TRAVELLING HERITAGE BUREAU
4/2/19 Aims of Travelling Heritage Bureau
- Writing a research project is a great opportunity to explore a topic that is particularly interesting to me. The research process allows me to gain expertise on a topic of my choice, and the writing process helps me remember what I have learned and to understand it on a deeper level.
The aim of this research is to explore in more detail the aims of THB as a female artists group, the role of women in art in general and what my role should be. Also I will try to explore more about my identity in art. The main purpose is to show its influence on the practical portfolio and the self-directed upcoming project.
The main aims I will be working towards will include creating a synergy between research, effective planning, techniques, processes and context. There will be reflections and summaries of ongoing project management and also reports of any findings in the form of a presentation which will also be summarised. Also, there will be an evaluation of my experiences towards the project. - As a starting point for my research project, I interviewed Jenna Ashton and Katherine Rogers the leaders of the THB group, and I investigated the aims of the group and how it started including how they required funding to set up the group. Katherine said, ”Travelling Heritage Bureau was fundraised for and set up by DWAN. CAN's role was to help to shape the initial project brief to ensure it met the needs of the target group of women based on our experience of delivering cultural projects with culturally diverse groups (including refugee and migrant communities) over many years. We were also asked to help recruit women visual artists to join the Travelling Heritage Bureau project.”
With regards to my questions about:
What the role of a female artist in the twenty-first century and should be and how can be a tool to fight injustice and protect women?
Katherine answered,
”Every artist is different and I believe artists should have the freedom to set their own agendas, express themselves as they wish and respond to the world as they see fit.”
Jenna said:
”For me, art at its best ( in whatever medium) raises questions, provokes a reaction, makes you think differently about an issue and creates space for a dialogue or debate. I am most interested in work the challenges us to think and feel, connect with an issue, and engage in a debate about that issue. So yes, I do believe that art can be an incredibly powerful tool to fight injustice and examine gender inequalities, but I don't think all artists feel that way or want to necessarily use their art in this way."
Through this interview, I have received the answers for my questions on how the group had started and its objective. Also, these answers made me ask new questions that weren’t meant to be asked. This is the first lesson that I have learned from the research, that research has no ending, as every new thing, every inference or an answer is a window to a wide collection of research and a beginning to new questions.
11/2/19 The role of female artists within THB group, the challenges and the positives
Also, for the purposes of the research, I carried out what is like an investigation using the questions that I entered in the proposal, which was about the status and the presence of women in the 21st century in general and in art, experiences and perspectives. Among various groups of men and women, some of whom are close to me as friends and family, and others who I have a general relationship with like my friends on social media in the Middle East, and friends and neighbours from the UK including some who came from different countries. Here, I present some types of questions and answers:- "As a woman I haven't experienced any hardship myself but being a Syrian and from a country of war does feel that we are all affected in a way or another," by Roaa - a Syrian journalist.
- -" I am an Iraqi architect and self-taught artist. Although I am not political and not an activist, being an Iraqi woman at this time does involve activism and suffering to be reflected in my art work. The lost sense of home since the war started in Iraq coincides with my move to the UK. I always use creativity to explain what I can't explain in words. Art can describe a big thing in the smallest and simplest way," by Maiada.
- "I had faced different social difficulties for me as a refugee. The most important thing is the laws, women in the UK have a real support by their government and their community compared to Syria as we have a lot of social and political difficulties to live by and to be ourselves," by Sanna house wife.
-Do you think women believe in their ability?
"Many women in most societies are raised to believe they are inferior which has resulted in their lack of confidence in general."
-Do you think the men in the twenty-first century still look at women in a chauvinistic way?
" I happen to hear/read/see a lot of men in the 21st century who still don't believe in women and their ability to compete with men in most intellectual, professional and even social aspects of life."
-Do women have responsibility for the way that men are raised?
"A high number of women are absolutely responsible for blindly adopting the sexist mentality of their cultures and planting that same misogynistic ideology into their sons' heads' raising them to be hateful and disrespectful towards women since childhood." - What kind of difficulties do women from different countries been facing in UK?
- "Many women come to the UK as migrants or refugees, unaware of their rights. They find it difficult to conquer their oppression, suppression and low self-esteem. They need to learn to respect other women in whatever life choices they decide to make and finally see themselves as humans regardless of their gender," by Ninna - a Syrian friend.
- What does the art mean for you as a woman?
"Art is a form of escape from the reality into what could be."
-Can women understand the suffering from other women?
"Not necessarily. I think this is a human ability and depends on the person more than their gender."
-How do you think art can be a tool to fight injustice and protect women?
"It provides a platform to stand on and be noticed," by Shahirah - an Iranian author and artist.
Something that surprised me was how often my judgement of how people would think or react was wrong. It taught me to always test my assumptions and accept what I was told by the various people expressing different perspectives or responses to be aware that people are different and not everyone would see things my way.
One of the main reasons of my research is to meet with members of the group and getting to know them closely, in order to find out the reasons behind joining the group, their role within the group and their objectives, their future aspirations and the challenges they face as women in general and in their art. Also, I want to know if they have faced any difficulties when they moved to England to start a new life. When I asked Mei Yok about her role in the group, she said: - " I think being in this group as a female artist, means we have the freedom to express our ideas and make whatever artwork we like."
- Khalida from Syria said:
- "We are all art practitioners and participate within the group at similar levels of engagement and cooperation. We make decisions collectively and there is no lead, if someone doesn’t want to take part in a given project or activity they don’t have to, there’s no pressure."
- Roxana from Mexico answered regarding my question about whether she had experienced some kind of hardship/ life changing events that have transformed her circumstances and how she recovered.
- "Fortunately I have only experienced few situations that have been hard to come out of in my life. The first one was when my family moved to Mexico City and three weeks later we survived a massive earthquake that destroyed entire areas of the city. I was only 5 years old and overcame it thanks to my mum and dad’s support. We were all traumatised to some degree and stuck together to feel safe. I remember my dad’s photographs of the aftermath; I think he was trying to comprehend what had happened through taking pictures."
- "A more recent life changing experience was when my husband and I moved to the UK and had to start from scratch. We couldn’t find work for many months, that was stressful but I focused on my photographic practice and somehow that kept me afloat."
- "There was also the incarceration of my brother who used to live in the UK. We navigated the legal process together and made a photographic project out of our experience. This gave us focus and a better understanding of each other."
- Anya From Poland said:
- "I suffered some verbal and physical attacks which were due to my background including some sexual assaults at work and on the street, so much and hate. I didn't really recover. Art helps me express dark feelings, also affirmations and dance keeps me going."
Shahera from Iran said:
"Due to a number of family crises, I did endure hardship from a young age. Fortunately, I met very supportive teachers, classmates, church members and friends who helped me through difficult times. It made me more independent and resilient." - " I was born in the UK of Nigerian and Irish immigrant parentage but my early years were spent in the South Pacific. Being raised by white English parents, surrounded by Maori culture and colonial Christian culture, I identify as a woman. As a black woman, I find labels around my sexuality and spirituality difficult and misleading. I believe creativity is essential to every individual and crucial in a democratic society to ensure we thrive collectively. I cannot thrive personally without an outlet for my creative expression and it is also integral to my personal and political life. I have faced so much trauma, so much abuse. Racism and sexism and sexual violence is built into the fabric of this society. I was dearly loved as a child by one parent and I think this is the only foundation for survival. I am still recovering. I have faith in humanity. Sometimes I think it's hard for people from other countries to appreciate how oppressive the state is here. How advanced western capitalism works at every level and often subliminally. How racism robs you of your individuality and determines your place in society. Some people come from countries where they may have oppressed others because of class, education, nation group and being suddenly at the receiving end is so confusing and it's really difficult to build alliances. For others, fully aware of the system, it's a shock to be received negatively by other oppressed groups," said Ekua.
- I have been involved in the “Travelling heritage bureau group for a year now. When I first joined The Traveling Heritage Bureau it didn’t matter to me that it is was an all-female group. However as we got to know each other and bonded together, I realised one of the important factors in the success of the group is due to the fact that it is an all-female group. The sisterhood and friendship in the group is second to none. I have learnt from others in the group and hope that I have had the same effect on others. The group is the perfect environment for sharing skills. We all are from different backgrounds and have different art practices. There is no pressure to change neither there is a hierarchy of importance in terms of where you are from, which language you speak and which medium you work with. In the collective, we respond in our ways, to the same thing but we are free to interpret it anyway that we wish. During this time we meet on a weekly basis, I have had 4 exhibitions of my work with the group at the Home Art Gallery, Alexandra Llibrary, The Whitworth Art Gallery and City Art Gallery, Manchester. An artist called Jenna Ashton co-ordinates the group.
I think our role as an artists within the group is to give each other and ourselves due respect for our creativity. By this I mean, first we have the responsibility to be the best artists we can be, both in our technicality and in our vision. We should work hard to hone our skills and to make work that we believe will make the world a better place. We should also support this in each other, through offering critical feedback, emotional support, practical skill sharing, friendship etc. - As a result of researching with the THB group, I realised that all female artists faced some kind of discrimination in their home countries due to their gender. Many of them were discriminated against because of their ethnic and cultural affiliation in Britain.
Everyone agreed that art is very important to them and surely to all women because it’s a free space where we can express our feelings through it. With more hard work, it could become an effective tool of awareness where people can be taught about the importance of the presence of women and their ability to compete with men. - In fact, the subject of my research is very close to my personal research. I realised, through this research that general relationships with the members of the group are not enough. It is important and beneficial to have a deep relationship with people, not only with our colleagues at work, but with everybody else. They are part of the same project where we share the same ideas and aspirations. This knowledge of people would probably create many points that we would have in common, which could be the start of deeper and more harmonious ideas, which could contribute to developing teamwork and opening new horizons on a personal level. In future, I will try to be more curious in the field of findings and research, building deep relationships with people whom I share a project with like the THB team.
- I would like to highlight some important points regarding the role of women in the history of art and in contemporary art. In Syria we believe that each morning is born by the caress of a woman. In this part of the earth where human civilization started, and despite the current war and regressive ideologies, a woman remains superior by the power of her emotions and her divine presence in a man’s mundane life.
I learned about the experiences of pioneering Syrian female artist, through my research, especially the new generation of female artists of the war era, where I was far from the Syrian artistic scene in general. In future, I will keep in touch with the fine art movement in Syria, especially the feminist one. I will work on using topics that could serve many causes which need exposure for the sake of humanity. I will also try to take part in artistic activities in my country and to be a part of the feminist artistic movement.
.18/2/19 Brief about the role of female artists in art history
Throughout the centuries, women have been involved in making art, whether as creators and innovators of new forms of artistic expression, patrons, collectors, sources of inspiration, or significant contributors as art historians and critics.
Women have been and continue to be integral to the institution of art, but despite being engaged with the art world in every way, many women artists have found opposition in the traditional narrative of art history. They have faced challenges due to gender biases, from finding difficulty in training to selling their work and gaining recognition. So how have women come forward as such strong voices in art and art history today, and how do we go about telling the stories of those who were forgotten by history?
It’s a hard question and needs a lot of researching, but latter I will focus on some historical narratives on the beginnings of female artists and the role of women in art in the West and in Syria.
Throughout the centuries, women have been involved in making art, whether as creators and innovators of new forms of artistic expression, patrons, collectors, sources of inspiration, or significant contributors as art historians and critics.
Women have been and continue to be integral to the institution of art, but despite being engaged with the art world in every way, many women artists have found opposition in the traditional narrative of art history. They have faced challenges due to gender biases, from finding difficulty in training to selling their work and gaining recognition. So how have women come forward as such strong voices in art and art history today, and how do we go about telling the stories of those who were forgotten by history?
It’s a hard question and needs a lot of researching, but latter I will focus on some historical narratives on the beginnings of female artists and the role of women in art in the West and in Syria.
Gwen John, _Self-Portrait_, 1902, oil paint on canvas, 44 x 34 cm (Tate)
According to a story by Pliny the Elder, a Roman writer from the first century C.E., the first drawing ever made was by a woman named Dibutades, who traced the silhouette of her lover on a wall. Whether it's real or not, it is worth noting that although Western mythology tells us that a woman was the first artist, her female successors received little attention until the end of the 20th century. From antiquity onwards, only a small sample of women found their way into the tales of the greatest artists. Even then, they were often described as unusually talented women who overcame the limitations of their gender in order to excel in what was believed to be a masculine field. British artist Mary Beale was a successful portraitist in the late 1600s, but much of her success was attributed to the fact that her husband oversaw their studio and presented her works as experiments in the painting methods he developed. Gwen John, whose self portrait appears isolated and scrutinising, struggled for recognition in a field dominated by men, including her accomplished brother Augustus.
For centuries, women were systematically excluded from the records of art history. This was due to a number of factors: art forms like textiles and what we call the 'decorative arts' were often dismissed as craft and not 'fine art'; many women were kept from pursuing a general education, let alone arts training; and finally the men who dominated the discipline both in practice and history often believed women to be inferior artists. As artist and instructor Hans Hoffmann once said in a 'compliment' to the influential abstract expressionist painter Lee Krasner in the mid-20th century: “This is so good you wouldn’t know it was done by a woman.”
But beginning in the 1960s, with equal rights and feminist movements in full swing, there was a boom of women teaching and studying in art schools in the United States and Europe. These became sites of feminist activity, encouraging the representation of women in museums and galleries. This movement of women in the arts fostered a large body of theory and diverse artistic practice, redefining what was possible in the studio and beyond and paving the way for many women artists practicing today.
In other countries, women are still deprived from their basic rights in education and the freedom of choice and are kept under the guardianship of a male family member. As a matter of fact, many women in the West succeeded in making their voice heard and acquired a lot of their rights compared to women in other countries. For example, many women in my home country of Syria still suffer because they can’t get their basic rights, since the law is still defined by religious requirements. I believe it’s important to separate religion from the state, and maintain civil laws that could be adopted in the 21st century like what happened in Europe centuries ago.
25/2/19 Women artists in 20th century: a changing landscape
Women have always been artists and there always have been glimpses of women’s art within male-driven societies. Even when it comes to the earliest works of art known to us, like the voluptuous Venus of Willendorf from 2500 B.C.E. and other small stone carvings, no one is certain if these works of art were created by women or men. On the other hand, objects like weavings and clothing have always been associated with women’s craft, from the story of Penelope’s courageous weaving in Homer’s epic tale The Odyssey, from 800 B.C.E. to the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry, a 270-foot long fabric document telling the story of medieval Britain, likely woven and embroidered by women. Still, women artists faced difficulty in the centuries that followed when trying to engage with the art world and canon.
For centuries, women were systematically excluded from the records of art history. This was due to a number of factors: art forms like textiles and what we call the 'decorative arts' were often dismissed as craft and not 'fine art'; many women were kept from pursuing a general education, let alone arts training; and finally the men who dominated the discipline both in practice and history often believed women to be inferior artists. As artist and instructor Hans Hoffmann once said in a 'compliment' to the influential abstract expressionist painter Lee Krasner in the mid-20th century: “This is so good you wouldn’t know it was done by a woman.”
But beginning in the 1960s, with equal rights and feminist movements in full swing, there was a boom of women teaching and studying in art schools in the United States and Europe. These became sites of feminist activity, encouraging the representation of women in museums and galleries. This movement of women in the arts fostered a large body of theory and diverse artistic practice, redefining what was possible in the studio and beyond and paving the way for many women artists practicing today.
In other countries, women are still deprived from their basic rights in education and the freedom of choice and are kept under the guardianship of a male family member. As a matter of fact, many women in the West succeeded in making their voice heard and acquired a lot of their rights compared to women in other countries. For example, many women in my home country of Syria still suffer because they can’t get their basic rights, since the law is still defined by religious requirements. I believe it’s important to separate religion from the state, and maintain civil laws that could be adopted in the 21st century like what happened in Europe centuries ago.
25/2/19 Women artists in 20th century: a changing landscape
Women have always been artists and there always have been glimpses of women’s art within male-driven societies. Even when it comes to the earliest works of art known to us, like the voluptuous Venus of Willendorf from 2500 B.C.E. and other small stone carvings, no one is certain if these works of art were created by women or men. On the other hand, objects like weavings and clothing have always been associated with women’s craft, from the story of Penelope’s courageous weaving in Homer’s epic tale The Odyssey, from 800 B.C.E. to the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry, a 270-foot long fabric document telling the story of medieval Britain, likely woven and embroidered by women. Still, women artists faced difficulty in the centuries that followed when trying to engage with the art world and canon.
Eileen Agar, _The Autobiography of an Embryo_, 1933–4, oil paint on board, 91 x 213 cm (Tate)
Beginning in the 20th century, things began to change not only for women artists but for women across the domestic and public spheres. A new women's movement, with an emphasis on the advocacy of equal rights, organisations devoted to women's interests, and a new generation of female professionals and artists transformed the traditionally male-driving social structure around the world. These social shifts, which began to emerge at the beginning of the century, developed further with the advent of World War I and expanding global unrest, propelling more women into the workforce and exposing them to social, professional, and political situations that had previously been limited to men.
Despite being marginalised and sidelined by the male members of the group, artists like Helen Saunders and Jessica Dismorr pushed to be card-carrying members of the Vorticist movement. French painter Francoise Gilot forged a visual style and identity entirely her own despite being known mainly as Pablo Picasso’s lover and working in close proximity to major artists like Henri Matisse and Fernand Léger in the 1940s. Surrealist women painters and sculptors like Eileen Agar and Louise Bourgeois were iconoclasts in their explorations of mind and body, developing fluid, intimate, and openly sexual subject matter.
What issues have women artists chosen to address? Due to the different societal and developmental contexts since the 21st-century building upon those from the early 20th century, many women artists currently address personal and transnational issues of identity, exploring global and diasporic politics. The works of exile artists such as Mona Hatoum and Shirin Neshat tell stories of loss and insight through conflicting countries, cultures and gender roles.
Other female artists use their art to speak to the particular issues that they face as women. In the 1970s, Margaret Harrison used playful and ironic drawings to point out the objectification women faced in their day-to-day lives. In the same decade, artist Linder drew on the spirit of punk and the anti-establishment politics of Dada to create photomontages that subverted traditional media images into unsettling statements. Filmmaker Barbara Hammer used footage of her own body to advocate for more open depictions of lesbian sexuality, while today artists like Cornelia Parker are encouraging us to think about how idealised images of the female body measure up against the figures of real, living women. By calling attention to identity, sexuality, politics and history, women artists have dominated the art debates for the last several decades. But how do we go about talking about the women who art history forgot?
Groups like the Guerrilla Girls, a collective of women artists and art professionals, work to fight discrimination and raise awareness of the issues that women face in the art world. They do this through staging interventions and protests, wearing gorilla masks to take the focus away from their identities. They reframe the question “Why haven’t there been more great women artists in Western history?” asking instead, “Why haven’t more women been considered great artists throughout Western history?”
Despite being marginalised and sidelined by the male members of the group, artists like Helen Saunders and Jessica Dismorr pushed to be card-carrying members of the Vorticist movement. French painter Francoise Gilot forged a visual style and identity entirely her own despite being known mainly as Pablo Picasso’s lover and working in close proximity to major artists like Henri Matisse and Fernand Léger in the 1940s. Surrealist women painters and sculptors like Eileen Agar and Louise Bourgeois were iconoclasts in their explorations of mind and body, developing fluid, intimate, and openly sexual subject matter.
What issues have women artists chosen to address? Due to the different societal and developmental contexts since the 21st-century building upon those from the early 20th century, many women artists currently address personal and transnational issues of identity, exploring global and diasporic politics. The works of exile artists such as Mona Hatoum and Shirin Neshat tell stories of loss and insight through conflicting countries, cultures and gender roles.
Other female artists use their art to speak to the particular issues that they face as women. In the 1970s, Margaret Harrison used playful and ironic drawings to point out the objectification women faced in their day-to-day lives. In the same decade, artist Linder drew on the spirit of punk and the anti-establishment politics of Dada to create photomontages that subverted traditional media images into unsettling statements. Filmmaker Barbara Hammer used footage of her own body to advocate for more open depictions of lesbian sexuality, while today artists like Cornelia Parker are encouraging us to think about how idealised images of the female body measure up against the figures of real, living women. By calling attention to identity, sexuality, politics and history, women artists have dominated the art debates for the last several decades. But how do we go about talking about the women who art history forgot?
Groups like the Guerrilla Girls, a collective of women artists and art professionals, work to fight discrimination and raise awareness of the issues that women face in the art world. They do this through staging interventions and protests, wearing gorilla masks to take the focus away from their identities. They reframe the question “Why haven’t there been more great women artists in Western history?” asking instead, “Why haven’t more women been considered great artists throughout Western history?”
Guerrilla Girls, [no title], 1985-90, screenprint on paper, 28 x 71 cm, (Tate)
4/3/19 Female artists movement in Syria
For example, in Ancient Syria, mother goddesses were the most important deities implored by people to get all beautiful things in life: love, fertility, happiness, beauty. In the West, the most important female deities during many centuries are very well known: Venus and Aphrodite, the goddesses of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.
In the East Inanna (or Ishtar) was the Mother Goddess of wisdom too, bringing culture and knowledge to cities where she was venerated. She was also called “The Queen of Heaven and Earth”. The myth says that Ishtar was in love with the god Tammuz who was taken by the God of Death to the Underworld. Ishtar decided to bring Tammuz back to the earth; she crossed the “seven gates” under losing all her powers and jewels and brought him back to the earth. Since that time the earth became fertile and the spring appeared in April (“Tammouz” in Aramaic and Arabic). Historians say that it was around April 11th that ancient Syrians used to celebrate the “Day of Love”, ancestor of the “Valentine’s Day” of the Western world.
For example, in Ancient Syria, mother goddesses were the most important deities implored by people to get all beautiful things in life: love, fertility, happiness, beauty. In the West, the most important female deities during many centuries are very well known: Venus and Aphrodite, the goddesses of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.
In the East Inanna (or Ishtar) was the Mother Goddess of wisdom too, bringing culture and knowledge to cities where she was venerated. She was also called “The Queen of Heaven and Earth”. The myth says that Ishtar was in love with the god Tammuz who was taken by the God of Death to the Underworld. Ishtar decided to bring Tammuz back to the earth; she crossed the “seven gates” under losing all her powers and jewels and brought him back to the earth. Since that time the earth became fertile and the spring appeared in April (“Tammouz” in Aramaic and Arabic). Historians say that it was around April 11th that ancient Syrians used to celebrate the “Day of Love”, ancestor of the “Valentine’s Day” of the Western world.
Ishtar or Inanna
She was worshiped as both a good and evil goddess by the people of the ancient Near East. They honoured her as the protector of marriage and motherhood as well as a warrior and storm goddess.
Later in times another Syrian woman was closed to become the Mistress of the World: Zenobia, Queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria who led a famous revolt against the Roman Empire. Zenobia was born around 240 BC and raised in Palmyra, a gorgeous city and trade centre on the Silk Road. Classical and Arabic sources describe Zenobia as beautiful and intelligent, with a dark complexion, pearly white teeth, and bright black eyes. Well-educated and fluent in Greek, Aramaic and Egyptian with good Latin proficiency, she is supposed to have hosted literary salons and have surrounded herself with intellectuals, philosophers, poets and artists. Zenobia defied Rome to own more than just plain independence: she controlled Egypt, and claimed herself the Mistress of the East. Unfortunately Emperor Aurelian decided to fight her and won. Yet Palmyra remained in the history as one of the most magnificent cities of the world and her queen is considered a heroine and an example of how the world could look like if it were ruled by women.
Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra
Many Syrian women are also remembered for their ruling in Rome. The most famous Syrian woman is the great Julia Domna (170 AD – 217 AD), princess of Emesa (known today as Homs in Syria), empress and wife of Roman emperor Lucius Septimius Severus and mother of emperors Geta and Caracalla. Julia Domna was famous for her prodigious learning skills as well as her extraordinary political influence in Rome.
Many Syrian women are also remembered for their ruling in Rome. The most famous Syrian woman is the great Julia Domna (170 AD – 217 AD), princess of Emesa (known today as Homs in Syria), empress and wife of Roman emperor Lucius Septimius Severus and mother of emperors Geta and Caracalla. Julia Domna was famous for her prodigious learning skills as well as her extraordinary political influence in Rome.
Julia Domna
During the history, in the different Syrian sub-cultures, a woman was a mother, a wife and a sister, but also symbolized the homeland, victory, power, love and culture. Early since 1950s, most of the Syrian artists represented the woman’s figure in their paintings: Louay Kayyali showed the reality of women’s conditions, while Nazir Nabaa painted the myths and the symbols around the Woman, and Naïm Ismail portrayed women as an equal part to men in society. The feminist revolution was launched by wonderful well-educated Syrian women but started also with most of the male intellectual scene in Syria, such as the artists, writers, politicians and poets.
In such a climate many Syrian women started to show their talents. Colette Khoury was a pioneer of Arab feminism and expressed her discontent about social constraints and the conditions of women. Khoury, daughter of a great politician, an art lover and a free soul dedicated her work to Women’s Rights and to Love.
“The Poem” by Nazir Nabaa
11/3/19 Research Syrian Women's Movement through art
Women were not only spectators, they were an integral part of the intellectual revolution and many of them carved an important place in the new artistic uprising. Some examples of these forerunners who affirmed their talent on the same level than their male counterparts and marked the beginning of a singular feminine artistic way, which was not always a smooth sailing.
Iqbal Karesly
Iqbal Karesly (1925-1969): this self-taught Syrian artist painted landscapes, still life and portraits. Karesly was the very first woman who had a solo exhibition in Syria at the 'International Modern Art Gallery', the first art gallery founded in Damascus where she died in 1969. She had the courage to assume her passion under difficult circumstances and to go ahead despite social divergences toward Art.
Women were not only spectators, they were an integral part of the intellectual revolution and many of them carved an important place in the new artistic uprising. Some examples of these forerunners who affirmed their talent on the same level than their male counterparts and marked the beginning of a singular feminine artistic way, which was not always a smooth sailing.
Iqbal Karesly
Iqbal Karesly (1925-1969): this self-taught Syrian artist painted landscapes, still life and portraits. Karesly was the very first woman who had a solo exhibition in Syria at the 'International Modern Art Gallery', the first art gallery founded in Damascus where she died in 1969. She had the courage to assume her passion under difficult circumstances and to go ahead despite social divergences toward Art.
Artwork by Iqbal Karesly
Zouhaira Alrez: born in Damascus in 1938, her paintings were the visual narratives about what she loved: nature, portraits and her city of Damascus. The woman’s figure is a frequent part of her compositions. She lived in Europe for many years where she often has been missing the light of her country. The uprooting she endured being far away from her homeland influenced her later paintings, where one can always distinguish some 'éclats' of yellow symbolising her nostalgia for the Middle Eastern Sun.
Zouhaira Alrez: born in Damascus in 1938, her paintings were the visual narratives about what she loved: nature, portraits and her city of Damascus. The woman’s figure is a frequent part of her compositions. She lived in Europe for many years where she often has been missing the light of her country. The uprooting she endured being far away from her homeland influenced her later paintings, where one can always distinguish some 'éclats' of yellow symbolising her nostalgia for the Middle Eastern Sun.
Artwork by Zouhaira Alrez
Leila Nseir: born in 1941 in Latakia, Syria, she is an important personality of the contemporary Syrian art scene. Nseir was and still is connected to human beings and their suffering. Besides treating universal subjects like 'women and war', 'racism' or an international human theme like 'Vietnam', she paints and draws human beings and their spiritual crisis. She always has been preoccupied by the failures of society, and always been eager to create a constructive level of consciousness inside people’s mind. The portraits painted by Nseir have often a deep gaze focused onto the spectator or into the air, fixing both everything and nothing. Nseir’s lines are straight and crossed, alike thousands of emotions crossing the soul. She used a palette of colours with an attractive graduation of nuances as to guide the viewer to focus on some specific parts of her paintings.
Artwork by Leila Nseir
These first generations of Syrian female artists prepared a new creative way for other women in Syria; they used to be a real source of motivation in the heart of a huge feminine expression in the Syrian society. Unfortunately during the 1980s, Syrian society started to become less open and turned back to religious considerations and old traditions inherited from the Ottoman occupation. The confrontation between the religious political ideologies and the secularism of the socialist authoritarian government in Syria, which was translated by violence, assassinations and bombings, accentuated the rift between secular and religious societal components and thus inhibited the progression of art in general and more particularly of women’s expression.
Artwork by Lamis Dashwali
In this peculiar climate, the posing of naked women as models stopped abruptly in the faculties of fine arts all over Syria around 1985, but Syrian artists continued to paint naked models in private sessions or from their personal experiences. The official reason given by the faculties was that it had become 'too expensive to pay for a model', but in reality the mentality in society was changing to become more hermetical and more religious. Especially after the bloody conflict between the government and the 'Muslim Brotherhood', it was difficult to defy even more the traditional parts of society.
After a flourishing period between the 1960s and 1970s, female artists in Syria had to face new political deceptions and limitations of expression. Women who resisted repression and confirmed their places in society were also teachers in schools and faculties who had administrative responsibilities related to the artistic fields, some of them even were able to found some artistic centres to develop their skills.
Owing to an economic awakening and an artistic blooming that took place in the 2000s, the talent of these generations of female artists from the 80s and 90s could eventually be fully recognised. Following the organisation of cultural events both in national and foreign art centres and galleries, Syrian artists started a new evolution where some talented women could gain first rank artistic recognition.
After a flourishing period between the 1960s and 1970s, female artists in Syria had to face new political deceptions and limitations of expression. Women who resisted repression and confirmed their places in society were also teachers in schools and faculties who had administrative responsibilities related to the artistic fields, some of them even were able to found some artistic centres to develop their skills.
Owing to an economic awakening and an artistic blooming that took place in the 2000s, the talent of these generations of female artists from the 80s and 90s could eventually be fully recognised. Following the organisation of cultural events both in national and foreign art centres and galleries, Syrian artists started a new evolution where some talented women could gain first rank artistic recognition.
“It’s not about the religion, it’s about clerics” said the sculptor Mustafa Ali, “God knows that art is the cult of beauty and he knows your intentions when you draw or sculpt a naked man or woman.”
Sculpture by Mustafa Ali
Rima Salamoun
(born in 1963) is one of the distinguished Syrian female artists who started her career during those ambitious years of the 1980s and 1990s to light up after 2000 with a particular style. Her paintings show expressive faces and bashful naked bodies and point out the human consciousness in all different states of mind. The details of faces disappear as if life experience would delete a part of the lineaments. Salamoun’s art is universal and imposes a reflection about loss, absence and death.
Souad Mardam Bey is the Middle Eastern artist by excellence. She was born in Damascus, raised in Beirut and is currently living in Cairo. Mardam Bay seeks harmony in her paintings, but never tries to impose a vision or an emotion to the viewer. Often in an Oriental atmosphere and a reviewed traditional decor, gazes of her portraits whisper emotions reflecting not only of the artist’s but of the viewer’s momentous state of mind. In her exhibition “Playing Without Toys”, the artist sheds her tenderness on the theme of childhood, particularly on Syrian children: eyes wide open, her personages are hurt, but she preferred to give them a note of hope with colorful clothes. In the context of war, we must not forget how beautiful childhood is and how much it needs to be protected to maintain hope for next generations.
(born in 1963) is one of the distinguished Syrian female artists who started her career during those ambitious years of the 1980s and 1990s to light up after 2000 with a particular style. Her paintings show expressive faces and bashful naked bodies and point out the human consciousness in all different states of mind. The details of faces disappear as if life experience would delete a part of the lineaments. Salamoun’s art is universal and imposes a reflection about loss, absence and death.
Souad Mardam Bey is the Middle Eastern artist by excellence. She was born in Damascus, raised in Beirut and is currently living in Cairo. Mardam Bay seeks harmony in her paintings, but never tries to impose a vision or an emotion to the viewer. Often in an Oriental atmosphere and a reviewed traditional decor, gazes of her portraits whisper emotions reflecting not only of the artist’s but of the viewer’s momentous state of mind. In her exhibition “Playing Without Toys”, the artist sheds her tenderness on the theme of childhood, particularly on Syrian children: eyes wide open, her personages are hurt, but she preferred to give them a note of hope with colorful clothes. In the context of war, we must not forget how beautiful childhood is and how much it needs to be protected to maintain hope for next generations.
Artwork by Rima Salamoun
Diana Al Hadid : is an eloquent example: born in Aleppo in 1981, she left Syria with her family as she was 5 years old and was raised in the USA. At the age of 11 she already knew with certainty that she wanted to become an artist. She studied arts in Ohio and is now successfully established in Brooklyn (NYC). Using industrial materials, the Syrian-American artist creates sculptures and installations that look like unfinished works or constructions in progress. In a part of her oeuvre the Middle Eastern influence is evident, searching for the base of her constructions in her own roots and in the roots of humanity in her motherland. The double culture allows her to create a connection between different civilizations from the East to the West, and even from ancient constructions to futurist compositions. Syrian women who lived in the Diaspora before the current war created a generation of Syrian artists born in the country yet growing up partially in foreign countries. The encounter between two different cultures has certainly been an additive value to their creativity and their talent.
Coming from different backgrounds and having different political opinions, the young generations of female Syrian artists remain though totally connected to their homeland, wherever they might live and create in the world. The newest generations born in Syria during the 1980s and 1990s brought a large selection of distinguished female artists. Being thoroughly connected to the Worldwide Web and accustomed to all the new technologies, the Syrian art scene became thus full of feminine touches. Graduated from the classical faculties of fine arts or other new institutes of fine and applied arts, Syrian women enrich the contemporary Syrian art with their paintings, sculptures, photographs, collages and digital art.
Diana Hadid – Sculpture by Diana Hadid
Tania Al Kayyali is a young multi-talented artist born in Damascus in 1985 where she graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts. Living in Berlin nowadays, she belongs to the new Syrian artistic Diaspora within Berlin’s art scene. Tania Kayyali is an atypical visual artist who is all at once a painter, illustrator, digital artist and graphic designer.
Artwork by Tania Al KayyaliHer colorful psychedelic artworks featuring a multitude of self-portraits have nothing self-absorbed, but are rather the identification of deep emotions and various facets of a personality that is eager to be part of the world and the humanity. She worked also as a translator with the “Refugee and Migrant Crisis in Europe” organization. Believing in the capacity of education to change our future, Tania created many illustrations and ooks for children.
Artwork by Tania Al KayyaliHer colorful psychedelic artworks featuring a multitude of self-portraits have nothing self-absorbed, but are rather the identification of deep emotions and various facets of a personality that is eager to be part of the world and the humanity. She worked also as a translator with the “Refugee and Migrant Crisis in Europe” organization. Believing in the capacity of education to change our future, Tania created many illustrations and ooks for children.
even recently despite of the war inside the country and the forced Diaspora. If women found their right places among renowned and professional Syrian and Arabic artists, their art remains singular while surpassing all social and traditional barriers
In Syria we believe that each morning is born by the caress of a woman. In this part of the earth where human civilization started, and despite the current war and regressive ideologies, a woman remains superior by the power of her emotions and her divine presence in a man’s mundane life.
I learned about the experiences of pioneering Syrian female artists, through my research, especially the new generation of female artists of the war era, where I was far from the Syrian artistic scene, in general.
In future, I will keep in touch with the fine art movement in Syria, especially the feminist one. I will work on using topics that would serve many causes which needs light to be shed at for the sake of humanity. I will also try to take part in artistic activities in my country to be a part of the feminist artistic movement.
Artwork by Aula Al Ayoubi
18/3/19 Famous female icons
Alice Cattle
as a part of my research I looked closely to some female icons in the art in twenty century and twenty-first century like Freda Kahlo, Judy Chicago and Alice Cattle to find out more about their experiences.
I had the opportunity to meet with Alice Cattle and she was kind enough to respond to all my questions .
Here I include some of her answers regarding my questions
If I sold a piece of work I would buy more thread.
Art serves to express the human spirit and can represent the underprivileged and marginalised both the action of making and sending out into the world
Alice Cattle
as a part of my research I looked closely to some female icons in the art in twenty century and twenty-first century like Freda Kahlo, Judy Chicago and Alice Cattle to find out more about their experiences.
I had the opportunity to meet with Alice Cattle and she was kind enough to respond to all my questions .
Here I include some of her answers regarding my questions
- Can you tell me how you began your career in art in general and particularly in textiles?
If I sold a piece of work I would buy more thread.
- -How do you think art can be a tool to fight injustice and protect women?
Art serves to express the human spirit and can represent the underprivileged and marginalised both the action of making and sending out into the world
- 1-In your opinion in the twenty-first century what the role of a female artist and should be?
- 3-as a female artist have you experienced some kind of hardship/ life changing events that have transformed your circumstances? if yes how you recovered?
I looked closely into Judy Chicago experience through reading about her life, experience and various interviews with her.
Judy Chicago’s 20th-century masterpiece The Dinner Party has been on permanent view at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art in the Brooklyn Museum. It’s become such a fixture there that it is hard to imagine the shock and vitriol the piece caused when it was first displayed in 1979, after four years and hundreds of hands went into its production. The Dinner Party went against so many mores, even by progressive art-world standards: it was overtly political, its content directly championing women’s rights and liberation; it was constructed not by an auteur but by a community; it was comprised of ceramics and needlepoint, “decorative arts” associated with feminine domesticity. Chicago’s sculpture was—and is—radical, correcting the boldfaced names of history while inspiring a new way of conceiving open, activist art production. Amid the straightforward concept of 39 increasingly vaginal place settings, each reserved for a different groundbreaking woman, Chicago and her team filled the triangular structure with so many symbols and allusions that the reading of the work never stops. (Each side of the triangle, for instance, holds 13 place settings, which is the same number of seats at both The Last Supper and of witches in a coven.)
While The Dinner Party is certainly the most well-known contribution , it is by no means her only one. Chicago is not only a pioneer of feminist art; she is arguably its founder, inventor, and chief figurehead. While teaching at CalArts in the early 1970s, she created Womanhouse, a highly influential installation by a collective of female artists who turned a rental home into the site of charged feminist performances. In the mid-’80s, Chicago embarked on a series of acrylic and oil paintings whose subjects explored the aggression and arrogance of unchecked masculinity. Entitled “PowerPlay” . Their relevance to today’s political and social climate only proves that Chicago’s message still needs to be heard and that there are still so many battles to wage for equality.
CHICAGO: One of the things I understood from early on was that art was a symbol of systemic inequity. The absence of women artists in our museums, or the marginalization of women in university curriculum, mirrors the everyday experience of women. I think that women are beginning to see is a global system of male terrorism that is manifested in Afghanistan in stoning women who violate the canon, sequestering women, covering women; or in the Congo as systemic rape, as a weapon of war; and at a less severe level, sexual harassment and the abuse of power in Hollywood. when we were working in the ’70s, we thought we were going to change everything right then and there. The Dinner Party tells that story of pushing forward, pushing backward, forward, backward—now we’re witnessing the pushing backward. I was just thinking about how I am sustained. I’ve been really isolated—I’ve had to be in order to think against the culture. But the stories of the women in The Dinner Party have sustained me. Their stories are stories of courage. like Elizabeth Blackwell, who was only admitted to medical school as a joke, and then endured two years of total isolation. Nobody spoke to her. Women spat at her on the street. I mean, what kind of courage did it take to stand up to that? If she could do it, I can do it. The 1,038 women represented in The Dinner Party offer an incredible path to courage and fortitude.
My goal as an artist has been to create images in which the female experience is the path to the universal, as opposed to learning everything through the male gaze. The reason women spat on Elizabeth Blackwell was because they had been raised to believe that a woman doctor was obscene. The first step is freeing oneself from the prison of that gaze.
I think one of the real setbacks in the women’s movement was that women were more willing to raise their daughters as feminists than to teach their sons another way of being men .
. If all the financial and geographic limits were lifted, I would separate art from commerce, and I would encourage artists around the world to make art that is accessible and understandable to the communities in which they live. I would encourage subjects relevant to their communities because I believe that art has incredible power. As long as it is linked to and controlled by marketplace values, communication is controlled and limited, and the power of human beings to make change and to make art that can contribute to change is prevented. if we have been working in our parallel ways to achieve these goals and that is why, even when we are apart, our lives represent parallel paths.
. For me Judy Chicago is a model for women and all young people to learn how they can fight for change their whole life and not get discouraged.
Judy Chicago "The Dinner Party"
Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is remembered for her self-portraits, pain and passion, and bold, vibrant colors. She is celebrated in Mexico for her attention to Mexican and indigenous culture and by feminists for her depiction of the female experience and form.
Kahlo, who suffered from polio as a child, nearly died in a bus accident as a teenager. She suffered multiple fractures of her spine, collarbone and ribs, a shattered pelvis, broken foot and dislocated shoulder. She began to focus heavily on painting while recovering in a body cast. In her lifetime, she had 30 operations.
Life experience is a common theme in Kahlo's approximately 200 paintings, sketches and drawings. Her physical and emotional pain are depicted starkly on canvases, as is her turbulent relationship with her husband, Diego Rivera, who she married him twice. Of her 143 paintings, 55 are self-portraits.
Kahlo did not sell many paintings in her lifetime, She had only one solo exhibition in Mexico in her lifetime, in 1953, just a year before her death at the age of 47.
Today, her works sell for very high prices
Widely known for her Marxist leanings, Frida, along with Marxism Revolutionary Che Guevara and a small band of contemporary figures, has become a countercultural symbol of 20th century, and created a legacy in paint that continue to inspire the imagination and mind.
why she remembered as a feminist icon?
An artist with physical disabilities and an emotionally challenging life was Frida Kahlo, Frida’s uniqueness lay in the way she depicted herself in her paintings. She was a brilliant painter of herself and of things that came to her mind, as well as her sources of joys and sorrows, all of this she painted unfettered. Her expressions were not molded to fit the societally set standards of what was “acceptable” but she followed her heart and mind. This is evident in her self-image portrayals whereby she sports a unibrow as well as a moustache. Clearly, such an image does not conform to a patriarchal society’s image of a woman who has perfectly shaped eyebrows and definitely no moustache.
Women today have been conditioned in a manner whereby they project themselves in the manner demanded from them by society. Frida, even then, refused to do so. She set her own standards. She valued and celebrated characteristics that patriarchal society has labelled unfeminine and ugly. And so, she was a feminist.
Frida also dressed in a particular manner, very different from the Mexican women of that time whose attire consisted of pearls, suits, and hats. Frida’s fashion consisted of gay, Mexican tradition clothes – she adorned herself with clips, bows, ribbons, jewellery, scarves and costumes, and such dressing became an entrenched part of her identity. She sometimes also painted her dresses herself. Hence, she never bowed down to the required attire for “cultured” women in Mexico at that point of time. She challenged patriarchy in her own way. Some believe that she dressed in this particular manner to hide her deformities but her appreciation of herself through her paintings exhibits how much pride she took in her appearance.
Kahlo, who suffered from polio as a child, nearly died in a bus accident as a teenager. She suffered multiple fractures of her spine, collarbone and ribs, a shattered pelvis, broken foot and dislocated shoulder. She began to focus heavily on painting while recovering in a body cast. In her lifetime, she had 30 operations.
Life experience is a common theme in Kahlo's approximately 200 paintings, sketches and drawings. Her physical and emotional pain are depicted starkly on canvases, as is her turbulent relationship with her husband, Diego Rivera, who she married him twice. Of her 143 paintings, 55 are self-portraits.
Kahlo did not sell many paintings in her lifetime, She had only one solo exhibition in Mexico in her lifetime, in 1953, just a year before her death at the age of 47.
Today, her works sell for very high prices
Widely known for her Marxist leanings, Frida, along with Marxism Revolutionary Che Guevara and a small band of contemporary figures, has become a countercultural symbol of 20th century, and created a legacy in paint that continue to inspire the imagination and mind.
why she remembered as a feminist icon?
An artist with physical disabilities and an emotionally challenging life was Frida Kahlo, Frida’s uniqueness lay in the way she depicted herself in her paintings. She was a brilliant painter of herself and of things that came to her mind, as well as her sources of joys and sorrows, all of this she painted unfettered. Her expressions were not molded to fit the societally set standards of what was “acceptable” but she followed her heart and mind. This is evident in her self-image portrayals whereby she sports a unibrow as well as a moustache. Clearly, such an image does not conform to a patriarchal society’s image of a woman who has perfectly shaped eyebrows and definitely no moustache.
Women today have been conditioned in a manner whereby they project themselves in the manner demanded from them by society. Frida, even then, refused to do so. She set her own standards. She valued and celebrated characteristics that patriarchal society has labelled unfeminine and ugly. And so, she was a feminist.
Frida also dressed in a particular manner, very different from the Mexican women of that time whose attire consisted of pearls, suits, and hats. Frida’s fashion consisted of gay, Mexican tradition clothes – she adorned herself with clips, bows, ribbons, jewellery, scarves and costumes, and such dressing became an entrenched part of her identity. She sometimes also painted her dresses herself. Hence, she never bowed down to the required attire for “cultured” women in Mexico at that point of time. She challenged patriarchy in her own way. Some believe that she dressed in this particular manner to hide her deformities but her appreciation of herself through her paintings exhibits how much pride she took in her appearance.
" ll paint myself because I am so often alone, because I am the subject I know best”
“My painting carries with it the message of pain."
Frida Kahlo
Among the things that I had planned to research about it and I feel that I have a great desire to explore are the symbols used in different cultures around the world, their meanings and their origins. I also would like to know how they have been used in art especially the female's symbols .
this part of the research contains a practical part.
18/3/19 The symbols in art
Swallow bird
Swallow bird was used to symbolically express hope and ambition. It is a bird before the rain" and "preacher spring season," and in other stories is the symbol of vulva, blessing and richness! And despite the predominance of the black colour, which is in our culture and other cultures the symbol of sadness, it is still a beloved and sacred bird, and thus deprive her hunting and the prestige and respect for its symbol.
Symbols of Gender
The symbol for a female organism or woman. The symbol of the Roman goddess Venus is often used to represent the female sex and is the alchemical symbol for copper
Mars symbol ( ♂) The symbol for a male organism or man.
Venus symbol (♀) The symbol for a female organism or woman.
Square symbol ( □) The symbol for a male family member in a pedigree chart. A triangle is also often used.
Circle symbol (○) The symbol for a female family member in a pedigree chart.
From the symbol of Mercury ( ☿) This symbol is used to indicate a virgin female (for example, in genetic analysis).Also used in botany to indicate flower with both male and female reproductive organs.☿ can also be used as a unisex symbol since intersex Hermaphroditus was a child of Hermes and Aphrodite (Mercury and Venus).
INTERLOCKED FEMALE AND MALE SIGN ⚤;Heterosexuality
MALE AND FEMALE SIGN ⚥;Male and Female
DOUBLED MALE SIGN ⚣;Male homosexuality
DOUBLED FEMALE SIGN ⚢;Female homosexuality
MALE WITH STROKE SIGN⚦;Transgender
MALE WITH STROKE AND MALE AND FEMALE SIGN ⚧;Transgender
MEDIUM WHITE CIRCLE ⚪;Agender
Symbol of Venus
peace symbols
some of the popular peace symbols used around the world.
Dove and Olive Branch
The early Christians used the dove and the olive branch as a symbol of peace. The symbols were derived by the Christians from two sources; the story of Noah and the flood in the old Testament and the Greek thought. The story of Noah ends with a description of a dove bringing a freshly plucked olive leaf as a sign of life and peace after the flood. The symbol of dove and olive was confirmed by St Augustine of Hippo in his writings on the Christian Doctrine. The New Testament compares the Dove with the Holy Spirit with the dove representing peace of the soul and not civil peace among the early Christians. However, by the third century, the dove began to depict peace in the Old Testament. A dove and olive branch has also been used in the secular world as a representation of peace. The dove was a symbol of peace among the Communist party and was used in their demonstrations in the 20th century.
some of the popular peace symbols used around the world.
Dove and Olive Branch
The early Christians used the dove and the olive branch as a symbol of peace. The symbols were derived by the Christians from two sources; the story of Noah and the flood in the old Testament and the Greek thought. The story of Noah ends with a description of a dove bringing a freshly plucked olive leaf as a sign of life and peace after the flood. The symbol of dove and olive was confirmed by St Augustine of Hippo in his writings on the Christian Doctrine. The New Testament compares the Dove with the Holy Spirit with the dove representing peace of the soul and not civil peace among the early Christians. However, by the third century, the dove began to depict peace in the Old Testament. A dove and olive branch has also been used in the secular world as a representation of peace. The dove was a symbol of peace among the Communist party and was used in their demonstrations in the 20th century.
White Poppy
The white poppy is a peace symbol advocating for an end to the war. It represents a belief that killing is not the only way to ending conflicts. The white poppy was introduced by the Women’s Cooperative Guild of the UK in 1933 during the period of widespread war in Europe. The women distributed the white poppy as an alternative to the red poppy. The Royal British Legion distributed the red poppies as a remembrance of the servicemen who had died in the World War I. In 1934; the Peace Pledge Union joined in the distribution of the white poppies as a pledge of peace and a commitment to war not happening again.
The Peace Sign
The peace symbol ,popularly known as the anti-nuclear emblem, is one of the most widely recognized peace symbols. It was designed in 1958 by Gerald Holtom in support of the British Nuclear Disarmament movement. The sign is a combination of signal for the letters “N” and “D” The two letters are used to represent nuclear disarmament. The symbol was used as a badge of CND and wearing it is a symbol of support for the campaign for nuclear disarmament. The symbol was widely used in the US in 1958 during the nuclear test. In South Africa, the peace symbol was used by the opponents of apartheid.
Peace Crane
The crane is a traditional symbol of luck in Japan. It has been popularized as a symbol of peace by the story of a girl who died from the explosion of an atomic bomb over Hiroshima in 1945. The story accounts how Sadako Sasaki started folding paper cranes in her last days of illness. Initially, the crane symbolized peace that came from attaining a level of prosperity and friendship and not war and was only adopted for the war peace after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki incidences.
The Broken Rifle
The broken rifle symbol was used by the War Resister’s International and the other groups that were affiliated with it. However, the symbol was invented long before the formation of WRI in 1921. The broken rifle symbol was first used in 1909 during the masthead issue of the “Down With Weapon” which was a monthly publication of the International Antimilitarist Union in Netherlands. The German league for War Victims also used the symbol on their peace banner in 1917. The Belgian workers who marched through La Louviere in October 1921 carried a banner showing a soldier breaking his rifle.
The V Sign
The V sign is a peace hand sign whereby the index and the middle fingers are raised but parted with the remaining fingers clenched. The sign can be used to convey different messages depending on the context in which they are used. The gesture can be used as an insult or as a peace sign depending on how it is displayed. If the back of the hand faces the observer, then it can be considered as an insult in Australia and South Africa. However, if the back of the hand faces the signer, then it is considered a peace sign or a sign of victory.
Religious Symbols
Christian Cross:The cross symbol, which is today one of the most widely recognised religious symbols in the world is the earliest used Christian symbol. In the most broad sense it symbolizes the religion of Christian. More specifically, it represents and memorializes Christ's death.
Ichthys (fish):The fish first known use as a Christian religious symbol was sometime within the first three centuries AD. Christians began using the Greek word for "fish" as an anagram/acronym for "Jesus Christ God's Son, Savior."
The Star and Cresent:The star and crescent is the best-known symbol used to represent Islam. The symbol is not Muslim in origin, it was a polytheistic icon adopted during the spread of Islam, and its use today is sometimes controversial in the Muslim world. The crescent and star are often said to be Islamic symbols, but historians say that they were the insignia of the Ottoman Empire, not of Islam as a whole.
David Star:The six-pointed star of David, It is the best known religious symbol of the Jewish faith. The sign is based on the shape of Davids shield or the symbol on his shield. The David star is a relatively new symbol of Judaism, becoming popular only in the last 200 years. It is named after King David, whom legend tells us had a shield with this star on it.
Menorah:The menorah is the oldest religious symbol of the Jewish faith. It is a seven branched candle holder.
Om or Aum:The Om is one of the most important religious symbols to Hindus. It is made up of three Sanskrit letters. The syllable Om is composed of the three sounds a-u-m (in Sanskrit, the vowels a and u coalesce to become o), which represent several important triads: the three worlds of earth, atmosphere, and heaven; the three major Hindu gods. Is a Hindu sacred sound that is considered the greatest of all mantras.The aum symbol is often found at the head of letters, pendants, enshrined in every Hindu temple and family shrines.
Swastika:The Swastika symbol which look like the Nazi emblem, holds a great religious significance for the Hindus. Swastika is a pictorial character in the shape of a cross with branches bent at right angles and facing in a clockwise direction. The word SWASTIKA stems from the Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language and means 'being happy'. In India the word is related to things of good fortune because it means being happy. The cause of all life and all manifestations of life is movement.
Yin and yang (Taiji):The most well-known Taoist religious symbol is the Yin and Yang symbol, a circle divided into two swirling sections, one black and the other white. The symbol represent perfect harmonic balance.
Khanda:
The special Sikh religous symbol is made up of three images: The Khanda, which is a double edged sword. This represents the belief in one God. The Chakkar, like the Kara it is a circle representing God without beginning or end and reminding Sikhs to remain within the rule of God. Two crossed kirpans representing spiritual authority and political power.
Torii Gate:The Torii gate reliligous symbol, mark the entrance to sacred space. Representing the transition between the finite world and the infinite world of the gods.
Nine-Pointed Star:The simple nine-pointed star is generally used by Bahá'ís as a symbol of their Faith. The number "nine" is significant for Bahá'ís for several reasons.
The number nine has significance in the Bahá'í Revelation. Nine years after the announcement of the Báb in Shiraz, Bahá'u'lláh received the intimation of His mission in the dungeon in Teheran. Nine, as the highest single-digit number, symbolizes completeness. Since the Bahá'í Faith claims to be the fulfillment of the expectations of all prior religions, this symbol, as used for example in nine-sided Bahá'í temples, reflects that sense of fulfillment and completeness.The Arabic alphabet can be used to represent numbers, attaching a numerical value to words. The numerical value of Bahá is 9.
Wheel of Dharma:The wheel of Dharma is one of the most important religious Buddhist symbols. The symbolises the Buddha's turning the Wheel of Truth or Law. The wheel refers to the story that shortly after the Buddha achieved enlightenment, Brahma came down from heaven and requested the Buddha to teach by offering him a Dharmachakra.
The eight spokes of the wheel symbolize the Noble Eightfold Path set out by the Buddha in his teachings.
The wheel also represents the endless cycle of samsara, or rebirth, which can only be escaped by means of the Buddha's teachings. And some Buddhists regard the the wheel's three basic parts as symbols of the "three trainings" in Buddhist practice: The hub symbolizes moral discipline, which stabilizes the mind. The spokes (usually there are eight) represent wisdom which is applied to defeat ignorance. The rim represents training in concentration, which holds everything else together.
Ahimsa Hand: The religious Ahisma hand symbol with a wheel on the palm symbolizes the Jain Vow of Ahimsa, meaning non-violence. The word in the middle is "Ahimsa." The wheel represents the dharmacakra, to halt the cycle of reincarnation through the pursuit of truth.
25/3/19 Developing skills
some of my practical work
Using watercolour ,acrylic , fine line and pencil
When I think of ancient symbols, what most likely comes to my mind is the Great ancient Egyptian art, Sphinx of Giza or the Pyramids and while Egyptian architecture and statues are certainly very impressive, they are only a small part of a very intricate yet specific artistic culture.
The Egyptian art style is very distinctive, generally based around pharaohs, sphinxes and the many Egyptian gods. Always intended to be functional rather than beautiful, artistic creations served as homes for spirits and gods; gifts to the afterlife; or to appease a pharaoh. the animal characters are represented as symbols in ancient Egyptian art .
here I tried to develop my skills in drawing and shades especially in the soft lines and shadow
As a result of my research in this section about exploring the symbols used in different cultures, I believe it is a broad subject, and needs to be explored in a separate research, not as part of a research. All consecutive civilisations that passed on the world had symbols that would be similar in principle and others that are totally different.
I think I can find most of these extensive information in the archaeology department.
I will continue researching the symbols to find out how can I used it in my artwork in future.
Artwork by artist using different symbols
1/4/19 Research my background, identity and my role within the THB
When I perform research, I am essentially trying to solve a mystery—I want to know how something works or why something happened. In other words, I want to answer a question that I (and other people) have about I interest about This is one of the most basic reasons for performing research.
Through the theoretical research, I looked deep into my cultural and social background and how they have influenced my artistic style. I am originally from Syria, English is my second language which causes a lot of difficulties in expressing myself. .I have had to change direction many times in life, hence I have started from zero on so many occasions. The way that I have recovered/survived was to trust my instinct and not be afraid of walking in the dark, often opposite to the direction that I was guided by family, friends and the society. Creating art work has been an important part of my survival and in this period I intend to how creativity can help women through their struggles.
I was born to a secular well-off family that encourages art. My father was an amateur artist who believed in the emancipation of women, their capabilities, their right of choice and belief. My mother was a good mother, but she suffered from social phobia, what made me live in social isolation as a child. This has affected my life, positively and negatively. It was positive because the absence of the negative spiritual guardian who would restrict me with rules and would dictate the experiences of childhood based on the experiences of adults.
Negatively, the absence of experience and expertise made me resort to the imaginative outer social world which is the opposite of my mother’s fear, as an ideal world, as my pure soul would like it to be. But in reality, there’s nothing ideal. In spite of the accumulation of experiences in life, the matters that I have built in my childhood control my relationships with people. However, giving, optimism and love make me overcome my mistaken feelings of expecting the best from those who are around me. Also because most of my relationships with others have never been deep although from the outside they look strong, it is very hard for me to allow people to enter my personal space and be part of my personal life.
All this things influenced my personality. On one hand, I have become a strong confident ambitious woman who fears nothing. On the other hand, I have become a very sensitive shy and emotional person; however, I have managed to stay strong.
Looking for my identity in art is a thorny business. I think there isn’t any thing final in life, because life changes. However, I have realised, through my research, that I will finally become what I am, and I can confirm that my love for colours is probably a reflection to my optimism. Maybe my love for animals since I was a little child is reflected in some of my artistic work.
I might be inspired, in my future works, by the issues that touch me most, like children and animals because I believe that they are the most vulnerable group. I have always wanted to contribute to support issues like" violence against children and animals".
Regardless of the message behind art ,I consider that art a free space for me which I can express myself through it .
Freedom for women is important subject but it is not my first concern in my artwork since it is something already completely normal for me and
I believe that the woman is a strong being who is capable of facing difficulties and achieve the impossible. To treat women fairly, we need first to educate them, because they are the first teachers of the generations. Thus, they would be responsible for educating anti-feminist men.
In the feminist art, I believe that we have to stop insinuating the feminist art in order to be fair to women, because they are capable of competing in art, as it is the same case in most fields. Women have always been the creators of beauty and art since the dawn of history till now. Women will gain their place in the twenty first century, since the internet and the social media will stop all the attempts of marginalising of women in art and in other subjects.
But from a responsible point of view, and being a part of the THB team, it is important to have the objectives of the group to support women and to contribute to emphasising their presence in the cultural circles and in the artistic institutions of the UK; particularly, the women who come from different cultures. Hence, most of my works will revolve around the women at this stage.
To conclude, as I said before, researching never ends, and that every new piece of information generates new questions for a potential research.
Animals in my artwork are a tool to deliver my feelings and ideas or my own view around different issues .
Also working with subjects such as animals or nature are gives me comfort and happiness.
References
- A Brief History of Women in Art "khan Academy " by Camille Gajewski
- Alghad, ANOTHER SYRIA ,magazine
- Feminist Art Icon Judy Chicago "interview magazine" by Gloria Steinem
- worldatlas-peace symbols Article " By John Misachi
- FridaKahlo.org
- Biography.com
- TheArtStory
- Wikipedia