Paper Topic:

`Reviving the dying Art of Asir` Journey into the lost world of women, Art and cultural identity.

For generations , there has been a tradition in Asir , a mountainous region of Saudi Arabia , that seems to be disappearing in a modern world This world of fresco and architecture , or paint and geometric design was reserved to the women of Asir and the tradition is all but lost on the modern generation of Muslim women in Asir . This project , the and the accompanying multimedia presentation , is designed to capture the history of the frescoes of Asir and the traditions that lead to them along with their religious and cultural significance , before they

are lost forever . The key ingredients in this multimedia stew will be the personal interviews , photographs and digital video of Asir collected during a visit there from 24 March 2007 to 28 April 2007

It is unclear when the women of Asir began the tradition of painting the walls inside their homes with vibrant frescoes and murals , but it is clear that the tradition is generations old . The Women of Asir reported that they were taught to paint the same way their mother 's were and her mother before her (Researcher 2007 . The architecture of the Asir province is a sight to behold itself , but it is the interiors of these beautiful structures that are the art being lost to the world . But the art here is typical of the Muslim tradition , vibrant and full of life with many geometric shapes . Islamic art is perhaps the most accessible manifestation of a complex civilization that often seems enigmatic to outsiders . Through its brilliant use of color and its superb balance between design and form , Islamic art creates an immediate visual impact Its strong aesthetic appeal transcends distances in time and space , as well as differences in language , culture , and creed (Komaroff 2007 Though Linda Komaroff , assistant curator of Islamic Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art , was speaking about Muslim art in general she could well have been talking about the art of Asir

The oldest of the frescoes , in ruins and spoken of from the memories of the women of Asir , were natural colors , arrived at via natural dyes and pigments added to the gypsum coating on the walls . But in the 1970s , the women of Asir began using paint and once they did , the colors they chose were the most vibrant and lively they could find (Researcher 2007 Prior to that , the women had worked largely with muted colors and , most predominantly , green . To truly understand the art and what is being lost as the tradition dies , one must first understand how these frescoes were created and developed

Murals are a woman 's work ' according to an andocentric division of labour . When Aljazi was asked why the walls were painted by women , she answered that "this activity is perceived as artistic and feminine , so men reject it with scorn (Researher 2007 ) The antiquated way of thinking is still prevalent in Muslim society , but was much more so when the tradition of painting the...

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