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

ʻThe photograph is as much a reflection of the ʻIʼ of the photographer as it is of the eye of the cameraʼ

i

- Graham Clarke

2

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.

3

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  

4

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  

5

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

 

 

6

 

1.2 Ideograms and Abbreviations   1.2.1 Ideograms

  ‫ﷺ‬: ʿalayhi as-salām: Peace Be Upon Him (said by Muslims upon hearing the name of Islamic prophet)

1.2.2 Abbreviations

  KSA: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

GCC: Gulf Country Council

MENA: Middle East and North Africa

7

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.

8

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

9

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, 10

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?

11

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,

12

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 selfconscious 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

13

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 nationness. 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 14

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 Mohammed‫ ﷺ‬and 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 15

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 Mohammad‫ﷺ‬ʼs 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

16

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. 17

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 18

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).

19

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

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 20

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 21

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 22

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 23

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 24

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 25

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 26

(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 selfexpressionʼ (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.

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

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

27

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

28

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

29

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. 30

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

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

31

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

32

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 33

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, 34

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 Muhammad‫ ﷺ‬once 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

35

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 36

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 37

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.

38

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

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 39

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

40

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

41

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

42

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 43

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 youth xiii but by the population in general as well; mass production xiv , 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 44

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

45

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 46

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 world xviii , employing full time Figure 6.14: Manal Al-Dowayan (2011) courtesy of Camille Zakharia

women since the 1940s (Stapleton, Manal AlDowayan, 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.

47

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 48

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

49

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 Muhammad‫ﷺ‬

50

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 selfconsciousness 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

51

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 Figure 6.18: Saeed Salem (2012) Courtesy of Edge of Arabia

We Need To Talk exhibition in Jeddah last year, and this year in Rhizoma at the Venice

52

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 53

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 54

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 55

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 56

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. 57

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.

58

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).

59

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/hughes c_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. 60

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-changekingdom-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) 61

Seton-Watson, H. (1977). Nations and States: An Enquiry Into the Origins of Nations and the Politics of Nationalism . Boulder, Colorado, USA: Westview Press. Simon and Garfunkel (Performer). (1964). The Sound of Silence. On Sounds of Silence. Columbia Record. Sheehi, S. (2004). Foundations of Modern Arab Identity. Gainesville, FL, USA: University Press of Florida. Slattery, M. (2003). Key Ideas in Sociology. United Kingdom: Nelson Thornes Ltd. . Stapleton, S. (2010). Abdulnasser Gharem. In H. Hemming, Edge of Arabia: Contemporary art from Saudi Arabia (pp. 141 - 149). London, UK: Offscreen Education Program. Stapleton, S. (2010). Manal Al-Dowayan. In H. Hemming, Edge of Arabia: Contemporary Art from Saudi Arabia (pp. 123 -129). London, UK: Offscreen Education Program. White, D., & Hellerich, G. (1998). Labyrinths of the Mind: The Self in the Postmodern Age. Albany, NY, USA: State University of New York Press. Woolfolk, A. E. (2011). Child and Adolescent Development. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA: Pearson Education Inc. Yamani, M. (2009). Saudi Identity: Negotiating between Tradition and Modernity. In S. Khalaf, & R. S. Khalaf (Eds.), Arab Society and Culture: An Essencial Reader. London, UK: Saqi Books. Zayed, A., & Abu-Elenin, F. (1995). Children's Consumption Behaviour in the Gulf Countries. Social Affairs , 12 (47), 5 - 36. Zepf, S. (2010). Consumerism and Identity: Some Psychoanalytical Considerations. International Forum of Psychoanalysis , 19, 144 - 154. Weiss, M. (2012). Light from the Middle East: Recording, Reframing and Resisting. Göttingen, Germany: Steidl. Zuhur, S. (2004). Arab Culture. In Nazar: Photography from the Arab World (pp. 22 - 24). Groningen, The Netherland: Stichting Aurora Borealis.

 

62

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-tweetswinds-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

63

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/notjust-the-usual-suspects-2/ accessed on August 8th, 2013. xix

Women can drive, few wear the hijab (headscarf or veil) (Stapleton, Manal AlDowayan, 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.

64