Exploring Saudi Women's Art: PhD Project on Conservatism & Creativity

This PhD confirmation seminar project explores the experiences of Saudi women artists before and after the oil revolution. The research examines how these artists express their thoughts and emotions within a conservative society, focusing on the factors that shape their artistic identity. The project investigates the influence of religion, consumerism, and a male-dominated society on the creative process of Saudi women artists. The methodology employed is action research, utilizing creative practices such as painting, sculpture, and mixed media, with the geometric Islamic grid as a key element. The research analyzes the historical context of Saudi female artists, comparing self-taught, oil revolution-era, and academic artists to understand how their art reflects the society and culture. The findings aim to contribute to the understanding of Saudi art and its role in the community.

Welcome everyone,
My name is xxxx from xxxx and this is my PhD confirmation seminar.
My project is about Saudi women working as an artist in Saudi Arabia before and after oil revolution.
My thesis examines the ways in which women have attempted to express their thoughts, emotions,
intuitions, and desires within Saudi Arabian conservative society.
As a Saudi female artist, this research is an opportunity to explore the experience of contemporary art in
Saudi Arabia through the perspective of a woman artist who is part of the same conservative society.
My research discusses what the factors that have shaped her artistic identity and how she strengthens and
builds her identity through artworks?
While I was doing my Masters of visual art and creative practice in South Australia University, I have
focused on "Consumerism" in Saudi Arabia and how the Saudi people became over-dependent on oil
revenues, and I have explored the contribution of the younger generation to the problem.
I tried to address the situation through creative practices that I exhibited in some exhibitions in Adelaide
2015/2016
It provoked me to get closer to the issues in Saudi society, especially those related directly to a Saudi
female artist Research Title
The research title of the project is “Creativity versus conservatism: A creative exploration of factors that
influence the Saudi Arabian women’s art practice.”
Main keywords
•Saudi women art
•Conservatism
•Creative practice
•Geometric form
This creative exploration demand studying the Saudi female artist’s intellectual and ideological thinking,
which has shaped the thinking and creation of the artworks. Despite constraints faced by Saudi artists,
and obstacles which could limit the artistic creative choices such as the conservative nature of Saudi
people, significantly less public art have reduced possibility to engage in public activities. The
censorship has also stood in the way of culturally sensitive artwork.
The research questions of this research are
-How do Saudi women artists express their thoughts through art to compensate the lack of visual
artistic representation of women in Saudi Arabia?
-Does the nature of Saudi conservative society limit a woman's sense as an artist? If so, why?

I will be answering questions through two components: creative practice and the theoretical research,
The theoretical frame will review different styles of Saudi female artworks, and I have chosen three
Saudi female artists who represent the main art category in Saudi Arabia.
Fatemah Abougahas (1920-2010) the folk artists
,Safya Said Binzagr (1940-2000) oil revolution artists
Eiman Elgibreen (contemporary artist) female academic artists.
The first category is the self-taught or untrained artists who practice art through their pure artistic
instinct, particularly in the Asir region of southern Saudi Arabia. Fatemah Abougahas, can be considered
as one of the “Alqatt” art leaders of this category. "Alqatt and Alnagash“ art is the local name of
traditional art in Asir home in south of Saudi Arabia. Women who specialize in “Alqatt” art were
specialized in lines, engravings, and aesthetic formations. This abstract art form express the spiritual
reality of the mystic. Alqatt involves the use of decisive patterns and primary colors, which are warm as
well as technical This art mainly adorns the stone home interiors of Asir in the southern region of Saudi
Arabia.
The second category is the female artists who belong to the wealthy class, whose position was enhanced
by the Saudi oil revolution of 1938. These artists belonged to families which possessed the economic
power. They were the part of the first families that invested in the Saudi economic boom in the early
1980s. It provided them with the opportunity to travel as well as study in some of the best art schools of
Europe, which was denied to the majority of the Saudi Arabian women.
The third category is academic artists or artists who studied art professionally, are the kind of artists who
belong to the third category. These artists usually belong to the middle class and exhibit the desire to
learn the art. They have been successful in going abroad and studying art in an international context.
Practicing art in western universities is a typical example of the desire to learn art, and this is a reflection
to determine the attitude of Saudi female artists. Eiman Elgibreen (1981-present) is the epitome of such
female artists in Saudi Arabia.
Through theoretical research, I will try to understand how female artists (including myself) can express
their feelings about Saudi culture through artworks, and reviewing how art was used historically to
depict the society and culture of the people of that era.
It will demand to study the context of the art journey for each of the artists through an examination of the
context they work. The examination will be conducted in relation to their physical environment,
historical trends and traditions, cultural values, intellectual perspectives, and more.
The second component of my research is
-The creative practice will be expressed through paintings and sculptures. These are the tools of
investigation which explores the Saudi Arabian female experience within a conservative culture. My
artworks will embody the factors that play a key role in Saudi women art,

-
-From my observation, I note that although those artists who I mentioned represent different styles of
art; however, there are three common factors, which plays a key role in Saudi female artist creative
process.
The first factor that I will embody in my practice is the link between religion and art.
When I say religion I do not mean the religion of the country, which is Islam; however, I mean the
combined faith of Saudi people which belongs to the "Hanbali" school, one of the four traditional Sunna
Islamic schools. This school believes in the literary interpretation of Quran, and believes only in the
obvious meaning of holy texts. So, there is no possibility to consider the metaphoric meaning of what
you Quran interpretations.
……………it really made me question how such collective belief thoughts could influences artist’s
mentality, which should be based on the obvious scene in symbolic form. From my opinion, that’s really
an important factor
The second factor that I will include in the research is “Consumerism” in Saudi Arabia and its effects on
Saudi women creative practices.
Saudi Arabia is considered as the biggest society to engage in consumerism due to wealth gained by oil
wells, which was explored in the last century and has created a radical change in the Saudi society.
The country used to export oil to import every other consumer item. The majority of Saudi people
belongs to the middle class and has a good financial stability, which empowers them to achieve a good
standard of living. But the problem is this material competency has made us rely on it even while
importing contemporary arts as a form of luxury regardless of its historical and conceptual value.
A good example is a situation, which just happened in the last Distemper when Prince Bader bin
Abdullah purchased “Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvatore Mundi” painting worth $450 million.
That really makes me ask a question how art could happen in country the majority of people consider
“ART” Haram”
Does the money make art with this simple?
Similar example when Donald Trump visited Saudi Arabian, the Saudi government presented two
exhibitions of Saudi contemporary art especially for him and I was really surprised that we have a
contemporary art expedition
That and other similar cases are worthy of reflection and analysis regarding what does that mean when it
happens in the community doesn’t really know or care about visual arts or don’t take art/artists seriously,
and how can I read it as a Saudi female artist?
The third and final factors that I will discuss is “Male dominated society”
Saudi woman raised under a special social system, which is called “Guardianship.”
This system is strongly rooted in Saudi customs, which we learned at an early age from our families.
It limits woman’s ability to have a wide range of choices unless permitted by her “male guardian”.
Typically, it includes father, husband, brother or even a son.

For me, it means women are still not recognized by the society as legal adults! And if she –as an artist-
tries to be an independent person, it is considered “Ayeb” which describes any behavior against the not
appropriate as per the social customs!
It really interested me to explore the research whether woman practicing her art according to social
standards or moral community? And if a woman seeks social satisfaction at expenses of her artworks
authenticity, how can we critique and read this kind of art?
Methodology
The methodology of the research is “Action research”
Action research is usually applied in routine practice and academic research; however, it has now
become a loosely applied term for any kind of attempt to improve or investigate creative practice when
artist uses the studio as a lab environment to explore. This methodology will involve four steps
(planning, action, observation, and reflecting).
Methods
The methods of the research are creative practices, painting, sculpture and mixed media.
Technique
Geometric Islamic grid will be the main element of my creative practices. Geometric Islamic grid
creative practices will be analyzed through the metamorphic meaning of art. It is an effective method
when done through intuitive basis.
Within "Position of research in terms of discipline and community practice" I have reviewed the
different pattern of "Grid" through the history, and it showed me how artist shared Grid techniques
through history from the rock art till contemporary art through the conceptualization of different styles of
Grid. It motivates to adapt it from the Islamic point of view through repetitive symbolism and the Islamic
art Philosophy, especially, through two principles Unity and infinity. These are the main components of
Islamic art. The thoughts, beliefs (Unity), and the (Infinity) of the creative practices influence the
perception and the operations of the artists.
My mission is how to bring these Islamic art characteristics in answering the research question and how
the findings can be used for the benefit of the society.