a development; it is not initially there, at birth, but arises in the process

of social experience and activity, that is, develop in the given individual as a

result of his relation to that process as a whole and to other individuals within that

processʼ (Mead, 1962, p. 135). Anthony Gidden disagree with this theory, for him

the external environment does not define a person self-identity, it is the individual

that actively forms the self (Gidden, 1991). The most complete definition could be

Anita Woolfolkʼs (2011) as she include most of the abovementioned theories:

ʻIdentity refers to the organization of the individual's drives, abilities,

beliefs, and history into a consistent image of self. It involves deliberate

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choices and decision, particularly about work, values, ideology, and

commitment to people and ideasʼ (Child and Adolescent Development).

 4.1.2 Imagined Identities

Benedict Anderson debates on the fact that identites are actually not real but

imagined based on cultural artifacts such as nationalism, nationality or nation-

ness. He agrees that nationality and nationalism are ʻthe most universally

legitimate value[s] in the political life of our timeʼ (Anderson, 1983, p. 3) but that

these notions ʻhave proved notoriously dificult to define, let alone to analyseʼ (p.

3). Seton-Watson agrees that ʻno scientific definition of the nation can be

devised; yet the phenomenom has existed and existsʼ (1977, p. 5). Nonehteless,

Anderson define these notion as imagined ʻbecause the members of even the

smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even

hear of themʼ (1983, p. 6). He further adds ʻall communities larger than primordial

villages of face-to-face contact (and perhaps even these) are imaginedʼ (ibid.). In

Saudi Arabia the notion of nationality is very important, so that in the 1960s the

Kingdom made it almost impossible to obtain the Saudi nationality (Yamani,

2009) in an attempt to limitate the definition of ʻSaudiʼ to the indigenous

inhabitant. Anderson also defines the ʻreligious communityʼ (p.12) as an imagine

community and take the example of two pelgrims in Mecca that do not speak the

same langyage but can understand each other the sacred language of their

ideograph existing in classical Arabic.

4.2 The Saudi Identity

 4.2.1 Arab Identity

The ʻArab Identityʼ is a concept even more complicated to define. Indeed,

subject to both Western and indigenous definition. According to Isolde Brielmaier

(2004), ʻwhat it means to be Arab has often been defined in negative terms by

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non-Arabs (p. 16). Indeed, when asked ʻwho are the Arabs?ʼ Gibb (1940)

answered ʻall those are Arabs for whom the central fact of history is the mission of Mohammedملسو هيلع هللا ىلص and the memory of the Arab Empire, and who cherish the

Arabic tongue and its cultural heritage as their common possessionʼ (p. 3). This

definition is largely wrong, as not all Arabs are Muslim for example. This echoes

the idea of Sherifa Zuhur when she says that ʻArab identity and culture are

frequently reduced to a stereotypeʼ (2004, p. 22). The etymology of Arab had two

meaning originally. On the one hand it meant ʻa pastoral tribesman as opposed to

a town dwellerʼ (ibid.) and on the other hand ʻone from the Arabian peninsula who

spoke an Arabic dialectʼ (ibid.). We can notice, that the main element of identity

to define Arabs is the Arabic language, which is the youngest from the family of

Semitic languages. The medium of photography eliminate the barrier of language

in the meaning of word, but we will, through the analysis, see how the

iconography of an image can relate to an ʻArabicʼ code as language. From the

perspective of the Arab themselves, the people of their region are ʻperceived as

strongly differentiated from one another in term of their beliefs and social normsʼ

(Findlay, 1994). Bernard Lewis tells us that the concept of ethnicity to express

identity was unknown to the Arabs:

ʻDescent, language, and habitation were all of secondary importance,

and it is only during the last century that, under European influence, the

concept of the political nation has begun to make headway. For Muslims,

the basic division . . . is that of faith, of membership of his religious

community.ʼ (Lewis, 1964, p. 70).

4.2.2 Islam The population of the Kingdom is largely following a Sunni Islam. The word

Sunni comes from Sunnah, which means a ʻwell trodden pathʼ (Findlay, 1994, p.

46). The Wahabbism is a puritanical branch of Sunni Islam that has been

promoted through the Kingdom since its unification. The law of the Kingdom is

enforced by the Sharia, but King Ibn Abd-al-Aziz ensured that royal decrees are

possible to allow development (Findlay, 1994). The religion is so important in the

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Kingdom than, when talking about identities or culture it is impossible to overlook

the matter. In KSA, someone is defined as ʻconservativeʼ when he believes that

ʻnew activities should be encompassed by existing familial and religious

institutionsʼ (Yamani, 2009, p. 130). Tradition in the Kingdom is synonym of

Religion. Conservatives emphasize on the role of the collectivity while liberals

believe in a more individualist perspective (ibid.). We have to bear in mind that

Saudis have come to contact with non-Muslims only since the oil boom, and that

therefore they identified themselves according the difference that separate them

from these non-Muslims (ibid.). With the fast growth the Kingdom went through

since the oil discovery, everything has changed apart for the religion, thus, this is

what the three or four generation that lived in the Kingdom since its unification,

have in common. Yamani reports that when a young man Said (27) from Tabuk

was ask about tradition, quoth he ʻtradition was following the Prophet Mohammadملسو هيلع هللا ىلصʼs practices through his authenticated hadith (sayings)ʼ (p. 135).

Another answered ʻit is Salafi and pure desert Nejdi cultureʼ (p.136). Yamani

explains that ʻthe symbolism of Islam combined with the unique heritage of Saudi

Arabia based on the guardianship of Mecca and Medina continue to be central to

the Saudi Identityʼ (p.136). It is usual to notice in Saudi that the notion of nation

and family always come second after religion, or as Yamani puts it ʻIslamic

identity first and then a national identity […] the new generation see religion as

the primary defining factorʼ (p.136).

4.2.3 ʻMeʼ versus ʻWeʼ: Nationality and Family The Saudi society often seems confused between religion and nation,

tradition and modernity. With religion remaining the primal form of community, the

sense of nationality and belonging to the nation became very important. Lewis

informs us that ʻidentity based on nation-states is a modern phenomenon in the

East like the Westʼ (quoted in Sheehi, 2004, p.7). However, for Mehmet,

ʻNationalism […] is a view of a world built on ethnicity and territoriality,

ideas incompatible with Islamic universality […] The nation-state seeks to

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shift allegiance from God to the state. In return, it promises its citizens the

benefits of socio-economic development in this life.ʼ (Mehmet, 1990, p. 1).

In the young nation that is Saudi Arabia, following an unprecedented wealth

growth, citizens, specially the new generation, finds itself in the position of

negotiating their identity in ʻthese new and unfamiliar circumstancesʼ (Yamani,

2009, p. 130). In his essay Arab Society and Culture, Yamani (2009) studies the

evolution of identity and belonging of the self through three generations. She

emphasize that from the first generation, born before the unification, the identity

was based on the family or the tribe and the belonging was to the regional level.

The second generation, born during the 1950s, grew up in a firmly establish and

institutionalised state, therefore their identity and allegiance was to a Saudi state

and a broader ʻArab nationalismʼ (p.132). For her, the fact that this generation

started to adopt the national thoub and headdress for the men, and the black

ʻabaya for the women is a sign that marks ʻthe emergence of a Saudi identityʼ

(p.132). This echoes the idea of Lewis that ʻnational identity inevitably manifests

itself in a logical if not etiological desire for a nation-stateʼ (1964, p. 8) and that

the individual ʻconflate the notion of nation-state with the notion of selfhoodʼ

(ibid.). The third generation, that Yamani identifies, will be the focus of the

research as all studied artists belong to this generation (born between 1970 to

1984). This generation is expected to follow the ʻtraditionʼ that their parent did,

but as a desire for a ʻself-identityʼ emerge, the exposure to the west challenge the

identity of the father figure, who, in the traditional ʻArabʼ tribe is the authority.

Yamani tells us that ʻidentity is key to any individual, allowing one to place

oneself within the family, community, and wider societyʼ (p.134), and that this

identity can relate on ʻthe family – to the tribe, the region, and, more recently, the

cityʼ (ibid.). However, she contrasts this notion of national identity since even with

strong attempt from the government to foster Saudi national identity by, as we

saw earlier making nationality almost impossible to acquire, Saudi Arabia is still a

very ʻheterogeneous countryʼ (p. 135) and that peopleʼs ʻprime unit of allegianceʼ

(ibid.) is the family.

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The Arab identity, including the Saudi Identity, is largely based on tradition.

In her interviews with young Saudis, Yamani asked them ʻwhat is tradition?ʼ

Saad, a teenager from the Hijaz answered ʻtradition is familyʼ (p. 135) and Asma

from Jeddah said tradition is ʻthe things people always do as their parents and

grandparentsʼ (p.135). The nation-state is also important in the Saudi identity

when citizen are abroad, Ayman, another interviewee, said ʻwhen abroad a

person must preserve his identity by being in touch with the country and heritageʼ

(p.138). However, from my own observation, the Saudi Cultural Mission, present

in major international cities, mainly attract people considered ʻconservativeʼ while

the more ʻliberalʼ, when studying abroad, usually choose to stay away from the

Cultural Mission. Yamani concludes that ʻfamily is the most important unity of

identity […] accompanied by an increasing sense of national belonging. The

Saudi, specially the youth, then, have to face other elements in the process of

building their identity. As technology has gradually penetrated in the Kingdom,

the youth as to react to this fast development that create uncertainties.

4.2.4 Consumerism as Identity As Erik Erikson puts it:

ʻ The conscious feeling of having a personal identity is based of two

simultaneous observations: the immediate perception of oneʼs

selfsameness and continuity in time; and the simultaneous perception of

the fact that others recognize oneʼs sameness and continuityʼ (1980, p. 22).

Consumerism has already been observed by many in the MENA, specially in

Saudi Arabia (Abdu (1992); Zaid and Abu-Elenin(1995)). The oil boom propelled

Saudi Arabia into the consumer Market by exponentially raising the national

income driving to an increase access to imported goodiii; and rising the income of

individuals, giving them the opportunity to consume. This sudden entry in

consumerism did not follow Rostowʼs five stages of economic growthiv, and much

of it is based on an emulation of the West usually seen as superior

technologically (Assad, 2006). Simultaneously, the boom of air-conditioned super

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market and shopping malls gave more opportunity to individuals for consumption.

The big amount of governmental job created during the oil boom, the rise of a

middle-class with surplus income, and, more importantly, the expansion of the

youth are factors fuelling the importance of consumerism. For example, the rate

of ownership of mobile phone as jumped from 5.89 percent to 67.88 percent from

1990 to 2003 (Assad, 2006, p. 5).

According to Belk (1985) and Zepf (2010) consumerism is port of the identity

because the individual not only buy what he/she needs, but what will bring him

recognition, he pursues his ʻego projectʼ. This symbolic consumption means that

the individual identity becomes more and more indissoluble from consumerism

(Gergen, 1991; White & Hellerich, 1998). For Zepf, consumerism can be used to

defined individual identity as well as social identities (2010). Christa Salamandra

agrees with it, in that she says ʻsocial identities are increasingly negotiated and

contested through competitive consumptionʼ (2009, p. 240).

4.2.5 Youth identity: reaction to development, the West Saudi Arabia has been online since 1994v with the introduction of Internet. If

the Internet access is heavily regulated with numerous page regarding sexuality,

pornography and human rightvi blocked, its development have been very fast. So

fast that the Kingdom is today the number one viewer on YouTube with 90

millions daily views, it is also number one in the GCC on Twitter (Mohammad,

2013). According to Findlay, change and development in Saudi Arabia and the

Arab world is the result of three main factors: 1) the interest and intervention of

the West in the region; 2) The reaction often resulting from the rejection of values

coming from the West; 3) The self-reflection and interpretation of the Arabs on

their own situation and their potential for development (1994). In 1992, on the

occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Kingdom, The Times detoured an imaged

produced by Saudi Ministry of Information and titled it ʼ60 years of progress

without changeʼ (in Findlay, 1994, p. 192).

20

This shows the contradiction with Findlayʼs ideas as well as other thinkers

like Yamani that both state the Kingdom has changed. First of all, the rapid

urbanisation that occurred during the twentieth century greatly boosted the

population of cities in the Arab world (Findlay, 1994). In this section I will focus on

the youth (born between 1970 to 1984) as the artists studied belong to this

generation. The other reason is that 64% of the 19.4 million citizens are under 30

and the 35 – 40 represent about 35% (Murphy). A core idea about Saudi youth is

that they want to be heard, they ʻdemand the social and political space to express

their hopes and fearsʼ (Yamani, 2009, p. 129). At the end of one of his interview,

a young Saudi told Murphy ʻThank you, you made me feel importantʼ (Murphy, p.

5). Brought in a society that tries to produce children that are the exact replica of

their parents, the new generation find itself lost in between tradition and

Figure 4.1: 60 Years of progress without change; The Times September 23rd 1992, p27

21

modernity, often as a result to its exposure to the West, through satellite TV or

Internet (Yamani, 2009). Therefore the youth identity is often built according to

their reaction to that Western exposure, whether in acceptance of it or reject.

Indeed, ʻmodern life is frequently associated, for good or for ill, with the West in

general and specifically the United States of Americaʼ (Ibid.; p.129). Murphy tells

us that their sense of tradition remain intact, but it is their relation that tradition

that has changed (pp. 6 – 7). This pragmatism, says Yamani, is born ʻthrough

exposure to outside education and travelʼ (2009, p. 130). According to her, the

lack of certainties and economic security as well as ʻa rapid urbanization ha[ve]

created a sense of dislocationʼ (p.134) so that they do not know anymore what

are the basis and where is their identity located. One of the main preoccupations

of the youth is their position, and the position of their country, on the international

scene. Malak, another interview of Yamani said ʻin order to be part of the global

village, we need to become more internationalʼ (p.135) but then she adds ʻwe

need to keep something for ourselvesʼ (p.135) which show how younger

generation are always conflicting between international recognition but

simultaneously keeping their national identity. Hamad told Yamani that with

western satellite TV, ʻpeople have lost their identityʼ (p.137) and throughout the

population it is widely spread that ʻwestern values threaten Saudi traditionsʼ

(p.137). This permanent conflict between tradition and modernity, globalisation

and preserving local identity will clearly be reflected throughout the work of the

artists I will study in the following chapters. Heba Abeed confide to Omar Berrada

during an interview that ʻthe next generation will lose themselves in the struggle

beltween globalization and national identityʼ (quoted in Rhizoma, 2013, p.39).

4.3 Contemporary Art Photography 4.3.1 Photography as an Art

ʻThe discovery of photography was announced in 1839. Quite optimistically,

many artists held the view that it would “keep its place” and function primarily as

a factotum to art. But this was both presumptuous and futile.ʼ

– Aaron Scharfvii

22

To define photography first, we should probably refer to Roland Barthesʼs

Camera Lucida (1981). From Barthes we learn that photography is

ʻunclassifiableʼ (p.4) and that the photograph is something that reproduce to

infinity something that only happened once; ʻthe photograph mechanically

repeats what could never be repeated existentiallyʼ (p.4). This echoes the

statement of Clarke that ʻthe act of taking photograph fixes time, but it also steals

time, establishes a hold on the past in which history is sealed, so to speak, in a

continuous presentʼ (Clarke, 1997, pp. 11 - 12). Photography has become so

important that even the great poet Edgar Allan Poe defined it as ʻthe most

important, and perhaps the most extraordinary triumph of modern scienceʼ (in

Clark, 1997, p.15). However, for Susan Bright (2005), ʻphotography is constantly

changing and hard to defineʼ (p.7). Many people are confused, by its

promiscuous and discursive nature, as to its significance as art. Bright argues

that it is because we see photography everywhere, whether it is in newspaper,

advertising, or art gallery, and even family shots. This is probably what Clarke

meant when he said ʻ in a world dominated by visual images the photograph has

became almost invisibleʼ (1997, p.11). The various uses of photography stated by

Bright rise the problem of meaning of the photograph, which was also a concern

for Paul Hill (1982) when he said ʻwe usually see what we want to and not always

what is actually there. [It has] to do with the contextʼ (p.43), indeed seeing a

photography in a gallery or the same photography in a newspaper will have a

totally different meaning. For Elisabeth Couturier (2011), ʻphotography opens a

window, a door onto the realʼ (p.24). This means that photography is based on

interpretation and that, therefore, it originate from various factors including our

culture and background (Hill, 1982). Marta Weiss also uses the expression ʻa

window onto the worldʼ (Weiss, 2012, p. 9), but for her, a photograph is more of

an object raising questions of religion, migration, conflict or even exile rather than

a representation, and ʻ how photographers use the medium and its techniques

can be as important as what they chose to pictureʼ (p.9).

ʻIntegrity cannot be a characteristic of photography, but it can be a quality

possessed by the photographerʼ (Hill, 1982, p. 43), this statement is a perfect

23

prelude to the ides of Charlotte Cotton (2009) that defines contemporary

photography as ʻevolv[ing] from a strategy or happening orchestrated by the

photographer for the sole purpose of creating an imageʼ (p.21). The concept of

ʻcreatingʼ or ʻorchestratingʼ immediately recalls art practices. Photography, for

Cotton, can be considered an art because ʻthe act of artistic creation begins long

before the camera is actually held in position and an image fixed, starting instead

with the planning of the ideaʼ (p.21); she even goes further saying that ʻthe viewer

does not witness the physical act directly, as one does in performance, being

presented instead with a photographic image as the work of artʼ (p.21). This

shows a contradiction with the way it was in the past when what was commonly

called ʻartʼ was rather the act represented in the photograph (Cotton, 2009).

4.3.2 The Notion of Art in Contemporary Photography

Cotton describes this area of photography as ʻtableau or tableau-vivant

photographyʼ (2009, p.49) because it has a ʻpictorial narrative […] concentrated

into a single imageʼ (ibid.). For Couturier, the notion of art in contemporary

photography emanate from the fact that it ʻseeks maximum visual impactʼ (2011,

p.12) as well as its breakage of the limits. For example, work of artist like Hannah

Collins is displayed in an unusual scale for a photograph with its 6X18 ft.

Abdulnasser Gharemʼs Road to Mecca also plays with the unusual dimension of

photography. Another innovation of contemporary photography is its volume with,

by example, the light boxes of Jeff Wall or of Abdulnasser Gharem that I will

study later on. Paul Hill, however, considers contemporary photography as

deriving from documentary, and he considers the photographs as a witness. For

him, a photograph gives an apparent accurate representation of something real;

its purpose is to ʻconfirm the physical existence of people, objects, places and

eventsʼ (1982, p. 59) so ʻthe photograph, therefore, becomes evidenceʼ (ibid.). He

doesnʼt seem to see the more artistic, somehow poetic, dimension of

contemporary photography of Cotton for who ʻit demonstrates a shared

understanding of how a scene can be choreographed for the viewer so he or she

can recognize that a story is being toldʼ (2009, p.49). Contemporary photography

24

can be related to artist in the way that, according to Couturier they are

ʻunconstrained by commercial concerns, they can take the time to polish their

images, setting up scene and creating narrative compositionʼ (2011, p.25). This

last statement is specially true in Saudi Arabia where, as art is still very limited,

commercial concerns are of least importance since the artist has to overcome the

conservative reprimand of the society, the censorship and that there are few (or

no) galleries to sell their work.

4.3.3 Portrait It is important to focus on portrait, as the work of Manal Al-Dowayan, one of

the artists studied in the following chapter, focuses on portrait. Paul Hill (1982)

tells us that as photographs ʻare made by people for peopleʼ (p.60) it is thus

normal, that the principal subject is also people. The face being the feature that

identifies a person the most, a portrait is then the picture of a facial expression.

American photographer Alfred Strieglitz (1864 – 1946) however, defines a portrait

as ʻa series of photographs of a person taken at regular intervals between the

cradle and the graveʼ (quoted in Hill, 1982, p.60). Susan Bright (2005) on her side

defines portrait as ʻladen with ambiguity and uncertainty, […] the most complex

area of artistic practiceʼ (p.19). But often, she continues, the portrait is used by

artists that strive to ʻexplore issues of identity – national, personal or sexualʼ

(ibid.). The point on which Bright and Hill agree is that the portrait is a triangular

relationship and exchange between the model, the photographer and the viewer.

The work of Manal breaks the rule as it contradict the idea of Hill that ʻanonymity

is usually the last thing that most people want in portraitureʼ (p.60), yet, as we will

see, all Manalʼs sitters remain anonymous.

4.3.4 Objects

To better understand the work of the photographers studied in the next

chapter, art photography of object is important to understand, especially when it

comes to Gharemʼs Road To Makkah (2011) or Matterʼs Antenna (2010). ʻThe

very act of photographing something makes it special and indeed its significance

25

and our understanding of it can change dramatically once it is turner into a

subjectʼ (Bright, 2005, p. 107) is probably the most eloquent meaning of object

photography and echoes the idea of Cotton (2009) that photographing an

everyday life object ʻretains the thing-nessʼ (p.115) of the object but alters the

concept of the perception of that same object due to the way it is presented to us.

Cotton and Bright both agree that photographing object raises the position of

things to the extraordinary. It forces us to search for the meaning of the object,

we know it must have one as, if the photographer chose to immortalise it, it must

have an importance.

4.4 Contemporary art photography in Saudi Arabia

 4.4.1Development of photography in the Kingdom

Photography is present in the Arab world since its invention in 1839 and

picture of Palestine, Egypt or even Syria were very popular in Europe. However,

these pictures were often taken by European photographers and their picture

echoed the European imagination of life in the Middle East rather than the truth

(Nassar, 2004). It nearly took two decades before local photographers represent

the people of the region and their lifestyle, differentiating themselves from these

European photographers. However, as Nassar says, often, these local were often

the apprentices of European professionals. Isolde Breilmaier, however, defend

that ʻArabs themselves were taking pictures as early as the late nineteenth

centuryʼ (Brielmaier, 2004, p. 16). Nassar underlines that the desire for

modernisation paralleled the rising interest locals had in photography.

4.4.2 Saudi Photography today Events such as 9/11 or what the media call the ʻArab Springʼ have pushed

the Middle East, and specially Saudi Arabia, on the front of the international

stage as never before. According to Weiss ʻthe same period has seen a dramatic

26

increase in the production, exhibition, criticism and sale of contemporary Middle

Eastern art, of which photography forms a significant partʼ (Weiss, 2012, p. 8).

Indeed, Saudi Arabia art was the focus of an exhibition at the Louvres in 2011,

Saudi photographer are exhibited at the V&A or even the British Museum and

many others throughout Europe. According to Brielmaier, both emerging and

established indigenous photographers ʻcontinue to push photographic

boundariesʼ (2004, p.16) and she further adds that ʻthrough their diverse

aesthetic considerations, they explore national and transnational identities,

gender, religion, memory, displacement, and transitionʼ (ibid.) which echoes the

theory of Weiss (2012). Contemporary Saudi, and more broadly Arab,

photographers are considered documenters both by Weiss and Brielmaier. Weiss

states that they document ʻpeople, places and eventsʼ (2012, p.9) while

Brielmaier say ʻthey are necessary documenters of a critical and defining

representation of a multi-faced vision of [Arab] society, culture, and historyʼ

(2004, p.16). They both consider the ʻcameraʼs capacity to bear witnessʼ (Weiss,

2012, p. 10).

Saudi art hasnʼt really followed a chronological trajectory; it is rather a

combination of ʻcultural and global shifts occurring in the fast pacing developing

Gulf regionʼ (Raza, 2013, p. 12). Most Saudi artists are from the ʻYouTubeʼ

generation, and are ʻyoung and bold in their expressionsʼ (ibid.), they are the

testimony of ʻtransitions and ruptures that are occurring simultaneously within

both a rural an urban societal and cultural contextʼ (ibid.). A recurrent theme in

Saudi contemporary art is communication within people as well as Islam. For

example Batool Alshomraniʼs ʻAthan (call to prayer)ʼ (2010) is a perfect example

of blending Islam and Art. The adjective that could define Saudi contemporary

photography the best would probably be, according to Raza, ʻnon-linearityʼ. Art

and photography are not very well considered in Saudi Arabia, and artists have to

break these barriers and produce a new vocabulary creating other realities to

remove this status quo. During an interview for BrownBook, Nouf Al-Himiary

confessed that Saudi art is ʻtrue to our culture, yet […] it manages to be modern

at the same timeʼ (reported in Rhizoma, 2013, p.50). And if, as Negar Azimi

27

(2004) says that Saudi photography is ʻpeople relationship to self-representationʼ

(Azimi, 2004, p. 11) and that photographers use the ʻmedium as a space for self-

expressionʼ (ibid.) and as an ʻelaborate game of self-constructionʼ (ibid.), it is thus

normal that Saudi photographs are ʻnon-linearʼ since Saudi are not encourage to

display a sense of individualityʼ (Al-Himiary, 2013).

Saudi photographers also often have to face the famous adage ʻmamnoua al

taswirʼ (photography prohibited) whether for political and security reasons, or for

religious reasons.

4.4.3 Islam and Representation It is impossible to study contemporary art photography in Saudi Arabia

without taking in consideration Islam and its position of iconographic

representation. Since the strict Wahhabi and the house of Saud have taken over

Arabia, a conservative form of Islam have been dominating the country and have

greatly influence Muslims settings. According to Sherifa zuhur, ʻthe notion of

iconophobia has actually been promoted by contemporary Muslims, sometime

due to their ignorance of their own artistic traditions, other because of the

influence of Wahhabismʼ (2004, p.23). However, for Venetia Porter (2012), the

main fear about figural representation in Islam was that it could result in idolatry

because the artist ʻusurps the creative function of Godʼ (p.121) so that all figural

arts have been subject to debate since the very early Islamic times. These

debate re-emerge with contemporary art, and the ambivalence of representation

Figure 4.2: Photography Prohibited; Courtesy of Moe Kahtan (2013)

28

have scared many artists that chose the way of calligraphy to not be subject to

censorship or prosecution (Porter, 2012).

The debate about taking photographs of people have been subject to

debates on its own among scholars, but broadly it is accepted as ʻunlike the

creation of a three-dimensional image of a living being made by hand, which [is]

notionally close therefore to a creation by God, the photographic image [is]

merely a mechanical processʼ (Naef, 2004 in Porter, 2004, p122). Photography

was even compared to a mirrored image by cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi (b. 1926)

saying that ʻthe photographer is only capturing the shadow by means known to

expertsʼ (ibid.). However Shamaʼi, a Saudi cleric, argued in 1988 that the

photograph should be useful and decent. So ʻwhen lines of decency appear to be

crossed […] objections are raisedʼ (Porter, 2012, p. 122).

5. Methodology The work on visual content or dimension in the field of media and

communication is still very limited (Deacon, Pickering, Golding , & Murdock ,

2007). In order to undergo my research about contemporary art photography in

Saudi Arabia, I used a qualitative analysis method, mixed; to some extend, to

semiotic analysis. Indeed, the research is widely based on the description and

interpretation of photographs in the context of the contemporary Saudi Kingdom,

enhanced by my own experience living there.

5.1 Qualitative Method and semiotic analysis For Punch (1998), ʻqualitative research is empirical research where the data

are not in the form of numbersʼ (p. 4). Denzin and Lincoln describe it as a

ʻmultimethod in focus, involving an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its

subject matterʼ (1994, p. 2). I chose this method because it means ʻstudy[ing]

things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret,

phenomenaʼ (ibid.) but specially because it is a subject where I could you my

29

personal experience: ʻqualitative research involves the studied use and collection

of a variety of empirical material – case study, personal experienceʼ (ibid.).

When it comes to photograph interpretation, qualitative analysis is

particularly adequate since it is ʻgrounded in a philosophical position which is

broadly “interpretivist” in the sense that it is concerned with how the social world

is interpretedʼ (Mason, 1996, p. 2). For Ely et al., qualitative research ʻhas the aim

of understanding experience as nearly as possiblr as its participants feel it or live

itʼ (Ely et Al. 1991 in Hugues).

When it comes to semiotic, the main author of reference of course is Rolland

Barthes. His theory allow us to think about an image in term of ʻwhat idea and

values, the people, the places and object in images stand forʼ (Hansen & Machin,

2013, p. 175) as well as describing the image carefully. Indeed, Barthes identify

two levels of analysis for photographs: what does it denote; or simply what we

wee; and what are its connotations. Connotations are the ʻcultural associations of

elements, features in, or qualities of the imageʼ (Barthes, 1957 in Hansen &

Machin, 2013; p. 176).

5.2 Limitations Even if the combination of qualitative analysis and semiotic is appropriate for

this research, it still has its limitations. For example, as Danzin and Lincoln

(1994) stresses it out, the field studied by qualitative research changes over time

as it is concerned with the study of people in their natural setting. Therefore, the

perspectives and outcomes will vary over time. One of the major criticisms about

the method is linked to the problems of ʻadequate validity or reliabilityʼ (Hugues).

It is also limited and cannot be replicated nor generalised because of the nature

and origin of the data. Therefore a research is valid only for the time and context

studied. Another major problem for qualitative analysis is the time required to

collect data for example in the case of conducting interviews. The interpretation

process, like it is the case in this research, is also lengthy. Hugues also identifies

30

the problem of the point of view whether it is from the researcher or the

participant, as it might be subject to bias.

6. Data Analysis

In this chapter, I will analyse the work of four Saudi photographers, each

from a different province in order to show how, in their respective way, they all

represent a side of the multi-faced Saudi Identity.

The four of them are represented by the collective Edge of Arabia an

independent art initiative committed to reach new audiences in order to improve

understanding through exhibitions, publications and education programs. The

collective was created in 2003 by the meeting of an Englishman, Stephen

Stapleton, and two Saudi contemporary artists Ahmed Mater and Abdulnasser

Gharem in the art village of Al-Meftaha, part of King Fahd Cultural Centre in

Abha, capital of the Saudi southern province of Aseer, that hosted, at the time, a

group of artist that call themselves Shattah, which means the broken up or the

dismantled. Celebrating this year its tenth anniversary, Edge of Arabia has

organised over eight exhibitions worldwide, released twelve publication translated

in five languages, and work with institutions such as the British Museum and the

Venice Biennale for the second time this summer. It is important to note that even

the names of the exhibitions reflect the work of the artists as well as a component

of the Saudi Identity. Grey Borders/Grey Frontiers in 2010 in Berlin refers to the

blurred border in which the Saudis have to identify themselves, the same year;

Istanbulʼs exhibition was named Transition, which immediately recalls the state in

which Saudi Identity is currently, as we previously saw. In 2011, the 54th Venice

Biennale hosted The Future of a Promise, which echoes the youth identity

mentioned in the previous chapter. In 2012, two exhibitions took place, Come

Together in London and We Need To Talk in Jeddah, and this year Venice

Biennale hosts Rhizoma, Generation in Waiting.

31

To further understand how Saudi contemporary art photography represents

the countryʼs identity, I will focus on four photographers, each from a different

province. Ahmed Mater born in 1979 in Abha in the province of Aseer in souther

KSA; Abdulnasser Gharem born in 1973 in Khamis Mushait in Aseer province but

raised and work in Riyadh, capital city of the Najd province and of the Kingdom;

Manal Al-Dowayan, the only woman studied in this chapter, born in 1973 in

Dharan in the oil rich Eastern province; and Saeed Salem, the youngest of them,

born in 1984 in Jeddah in Mecca province, western KSA.

6.1 Ahmed Matter Ahmed Mater was born (July 25th, 1979) and

raised in Abha, the capital of the Aseer

province in southern Saudi Arabia. He currently

lives and works in Abha. The fact that he grew

up in a rural environment greatly influenced his

work that remains deeply rooted in his Aseeri

local identity, exploring the narrative but also

the aesthetic of an Islamic culture evolving in

the globalization era. He is a trained GP and

with his status of being one of the most

influential artists of Saudi Arabia, he created a

young artistic collective called Ibn Aseeri (Son of Aseer). He is one of the only

two Saudi artists present in the permanent collection of the British Museum as

wellas the Los Angeles Country Museum. Stephen Stapleton describes his work

as ʻvisually rich and conceptually braveʼ (quoted in Hemming, 2010, p. 33). In an

interview with Marta Weiss, Mater admitted his work being influenced by

photographer like Abd al-Ghaffar who, like him, was a doctor; and Ansel Adam

(Mater, Light of the Middle East, 2012).

I will focus on two works from Mater, Magnetism from 2012 representing

identity through Islam, and the parallel between Islam and modernity; and

Figure 6.1: Ahmed Mater; Courtesy of Edge of Arabia (2010)

32

Antenna from 2010 as illustration of the conflict between rural identity and

modernity, and the importance consumerism took in Saudi Arabia.

6.1.1 Identity through Islam: Magnetism

Figrue 6.2: Ahmed Mater; Magnetism III, 2012

33

Figure 6.3: Ahmed Mater; Magnetism II, 2012

This work is actually the photograph of an installation made by Mater in

2012; the first installation however was made in 2010. As we saw in the previous

chapter, Cotton (2009) and Bright (2005) talked about art photography as being

staged for the sole purpose of photography, and, moreover, as Barthes (1981)

said, photography is a way to make the time stop, to show something that is past

and terminated to an audience that was not originally present. This is what the

series Magnetism does, it testify of a performance Mater did and that not

everyone could see. The installation consists of two magnets in opposition, but

only one is visible on the surface. They both attract and repulse iron filling.

As Weiss (2012) noticed, the first glance at the picture will make us think we

are looking at a photograph of pilgrims circling around the kaʼbah. Even people

who are not Muslim have all seen pictures of the Hajj pilgrimage. So clearly this

picture recalls something familiar. Indeed, the black magnet at the centre is a

simulacrum for the kaʼbah, the ʻhouse of the One Godʼ while the iron filling

34

represent the pilgrims circling around it. The work of Mater feature subtle balance

of forces and interests expressed through the opposition of square and circle,

black and white, and light and darkness which implicitly refers to the harmonious

opposition between attraction and repulsion generated by the magnet, but at the

centre of the search for an identity fitting the group. Ashraf Fayadh (2010) even

sees the representation of a ʻneed for security, which a centre providesʼ (p.92).

This illustrates the dilemma of the Saudi identity stuck between a ʻMeʼ and a

ʻWeʼ, the individual as part of a group. For Fayadh, Magnetism represents the

fact that individuals are ʻcompelled to be part of a larger group turned toward a

centreʼ (ibid.). We previously mentioned that in Saudi Arabia, regional identity

was very strong and different from a region to the other, Islam being the centre

the Kingdom is based on to unify all these regions. Indeed, on the photograph,

the iron filling depict a homogeneous flow like a crowd, where no individual could

be identify, representing unification, union, integration or even acceptance of

each other. It can also illustrate the fact that individuality is not very valued or

even encouraged in the Kingdom, rather, everybody should blend in and stay in

the comfort of conformity; individualism is seen as a threat to the general well

being of the country.

Mecca and the Kaʼbah being the centre to which not only Saudi citizen but all

the Muslims around the world turn toward during the five daily prayers, this also

refers to the position of Saudi Arabia (that becomes ʻMeʼ, as unified by Islam) in

the larger Muslim world (ʻWeʼ).

Mater talks himself of his work as ʻexpress[ing] the feeling of being at the

centre of the Islamic world at this moment in Historyʼ (2012). The notion of centre

is essential as Saudi Arabia is indeed the centre of the Islamic world as the host

of the two holiest cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina. Mater got the idea of this

photograph while at Al Shamia a mountain in Mecca that for him ʻis a special

place. It is just above the Kaʼbah where you can see what is going onʼ (Mater,

Artificial Light / Desert of Pharan, 2012).

Representing the Kaʼbah is also expressing stability, indeed, the House of

the One God is believe to be the place where God started to create the world,

35

and since built by Abraham, the place have almost remained intact throughout

the centuries. The city of Mecca is being completely renovated, remodelled,

recast, and transformed with entire district being destroyed to enlarge the

mosque, skyscrapers being built, forcing the local people to wonder what is going

to happen, however, the Kaʼbah remains untouched, intact, strong against

modernity, globalization, consumerism. This remove the sense of uncertainty that

Saudi youth is facing, it also could be an illustration of what the time titles ʼ60

years of progress without changeʼ (in Findlay, 1994, p. 192).

The magnetism is also an expression of Materʼs own feelings as he himself

said that when he walks in Mecca ʻthese are the same stones over which the

Prophey Muhammadملسو هيلع هللا ىلص once walked. The cityʼs history and fluidity are magneticʼ

(Mater, Artificial Light / Desert of Pharan, 2012).

6.1.2 Rural Identity, Modernity, and Consumerism: Antenna

Figure 6.4: Ahmed Mater; Antenna, 2010

36

Figure 6.5: Ahmed Mater; Antenna (prototype), 2010

This is also the photography of Materʼs sculptural project. Again,

photography here is chosen to freeze the time and offer the possibility to a wider

audience to see that instant, broaden the horizon for a temporary performance.

Today, three years after Antenna was displayed in Vienna, people can still see it,

while it has been long gone as a performance. Mater chose to be represented

with his giant antenna model because this piece was inspired by a personal story

that can represent any Saudi family living in rural setting, especially in the Aseer

province. This photograph has a direct connection to the past of Mater, and by

extension to the past of all Saudis, recalling the days when satellite TV was

forbidden in the Kingdomviii.

Antenna, according to Mater is the ʻsymbol and metaphor for growing up in

Saudi Arabiaʼ (Mater, Edge of Arabia, 2010). The story behind it is that Aseer is

near by the border of Yemen and Sudan who, at that time, where more liberal

than the Kingdom, so every child in every home was going on the rooftop of the

traditional family house and outstretch his arms to slowly move the antenna in

search for a signal from Yemen or Sudan in order to see something new, music

37

or poetry, a new way of life. In the living room, the father and brothers of that boy

are shouting at him as soon as a signal appears. This is the story behind this

photograph, this is what Mater recreate posing here in the picture, he was that

boy back in the days, and he still is, he still is ibn Aseeri (the son of Aseer). Mater

confides ʻI catch art from the story of my life. I donʼt know any other wayʼ (Mater,

Edge of Arabia, 2010). This work symbolise the whole Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

now, and even more broadly the whole Arab world; in search of new stories and

voices, maybe a different lifestyle. This story is not without recalling Tariq Sabryʼs

The Day Moroccan Gave Up Coucous for Satellite TV (2005) where he tells the

story of a man stealing the couscousière (round metallic dish for the preparation

of couscous) of his wife to place it on the roof in order to get hold of European TV

signal. In this essay, Sabry talks about the mental immigration through foreign TV

programs. This could be applied to Materʼs photograph, indeed, Saudi youth all

dream to go study abroad, specially the USA, through King Abdullahʼs

scholarship. Those who cannot be granted the privilege, through TV and now

Internet, are mentally migrating.

Here again, like in Magnetism, Mater played with high contrast in term of light

and darkness. The whole background is dark, in the shadow, the sole source of

light reflecting on him being the antenna. This is an allegory to knowledge, and

more specifically knowledge through exposure to media. The darkness

represents Saudi Arabia, conservative, isolated, dark, blinded from seeing (or

seeking) knowledge. The light antenna represents the outside world, shining,

enlightening the individual (who represent the whole Saudi population). The

implicit meaning is that the outside world is more knowledgeable.

But as usual, the work of Mater is more complicated than that, more dual,

more complex and contrasted. The antenna being made of neon lights, Maters

looking at it like absorbed by the light immediately echoes another connotation of

the photograph. It resembles a fly killer lamp. It attracts or even hypnotizes the

mind, but once it touches it, it kills it. Mater here represents a metaphor that

echoes what some of the young Saudis who answered Yamaniʼs interview; the

foreign media (here TV) kill the Saudi Identity, kill the individual identity. This

38

means that all light sources (knowledge from the outside as we said) are not

beneficial. This can illustrate TV as well as Internet, knowledge is good, but the

individual has to be able to select what is good and what is not, what is true and

what is wrong, this is a message from Mater for people to not blindly accept

information without further research. Made in 2010, this photograph could be

illustrated by the YouTube show The Arrival (2009) that have hit Saudi Arabia like

a wave. Remember that worldwide, Saudi Arabia is number one in term of

YouTube viewership with over 9 million videos seen dailyix, The Arrival pretend to

expose all the secret of the ʻIlluminatiʼ sect and called the people to boycott

certain product or singers/actors. I was in Saudi Arabia at the time, and myself

watched The Arrival, I have seen so many people becoming obsessed by this

show without even trying to look up the sources or veracity of the facts

presented.

Antenna represents also the difference of lifestyle between villages and the

city; Aseer province is mostly rural, in opposition to metropolis like Jeddah or

Riyadh. The symbol behind the antenna is also the extinction of basic human

communication; television became the mean of communication. To a greater

extend, it also mark the beginning of an era of consumerism, TV itself is

consumed and it is, as we know, a powerful tool for marketing and promoting

products to the general public. This is what Mater says:

ʻMy artistic experience was influenced by three main axes. First, the

huge gap between life in a village and life in a city. The extinction of basic

human relations. And the era of consumerismʼ (Mater, Edge of Arabia,

2010)

This illustrate how the Saudi Identity have been transformed following the oil

boom, and how nowadays, people feel the need to belong to the wide

consumerist group to identify themselves as a nation, and within the outside

world.

39

6.2 Abdulnasser Gharem Abdulnasser Gharem is born in 1973 in Khamis

Mushail (Aseer province) but currently resides

and works in Riyadh, capital city of the Kingdom

and of the Najd province (original province of

the Saud family). His work is greatly influenced

by his career as a major in the Saudi Arabian

Army. He shared a studio with Ahmed Mater

when studying at Al-Miftaha village where they

started their strong friendship, and they are the

only two Saudi artist that have been selected in

the prestigious biennale of Sharjah in 2007. Gharem made history when Christies

in Dubai sold his work Message/Messenger at a record price, setting Gharem the

highest selling living artist from the Gulf. According to Stephen Stapleton (2010),

ʻGharem represents the past, present and future of Saudi contemporary artʼ

(2010, p. 141). Like Mater, his work heavily represents his origins, geographic

and social context and Ansell Adam is a photographer that influenced him a lot.

He started by watercolour painting, and still does it today to finance his other

creative projects. His view is that an artist should be here to remix and question

social situation, but in any case, for him, an artist is not here to protest. He said: ʻI

have no studio so my studio is wherever I find people. When I see the opportunity

I goʼ (in Stapleton, 2010, p.143).

6.2.1 Consumerism vs Religion: The Path

To understand this photographs, it is necessary to know the background

story of it. In 1982, in the mountain of Khamis Mushait, it had rained much more

than usual; at that time Gharem was nine years old. In the valley, villagers had

heard about the rain and feared flash flood. A new bridge of concret had just

been constructed and they believed it secure to wait for the flood to pass, so they

Figure 6.6: Abdulnasser Gharem, Courtesy of Edge of Arabia (2009)

40

gathered their possession and livestock and followed the man who told them

about the place. The water was so strong that the bridge collapsed, killing most

of the villagers who had taken refuge there.

Figure 6.7: Abdulnasser Gharem; Al Siraat (The Path), 2007

Figure 6.8: Abdulnasser Gharem; Al Siraat (The Path), 2007

41

This piece of work took twenty-four men four days and three nights to spray it

all over with a single word ʻSiraatʼ which, in Arabic, means ʻthe pathʼ or ʻthe wayʼ.

This is a word with high spiritual connotation, as Muslim around the world say it

in each and every prayer. It refers also to the idea of making the right decision,

choosing the right path in life. It also refers to the bridge in itself, and to the

bridge that every soul will have to pass to reach heaven or fall into hell according

to the Muslim tradition.

Like the work of Mater, this photograph is ʻa lasting artefact of a fleeting

installationʼ (Weiss, 2012, p. 14), a testimony for the people who cannot go to

Saudi Arabia see the real painted bridge. In his interview with Marta Weiss,

Gharem considers the photography as a ʻuniversal languageʼ (2012), however

there is a big contrast between this ʻuniversal languageʼ and the use of Arabic,

which is as far as universal as it can be. However, the concept of following the

right path is the universal message, as it ʻconnects people of every faith and

ideologyʼ (ibid.).

The work of Ghanem is always heavy in implied meaning and connotation. It

might not be obvious, but this photograph express the state of consumerism

Saudi Arabia is going through since the oil boom. Firstly, at the time, a brand new

road and bridge was, for the rural villagers, something to be proud of, something

to trust, to trust with your own life. Secondly, villagers gathered their belonging to

go on the bridge, adding weight to the structure, helping it to collapse. This is a

highly critical work against consumerism wish, unfortunately, is an important part

of the Saudi Identity.

Gharem talks about the ʻculture of being a sheepʼ (Gharem, 2012), this is

clearly in relation with consumerism, but it goes further. Saudi Identity is based

on imagined communities and individualism is highly discouraged. So people

tend to believe that it is wrong to think for themselves, so, in here, Gharem tries

to revive a more individual expression of culture.

The photograph also works as a reminder for mankind; these villagers put

their fate and faith in the hand of man made concrete and believed a man that

42

told them it was safe. This expression of the duality man versus nature brings to

mind the Muslim Identity of the Saudi citizens. They are Muslim before to be

Saudi therefore they should put their faith in God rather than in a man; meaning,

they should not blindly trust the state, not the outside world.

The meaning of the photograph is expresses through the presence of the

concrete road sprayed with paint, but also through the void left by the part of the

bridge that collapsed. The void as a symbol of the confusion, the emptiness felt

by todayʼs Saudi youth, their fear to find a jobx, to marry xi, to follow tradition but

be part of modernity and so on.

Made in 2007, four years before the ʻArab Springʼ, in a contemporary

context, Al Siraat can be interpreted as the desire of a dialogue or a discussion

about democracy and what it means for Arabs, especially Saudis. In 2009 and

again in 2011, the story of Al Siraat was repeating in Jeddah, with two

successive flash floods causing the death of hundreds of people.

6.2.2 Identity in progress: Detour

Figure 6.9: Abdulnasser Gharem; Detour (original photograph), 2009

43

Figure 6.10: Abdulnasser Gharem; Detour (lightbox), 2009

Figure 6.11: Abdulnasser Gharem; Detour, 2009

Detour (2009) is part of a series called Restored Behaviour. The sign detour

is very common in Saudi Arabia, as many roads are under refection, and that the

money injected by the government into construction has boomed the sector and

new building mushrooms around the major cities and throughout the Kingdom.

The sign inspired Gharem so much, that the original picture (figure 6.9) was

remodeled into a lightbox (figure 6.10) and in a stamp painting (figure 6.11). This

is a very good example of ʻobjectʼ photography that, as Cotton and Bright put it,

throw the everyday life object in the position of subject. The oil boom has brought

44

so much money to the Kingdom that construction and cities have appeared like

mirage in the middle of the desert, and people have been propelled from a

nomadic Bedouin life, or a sedentary rural one; to a busy and dazzling city life.

Cities like Jeddah never sleep, and every street is lighted up by dozen of

streetlamps. So at first, this is a reminder for the future generation, that all this

hard work is the fruit of sweat and blood of thousands of worker, mostly

immigrants.

First, it is important to note that both English (Detour) and Arabic (Tahwelah)

language are present, which represent the melting pot that Saudi Arabia is

todayxii.

Detour means to take a route to avoid something or to bypass it. Tahwelah in

Arabic has the same meaning but also means a switch. This photograph, thus,

can be regards as the reflection if the Saudi society constantly getting away from

what was the traditional lifestyle regarding faith, community, or even the

language. Even regarding the built environment the Saudi Identity has changed.

When looking at old houses like in the old city centre ʻAl Baladʼ in Jeddah, made

of mud, wood or stone, it is obvious that the building found farther north of

Jeddah, in the business district of Tahlya and all its iron and glass building

covered by giant led screen, it is obvious that the traditional way of construction

is not present anymore. The detour represents the modern obsessions adopted

by, principally, the youthxiii but by the population in general as well; mass

productionxiv , consumerism as main mean of self expression, or fast-paced

constructionxv. As the work of an artist, this photograph is here to remind the

Saudi citizen to not detour their identity to the benefit of homogeneous influences

caused by globalization.

Detour (Figure 6.11) is painted on rubber stamps, and at the bottom left of

the word in Arabic (as show in the detailed image), the word ʻTahwelahʼ is written

in reverse, in the Latin direction (from left to right). This could mean that there is a

chance (small according to the size of the writing) that people will go back to the

ʻmain roadʼ or the ʻright pathʼ to relate to Al Siraat, and gain back their identity.

This also means that like Arabic language (written from right to left) cannot be

45

written in a ʻWesternʼ direction, the Saudi identity cannot be bent, or transformed

to fit into these ʻWesternʼ standards, but on the contrary, should differentiate itself

to underline its strength. This is a reminder for people not to fall in a mould that

does not fit the local traditions, religion and identity.

6.2.3 Resemblance and Difference: Road To Makkah

Figure 6.12: Abdulanasser Gharem; Road To Makkah, 2011

Figure 6.13: Abdulanasser Gharem; Road To Makkah, 2011

46

Although this is just a regular road sign for anybody living in Saudi Arabia,

this actually represent the Saudi Identity almost as well as the identity card itself.

This is a sign you will find in every road going into Mecca city, the holiest city of

the Muslim world, the centre point toward which all Muslims turn to pray. This

board is placed before the entrance of the Haram (sanctuary, or Holy site) of

Meccaxvi.

On this piece to with have the duality of English and Arabic (except for the far

left part which means ʻofficials onlyʼ and therefore concern only government

official, native Arabic speakers). This photograph represents the Saudi Identity on

many levels. The language duality embodies the melting pot that Saudi Arabia is

with its citizens and expats, and how native absorb the expats and outside world

culture listening to English music, reading in English, speaking in English.

The obvious part of the Saudi Identity reflected in this photograph is how it is

defined in relation to others. The Muslim Identity of Saudi Arabians is underlined

with the green squarexvii, Islam being what unit the Saudi community, and being

the primary source of belonging, before the regional or national belonging. But

this identity is defined in relation of the non-Muslims, who are not allowed to enter

Mecca. The fact that ʻfor non-Muslimʼ is written also in Arabic, proves that the

Saudi Identity is Islamic before being Arabic, signifying that Arabs non-Muslim

should also take the exit, make a detour around Mecca if they want to go further.

The Saudi Identity is also defined in reference to the others by the fact that

the middle and left squares (Muslims only, and the part in Arabic only) are

connected, while the square including non-Muslim is disconnected from them.

This represent how the Saudi national feels toward to outsiders, close enough to

observe (and sometime absorb) their culture, but not together to preserve the

ʻpurenessʼ of the Saudi national.

The size of the photograph (82 X 304 cm) is also significant. Although road

sign are generally this size, a photograph in an exhibition is usually much

smaller. But as we saw earlier, Couturier said that oversizing was part of the

liberation, the breakage from borders in contemporary art photography (Talk

About Contemporary Photography, 2011). This piece of work in a gallery (as

47

shown on figure 6.13 reflect both the importance of non-Muslim being denied

entrance to Mecca, giving the impression of a severe punishment pending on

whoever would violate this sign; but also reflect to the feeling people express

when going to Mecca, the grandeur of Al-Masjid Al-Haram (the Sacred Mosque).

Facing this photograph in a gallery makes the viewer feels small and powerless,

directly referring of how Muslim should feel in front of God, fearful and humble.

Through this piece of work, Gharem gives the viewer a glimpse of how it feels to

be Saudi (this kind of road sign being found only in KSA), the viewer can for a

minute feel the Muslim Identity of Saudi citizen running through his/her veins.

6.3 Manal Al-Dowayan

Manal Al-Dowayan is born (1973) and raised in

the city of Khobar, in the Eastern province of

Saudi Arabia, which his, historically, the

province with less traffic, as most of it is the

ʻempty quarterʼ, desert. It is however the heart

of Saudi Oil Company, Khobar being a city

entirely built by Saudi ARAMCO, the biggest oil

company in the worldxviii, employing full time

women since the 1940s (Stapleton, Manal Al-

Dowayan, 2010). She grew up in the camp of

the oil company, where the rules are very different from outsidexix and where a

large community of expatriate lives. She had her first exhibition in London in

2003, followed by another one in 2005 in Saudi Arabia; and she is now in the

permanent collection of the British Museum. She admit having a great sense of

self-censorship, avoiding anything that society would wrongly perceive and would

damage her family reputation, and according to Stapleton (2010), she is a

ʻmixture of Saudi, ex-patʼ, and eastern province influenceʼ (p.124). Her work

target mainly the Saudi audience as it relates to social and physical indigenous

settings, and her work is greatly impregnated of her identity as a Saudi woman.

Her greater influence is the Iranian photographer Shirin Neshat.

Figure 6.14: Manal Al-Dowayan (2011) courtesy of Camille Zakharia

48

6.3.1 Nature and Identity: I am …

Figure 6.15: Manal Al-Dowayan; I am…, (series) (2005 – 2007)

I am… is a series from Manal Al-Dowayan composed of thirteen portraits of

Saudi Women (thirteen like the number of provinces in the Kingdom), but

although the name is at the first person, the women posing are not the

photographer. From top left to bottom right: I am a Doctor; I am a Petroleum

49

Engineer; I am a Writer; I am a Filmmaker; I am a Scubadiver; I am a Decorator;

I am a UN Officer; I am a Computer Scientist; I am a TV Producer; I am an

Architect; I am a Mother; and I am an Educator.

Each photo of the series represent an attribute of the Saudi Identity however

I will focus on the photograph that climaxes the series, as it obviously is heavily

related to Saudi Identity:

Figure 6.16: Manal Al-Dowayan; I am a Saudi Citizen, (2005 - 2007)

The first thing to mention is that all these portraits adopt the deadpan

aesthetic, which Cotton defines as ʻa cool, detached and keenly sharp type of

photographyʼ (2009, p. 81). Deadpan shows an ʻemotional detachment and

command on the part of the photographersʼ (ibid.). It enables us to see far

beyond the usual limitations of individual perceptions. The use of deadpan result

50

in a very sharp and precise description on the subject, even though it seems

neutral.

The series recalls Shirin Neshatʼs Speechless (1996), and was inspired by

the speech King Abdullah AlSaud gave upon taking the throne when he

emphasized on the role of women in building the country, which raised the

question of what will they be able to do, and a debate emanated about women

employment as a threat to Saudi Identity. This is the reply of Manal to this

dialogue, and proves that Saudi Women employmentxx is part of a Saudi Identity.

All women are represented with a veil or a headscarf in a sympathetic

lighting giving a very deep and high tonal contrast resulting in a visual

dissonance. They also all hold objects redolent of traditionally masculine

professionʼ (Stapleton, Manal Al-Dowayan, 2010, p. 124). The dark background

represent the uncertainties women (like youth) are facing. In I am a Saudi Citizen

the darkness occupies more than half of the picture, representing the doubts in

building their identity. The model is looking to the right, which represent looking

forward, looking at the future, but as nothing clear is stated about womenʼs

position within the society and their role in building the national identity, the future

is dark.

Another element of importance within this series, and especially I am a Saudi

Citizen, is that they all heavily wear traditional Bedouin jewellery in a very

ʻobtrusive and unnatural wayʼ (Al-Dowayan, 2010). This jewellery represent the

obstacles of tradition that prevent women from expending the importance of their

role in the society, the weight they have to carry and face when they try to

empower themselves.

The hijab (face cover) is made from lace work, therefore is very elaborate

and thin, she can see through. This veil represents the Islamic Identity, as Islam

is not the reason for women oppression. In opposition, the headscarf she wears

is made of a thick and heavy fibre representing the Saudi flag. This implies that,

rather than religion, tradition is impeding woman development. The Saudi flag features the shahada (declaration of faith and Oneness of God and Muhammadملسو هيلع هللا ىلص

51

as His messenger), which make it ambiguous and thus, represent the Saudi

Identity half way through religion and tradition.

A last element is important to notice in this series, it is the way women all

wear expertly applied makeup. In a sense, this reflects a masculine perception of

femininity, which, in the patriarchal Saudi culture, is predominant. However,

Manal explains that no Saudi women (all models are Saudi) would accept to look

ʻuglyʼ in a photograph (Al-Dowayan, 2010); which express an aspect of self-

consciousness in relation to the ideal beauty promoted in Western media, thus,

express the consumerism.

6.3.2 Identity and Traditions: The Choice

Figure 6.17: Manal Al-Dowayan; The Choice, (2011)

The conception of The Choice (2011) is really similar to the series I am… as

we have the deadpan aesthetic, the black background, the high contrast between

52

the woman and the background, The woman is a Saudi citizen, wearing

headscarf, and is represented beautiful.

However, in its difference, this photograph represents how identity

preservation is linked to tradition through symbols. The traditional jewellery has

been here replace by henna tattoo, also traditional. The first symbol that the

viewer will see, is very familiar, it is the ʻpeaceʼ symbol. Looking closer, the

symbol is made up from the arm of the model but also from a steering wheel;

thus representing the right to drive for women. The message is that this right

wonʼt be asked by power or violence but through peace.

The fist closed at the end of the arm however, represent the concept of force

and power. It is placed over her mouth, as to keep her silent. The opposition

force/peace represent the traditional vision of a woman in Saudi Arabia. Indeed,

after many years spent there, I noticed than men see the women as reacting with

violence, like hot tempered in term of decision making; but on the other side, a

woman represent the peace and comfort a mother, or a wife would provide, as

well as how reflective they are in giving advices. The relationship male/female is

fully imbued by the Saudi Identity, and both gender, consciously or not,

reproduce the same pattern, including Manal in her work.

6.4 Saeed Salem

Saeed Salem, born in 1984 in Jeddah is the

youngest of the artists studied in this research.

Although from Yemeni decent, which, in a

sense, makes him represent the city of

Jeddah, Salem was raised in Saudi and

pursued his studies in advertising in Malaysia.

Salem is not one of the most active members

of Edge of Arabia; he has been present only in

We Need To Talk exhibition in Jeddah last

year, and this year in Rhizoma at the Venice

Figure 6.18: Saeed Salem (2012) Courtesy of Edge of Arabia

53

Biennale; but he is one of the few that live entirely of his art since he created his

own studio, 181 degrees, in 2009. His project Neonland comprises a series of

picture representing the cosmopolitan city of Jeddah. Maybe because I lived in

Jeddah, but to me, his photography is a screaming representation of the hijazi

(western Saudi Arabia) identy, and to a further extend the Saudi Identity as a

whole.

6.4.1 Consumerism and the West: Neon Gods

 

Figure 6.19: Saeed Salem; Neon Gods, 2012

Starting from the title of his photograph, it is clear Saeed Salem want us to

think for ourselves, to react (bearing in mind that his first targeted audience is

54

Saudi Arabians). GodS, in Islam there can be only one God. So from the title the

author warn the Saudi against loosing their Muslim identity. I earlier stated, that

the Saudi community is heavily regionally based, and even though there is the

feeling of belonging to a nation-state, the feeling of belonging to the local

province (inheritance from the tribal days) is stronger; and, therefore, the

strongest union the Kingdom has is through Islam as, wherever in the Kingdom

they are, Saudi Arabians share Islam. But the title hides another connotation,

thus of consumerism. Indeed, Neon Gods is a direct reference to the song Sound

of Silence (1964) by Simon and Garfunkel that says: ʻAnd the people bowed and

prayed, to the neon god they madeʼ (Simon and Garfunkel, 1964) that refers to

advertising ʻThe words of the prophets are written on the subway wallsʼ (ibid.). It

is interesting to see Salem expose such a critical analysis of advertising knowing

that it was his major at university, and that it is his source of income.

It is not only the title that refers to consumerism; the picture is taken in the

night as we can see from the background, however, the ʻshopʼ is open selling

local goods (Medina mint tea) as well as international goods (cigarettes, plastic

toys, noodles…) and people are buying. Moreover, the sole source of light of the

picture is the sopʼs neon lights, as if goods and consumption lights up the night, it

attracts people, in a similar was as did the antenna for Mater, or the fly killer light

does attract the fly. The background is dark and black, in contrast the source of

consumerism is colourful and light which represent the vision Saudi citizen have

on consumerism, and goods coming from the West. In a discussion with

Stapleton, Gharem said that in Saudi Arabia a big car would make its owner gain

respect from its peers; in the same way, it is common in the Saudi youth to own

more than one ʻjawalʼ (mobile phone).

As Salem explains, these neon kiosks ʻsymbolise both the old Arabic culture:

a place to meet and talk; as well as something very futuristic. An intense ball of

consumer energy.ʼ (Salem, 2012). I demonstrated earlier how Saudi citizens,

specially the youth, are in between tradition and modernity; this photograph is a

perfect illustration of this statement. First of all, the kiosk sells traditional goods

like Medina tea or prayer mats, prayers beads, but also imported goods (product

55

of the globalization) such as noodles, swimming doodles, cigarettes and so on.

Secondly, there is contrast between the man on the foreground, wearing the

traditional thob (long white dress) and shomagh (red and white headcover); while

the teenagers in the background wear jeans and tee-shirts (western ʻmodernʼ

cloths). The man selling these goods is clearly not Saudi, representing on the

one hand the fact that one third of the population are expatriates, and, on the

other hand the attitude of Saudis toward such jobsxxi.

6.4.2 Tradition and Modernity: Neonland III

Figure 6.20: Saeed Salem; Neonland III, 2013

The triptych ʻNeonland IIIʼ, the latest one Saeed Salem did in the series

ʻNeonlandʼ is currently exposed at Rhizoma for the Venice Biennale. Unlike

ʻNeon Godsʼ that referred to Islam only in its title, this one clearly represents the

Muslim identity unifying the Kingdom. The reason the artist chose a triptych is to

represent the three different stages Muslims have to do when praying: Qiyam

(standing), Rukʼu (bowing), and Sujud (prostration). The man prays in the street,

under a concrete umbrella (possible reference to Gharemʼs ʻAl Siraatʼ, seeking

protection in concrete) from which a green light emanates. I previously mentioned

56

that green is the colour symbolizing Islam. In the background we can see a crane

in a construction site. This photograph is like a synopsis of the current Saudi

Identity, linked in Islam but constantly threatened by the constant change

(progress?) that globalization and consumerism era bring along. Nevertheless,

the manʼs faith does not seem distracted or bothered to be surrounded by noise

and roughness, Saeed Salem represents here the way, the path (ʻal siraat?) that

Saudi Arabians have to follow to save their identity maybe.

7. Conclusion

As the different authors mentioned, the notion of identity is very complex and

include the individualʼs own experience and development as well as reaction to

the external environment. Anderson (1983) even tells us that identity is imagined,

that we develop the feeling of belonging over assumptions only. For example, I

identify myself as a Muslim even though I will never interact with most of the

other Muslims in the world.

The notion of identity in Saudi Arabia takes a different perspective. Created

in 1932, the Kingdom is barely 81 years old. In its short existence, it has known a

wealth growth like no other country ever knew due to the oil discovery in the

western province. In these conditions, the populationʼs identity has been shaken

up. Identification at the local level of the village, the tribe, and the province have

been propelled by forceful campaigns to the building of a national identity highly

based on nationality and religion. Nationality as an elitist base and source of

pride for the beholder in building his/her ego. Religion as the only constant

element that wasnʼt shaken up by the oil boom. The family structure also seems

to be a solid base in the identity building of the country. An identity choked

between the heaviness of tradition that the bulldozer of modernity tries to abolish,

an identity based on a desire to belong to the Middle East as well as to escape to

the West.

When it comes to photography as an art, even though it have been subject to

numerous debate by the past, it is now globally accepted that photography is an

57

art form. In Saudi Arabia however, photography has to overcome other

challenges, such as the debate around representation of living things in Islam.

The blur surrounding the answer regarding this problem, allowed the artist we

studied to make strong statement on the Saudi Identity. Each and every

photographs studied reflect one or more aspects of the Saudi Identity and its

evolution and challenges. Deeply rooted in Islam, the Saudi Identity is subject to

influence from its past, tradition, family values, regionalism; but is also is under

great influence of the outside world, mainly the West and its modernity. It is

interesting to notice that the definition of oneʼs self identity if almost always made

according to the opposite group. For example in Road to Makkah we saw that the

identity as Muslim is defined in relation to the Non Muslim group denied access

to Mecca. Antenna from Ahmed Mater defines the village, rural identity in

comparison to the urban identity. Manal Al-Dowayan definition of women identity

is done in relation to the patriarchal society, therefore in relation to men. Lost

midway through tradition and modernity, Islam and Western values, Saudi

Youthʼs challenge will be to define themselves as individuals, finding their place

according to themselves and not to the opposite group. The rising of the

individual in relation to the group is also importantly highlighted in the works of art

studied, in a country where individualism is highly discouraged, the challenges of

the new generation will be more difficult.

7.1 Recommendation for further study

7.1.1 YouTube or the Cinema of Arabia Saudi Arabia being the first viewership of the world for YouTube, it is a logic

development that many Saudi show have been created. With La Yekthar,

3al6ayer, and the web series Takki being more and more popular, some even

including English subtitles, it would be very interesting to analyse how these

show and series represent the Saudi Identity and address the youth with

contemporary problems happening in their society in a creative and respectful

way so that it bypasses censorship.

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7.1.2 Wadjda: the prelude of the motion picture in the Kingdom

With Wadjda (2012) being the first Saudi feature film ever made and with its

director, Haifaa Al-Mansoor, being a Saudi Woman, it would be of great interest if

there is space in the Saudi Society for the development of a Cinema Industry

rooted in the tradition and respectful of Islamic values and audience. Wadjda is

the story of a girl who is striving and fighting all stereotype stating that girls

cannot ride a bicycle. The first analogy made is with the right for women to drive

in Saudi Arabia, but Wadjda is way deeper than that, and is a clear and very

artsy representation of the troubles the Saudi Identity is going through in

establishing itself.

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8. References 8.1 Bibliography Azimi, N. (2004). Arab Photography. In Nazar: PHotography from the Arab World (pp. 11 - 13). Groninen, Then Netherlands: Stichting Aurora Borealis. Abdu, S. (1992, May 8). Consumerism in the Arab Society. Al-Wahda (92), pp. 57 - 65. Al-Dowayan, M. (2010). Edge of Arabia. (S. Stapleton, Interviewer) Al-Himiary, N. (2013, June). What She wore. BrownBook. Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined Identities. London, UK: Verso. Assad, S. W. (2006). Facing the Challenges of Consumerism in Saudi Arabia. J. King Saud University, Arts. Riyadh: King Saud University. Buckingham, D. (2008). Youth, Identity, and Digital Media. Cambridge: The MIT Press. Barney, D. (2004). The Network Society. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Barthes, R. (1981). Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography. New York, USA: Hill & Wang. Belk, R. (1985). Images of Ourselves: The Good Life in Twentieth Century Advertising. Journal of Consumer Research , 11, 887 -897. Brielmaier, I. (2004). Re-position / Re-present. In Nazar: Photography from the Arab World (pp. 16 - 17). Groningen, The Netherland: Stichting Aurora Borealis. Bright, S. (2005). Art Photography Now. London, UK: Thames & Hudson Ltd. Clarke, G. (1997). The Photograph. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press Inc. Couturier, E. (2011). Talk About Contemporary Photography. Paris, France: Flammarion. Cotton, C. (2009). The Photography as Contemporary Art (New Edition ed.). London, UK: Thames & Hudson. Cronk, G. (2005). George Herbert Mead (1863—1931).

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Danzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (1994). Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA, USA: SAGE. Deacon, D., Pickering, M., Golding , P., & Murdock , G. (2007). Researching Communication: A Practical Guide to Methods in Media and Cultural Analysis (Second Edition ed.). London, UK: Hodder Arnold. Erikson, E. (1980). The Problem of Ego Identity. In E. Erikson, Identity and the Life Cycle (p. 22). London: W.W. Norton & Company. Fayadh, A. (2010). In E. Booth-Clibborn (Ed.), Ahmed Mater (pp. 91 - 95). United Kingdom: Booth-Clibborn Edition. Findlay, A. M. (1994). The Arab World. London, UK: Routledge. Gergen, K. (1991). The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life. New York, USA: Basic Books. Gibb, H. R. (1940). The Arabs. Oxford, UK: Clarendon. Gidden, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Gharem, A. (2012, July). Light from the Middle East: New Photography. (M. Weiss, Interviewer) Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. United Kingdom: Penguin Books. Hugues, C. (n.d.). An Introduction to Qualitative Methods. Retrieved August 23, 2013 from Warwick University: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/sociology/staff/academicstaff/chughes/hughesc_index/teachingresearchprocess/qualitativemethods/ Hansen, A., & Machin, D. (2013). Media and Communication Research Methods. Houndmills, UK: Palgrave MacMillan. Hemming, H. (2010). Edge of Arabia: Contemporary Art from Saudi Arabia. London, UK: Offscreen Education Program. Hill, P. (1982). Approaching Photography. Witham, UK: Butterworth & Co. KSA female employment rate among lowest in MENA region. (2013, March 25). Retrieved August 09, 2013 from Arab News: http://www.arabnews.com/news/445991 Lewis, B. (1964). The Middle East and the West. New York, USA: Harper and Row.

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Murphy, C. A Kingdom's Future: Saudi Arabia Through the Eye of its Twentysomething. Washington, DC, USA: Wilson Centre. Mackintosh-Smith, T. (2010). In E. Booth-Clibborn (Ed.), Ahmed Mater (pp. 86 - 89). United Kingdom: Booth-Clibborn Edition. Mason, J. (1996). Qualitative Researching. London, UK: SAGE. Mater, A. (2012, July). Light of the Middle East. (M. Weiss, Interviewer) London. Mater, A. (2012, October). Artificial Light / Desert of Pharan. (H. Hemming, Interviewer) Mater, A. (2010, June). Edge of Arabia. (S. Stapleton, Interviewer) Berlin. Mead, G. H. (1962). Mind, Self and Society. Chicago, USA: The University of Chicago Press. Mehmet, O. (1990). Islamic Identity and Development. London, UK: Routledge. Mohammad, H. (2013, April 8). 50 Million Tweets and The winds of Social Change in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Retrieved July 31, 2013 from Arabian Gazette: http://arabiangazette.com/50-million-tweets-winds-social-change-kingdom-saudi-arabia-20130408/ Naef, S. (2004). Y a-t-il une 'question de l'image' en Islam? Paris, France: Téraèdre. Nassar, I. (2004). Early Photography in the Eastern Arab World. In Nazar, PHotography from the Arab World (pp. 14 - 15). Groningen, The Netherland: Stichting Aurora Borealis. Punch, K. F. (1998). Introduction to Social Research: Quantitatie and Qualitative Approaches. London, UK: SAGE. Porter, V. (2012). Behind the Image. In M. Weiss, Light from the Middle East: New Photography (pp. 121 - 135). Göttingen, Germany: Steidl. Raza, S. (2013). Generation in Waiting. In E. o. Arabia, Rhizoma (pp. 11 - 21). London: Edge of Arabia. Salamandra, C. (2009). Consumption, Display, and Gender. In R. S. Khalaf, & S. Khalaf (Eds.), Arab Society and Culture: An Essential Reader (pp. 240 - 251). Beirut, Lebanon: Saqi. Salem, S. (2012). We Need To Talk. (S. Stapleton, Interviewer)

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8.2 Notes i Graham Clarke, The Photograph; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997, p.135 ii Jeddah Legends is a Saudi rap group created and led by Qusai, who now follow a solo career and was one of the judge in last season of Arab Got Talent. iii Import of goods and services to Saudi Arabia increased from SR 4.990 billion in 1970 to SR 162.558 billion in 2002. From United Nations Common Database (UNCD) accessed 2004. http://esa.un.org/unpp/p2k0data.asp in Assad (2006) Facing the Challenge of Consumerism in Saudi Arabia, p. 4 iv The five stages are: 1) traditional society; 2) precondition for take off; 3) take off; 4) drive to maturity; and 5) age of high mass consumption. In W.W. Rostow (1960), The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1960), pp. 4-16 v Only state owned academic, medical and research institution had access, it is not before 1997 that the public gains access to Internet. Source: http://www.internetworldstats.com/middle.htm#sa accessed on July 31, 2013. vi Website regarding religion, offending Islam, homosexuality, drug, alcohol are also blocked vii Aaron Scharf, Art and Photography; London: Penguin, rev. edn 1974 viii Satellite TV entered the Kingdom in 1985 with the launch of ArabSat Source: Long, David E. (2005). "Culture And Customs Of Saudi Arabia". pp. 89–90. ix Husna Mohammad (2013), 50 Million Tweets and the Winds of Social Change in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; at http://arabiangazette.com/50-million-tweets-winds-social-change-kingdom-saudi-arabia-20130408/ accessed on August 6th, 2013. x Unemployment rate for the less than 30 in Saudi Arabia is 27 percent, and it reaches up to 40 percent for the 20 -24 years old. Figures from Caryl Murphy; A Kingdomʼs Future: Saudi Arabia Through the Eyes of its Twentysomething; p. 45 xi Marriage in Saudi Arabia is very expensive, pushing the average age for marriage always older. xii Saudi Arabia counts 9 million expatriate labourers. Figures from Caryl Murphy; A Kingdomʼs Future: Saudi Arabia Through the Eyes of its Twentysomething; p.45

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xiii Youth are more exposed to Media, including social media. They are also more exposed to the outside world as they, generally, are more literate in English than their parents or the previous generations. xiv The Kingdom host, for example, two Coca Cola factories and one for Pepsi xv Probably being the cause of the disaster during the two flash floods in Jeddah in 2009 and 2011 xvi Mecca is the English spelling, Makkah, as in the title of Gharem work, is the transliteration from Arabic كةم

xvii Green signifying the absence of danger, and authorization to proceed, but green is also the colour of Islam, and thus, the colour of the Saudi flag. xviii According to Forbes, with a production of 12.5 million barrels per day. Christopher Helman; Not Just the Usual Suspect, in Forbes The worldʼs 25 Biggest Oil Company; 2012 on http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mef45glfe/not-just-the-usual-suspects-2/ accessed on August 8th, 2013. xix Women can drive, few wear the hijab (headscarf or veil) (Stapleton, Manal Al-Dowayan, 2010) xx Saudi Women employment is one of the lowest in the MENA region. With less than 12% of women working, Saudi Arabia ranks 11th within the MENA. In KSA female employment rate among lowest in MENA region, 2013 on http://www.arabnews.com/news/445991 accessed on August 9, 2013. xxi Fahad Al Butairi, a Saudi humourist hosting La Yakther show on YouTube, in a show in Dahran told the story of a Saudi Woman ordering at McDonaldsʼ drive thru; when she knew the man on the other side of the microphone was Saudi she congratulated him for owning McDonaldsʼ, and when he answered he was just working here, she prayed for him to find something better. On http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUreo3A-ea0&list=TLxkEvJFwWHRA accessed on August 8th, 2013.