Importance of Historical Culture for the Art and Design Curriculum - Research Paper Example

This qualitative study of how Saudi Arabia’s Unique Historical and Cultural Context Influence Art Education Curriculum Development was designed in away that would make it possible to obtain in depth view of this subject matter. Incident relevant to research questions were coded which attended to various issues that included Importance: This observed the importance of teaching and learning art and design according to faculty members and professionals in the field. Culture: Faculty feedback using curriculum that reflect historical and cultural process in a particular location. Content: Faculty Investigation of art education in Saudi Arabia. Curriculum: Professionals in the field that have designed art education curricula in Saudi Arabia. Role: Feedback on enhancing the quality of art education; Findings on unique effects on individual, society and environment; Offering the mean of engagement to cultural values. In this study there were three interviewee all being teachers in the department. Importance of historical culture in Saudi Arabia for the art and design curriculum The art and design curriculum of Saudi Arabia has greatly been influenced by the historical culture as indicated by all the three interviewees. The history of Saudi Arabia art is noted to be greatly interwoven by the ebb and movement of pilgrims who are frequent visitors as they are undertaking devotional duties. Muslim pilgrims who every year in the last fourteen centuries have travelled to Makkah and Al Madinah from all over the world have contributed immensely in the enrichment of the Culture of the people of the Arabian Peninsula (Dichaba, 2002). As much as Islam influenced almost all aspects of Arabian cultural and spiritual life, the unique contribution of the deep roots of Nomadic Bedouin society that shaped the country’s Cultural Heritage in the area of traditional crafts cannot go unnoticed. Some of the pilgrimage have brought in a lot of artistic talents and have been encouraged to stay in the country (Al-Mermish, 2001). The arts developed by the visitors has played a major role in the enrichment of the cultural narrative of the Saudi Arabia thus impacting the curriculum greatly. Islam emerged first as a religion in the seventh century in Makkar it then spread to Arabia and other Arab countries, to western side of the Atlantic Ocean moving all the way the India and China. One of the interviewee (A) noted that the pilgrimage as one of the basic elements in the concept of The Black Arch. The concept has used by two artists Shadia and Raja as their first time official representatives of the Kingdom in Venice. The two are at the fore front of a new international wave art that is emerging in the cultural landscape of Saudi Arabia. This wave of art is noted to build upon a resent national and modern history of art. The art in the Kingdom has been noted to have been affected by some major events. The first ever art exhibition undertaken by Saudi Arabia students took place in Riyadh in 1958 at the Ministry of education while the first solo-artist was staged in Jeddah in 1965 which was also the year when the Middle Institute of Art Education was established in Riyadh. There was establishment of the department of Art Education at the King Saud University in Riyadh in 1975 (Christiansen, A. & Tippets., 2007). The historical culture has had influence on the curriculum due to the fact that the curriculum allows the artist to express there past through art. Interviewee B illustrated this by use of Sadia and Raja art where Raja described the stories as very inspiring. The stories have been interwoven by their own experiences at Makkah which is their home city and intertwined by illuminated arch which is a representation of Venice. The interviewee takes note of the way the ark is set in a multitude of spheres which are very reflective with the aim of evoking understanding how the two culture contrast. This also gives the viewer a chance to imagine the role in the piece of art. Culture effect on the curriculum of art educational programs Culture has been found to have considerable influence on curriculum of art educational programs. One of the major influences of culture on art education is the way of interpreting art. One particular area where culture play a big role is in describing what is beauty, descent or respectful. In Saudi Arabia culture a veiled woman could be portrayed as being beautiful and descent while in the western culture this may be seen as a sign of lack of civilization. The art which are produced within Saudi Arabia are greatly shaped by the culture of the Kingdom. The arts will tend to depict the daily life of the people. While interpreting the art it is important to note a rural setting may also have a different message in comparison to a city set up with Saudi Arabia. The cultural set up was also noted to determine the way the arts were made. The material used and the meaning of colours were also culturally engraved. Some of the traditional weaving crafts that are created whose origin are the Traditional Bedouin include curtains, blankets, coffee bean bags, tent walls and camel saddle backs. The weaving materials that are usually used in making of the crafts include wools from sheep, camel and goats. The colours that are used are obtained from natural plants. There is also use of ornamentations including leather strips, appliqué, braiding and tassels. The crafts have a notable influence from out side world like Asia, Africa and Ottoman the result being the use of the native stripes and some geometrical designs incorporating bright colours instead of the austerity of life experienced in the desert. Saudi Arabia being a religious state has limit to the foreign ideas the curriculum is supposed to expose to the learners. In many western countries women are represented in art exposing their hair and appearing in mini skirts so as to depict their beauty. In other incidents some art involve almost or totally nude women. While this is acceptable in western as part of advancement in culture, in Saudi Arabia this is not part of the practice. Women are required to wear culturally acceptable attire. The clothes put on by women are a reflection of identity, traditions and social customs. It is also a clear reflection of the cultural and economic life of the people. Twawb is the acceptable women clothe which is long sleeved, floor-length and tunic or gown. The most common color for the twawb is black, dark grey or burgundy. There is variation in the style and patterns of the traditional dresses depending on the region with the largely being influenced by civilizations like Jordan, India, Syria, China and others. The clothes are embellished with a variety of materials, textures and techniques depending on the actual tribe In the kingdom religion take centre stage in everything including artwork. Saudi Arabia is a rich cultural country as for thousands of years the Arabian Peninsula remained an outstanding geographic, commercial and cultural focal point of the globe. Through controlling caravan routes some of the prehistoric kingdoms of Hymiarites, Nabateans, Minaens and Sabaens that preceded the kingdom of Saudi Arabia prospered both culturally and economically. This kingdoms also traded in frankincense, spices and myrrh. One of the notable historic site which was noted by all the interviewee was the Nabatean ancient city Madain Salim of Hegra located North Saudi Arabia which was added UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 2008. The economic activities of the kingdom are important component of the culture. The art curriculum aims to promote the economic activities that are undertaken in the country. This is clearly depicted by what interviewee B said on responding when asked about the Saudi Arabia culture had influenced art education. “As away of promoting our culture there are many works of art that will show camels in a desert set up. The art will also have tents which are common form of shelter in Saudi Arabia. In this case camels depict wealth as they are highly valued in the kingdom. Also depicted in the art are the tradition crafts which include costumes, weaving, jewellery, traditional weapons, household crafts and Nomadic equipment”. The creativity of the country and social identity are considered as cultural heritage where a choice is made on what need to be preserved and what need to be passed on to the future generations. Culture is depicted in the family values which are portrayed by the art. The art works will clearly indicate the socialization between people of the opposite sex. The cultural set up does not allow opposite sex to interact in the public and so the art work are also in harmony with this. Interviewee C particularly noted that “ as part of promoting culture there is performance of traditional folk music and dance by men, participation in poetry competition and reciting of historic verses. Women are given their special day where they are given the chance to show their performance and display there crafts. This is a clear indication that activities that promote art should themselves ensure that cultural values are adhered to” Historical culture influence the effectiveness of art education curriculum at Saudi Arabian schools Art history is used as a kind of research study that help one in understanding the artworks over time, the place and subject situation during the art production process. Interviewee C noted “Through art history the student has the ability to note and explain differences that exist between arts. The student is then able to arrange the styles in a time sequence. Art history will evoke questions like how the art was created; and what are the influential historical, social, political and artistic that affected the artist and his artistic works”. With this mind set it is clear that the historical culture has a great influence on the way arts are interpreted. This is in itself in line with the overall objective of education where it is aimed at ensuring that learners have a thorough understanding of their country including the past the present and therefore being in the position to shape the future. The government has made effort to promote Bedouin Handicrafts and also developing experts to safeguard the traditional crafts. The interviewees also noted that the understanding of ones on culture makes them to be in a better position of understanding other foreign cultures. Through this the learners are able to interact with other cultures without the dangers of being swayed away from their own culture. It is also through the historical culture that the variations in culture across the nation in the past and the present are learnt and this is important as it instills tolerance and appreciation of the varied cultures of the nation. As interviewee B put it: “ through historical culture the art curriculum of Saudi Arabia has source of art creation and also gives the benchmark on which the art can be judged”. Conclusions From the findings it is clear that the study managed to extract the required information according to the three themes. The outcome could be attributed to the high enthusiasm of the interviewees as they found the topic to be addressing issues of their concern. The study strongly indicated that historical culture was of great importance to the Saudi Arabia art and design curriculum. The interviewee gave various historic events that have modified the countries culture. The impact of the pilgrimage was particularly noticed by all the interviewees. It is clear that the major influence that has shaped the art of Saudi Arabia was dependant on the religious activities that are undertaken in the kingdom. It was also clear that the Saudi Arabia culture has also had some influence from the Chinese and India communities. This from the observation of the researcher are communities which have similar values unlike the European communities. As much as the there are some cultural influence from countries like China and India this is minimal. This clearly is an indication that there is need for allowing more interaction and learning from other country for the development of art to be accelerated. The effect of the culture of the people of the Saudi Arabia and its effect on the art education program was brought about in various aspects. It was clear that religion was highly interwoven in the culture of the people. Culture was seen to play a very important in describing of beauty, descent or what is regarded as being respectful. Culture was seen to greatly influence the way the arts are made. Under culture the type of art was seen to be dependant on the material available within the country and also part of the heritage of the people. The effort made by the government in promoting the culture noted including the role it takes in creating manpower who will promote the Saudi Arabia culture. It is through this effort that the government was seen to influence the art curriculum so as to promote the kingdom culture. The improvement in the art curriculum and the general education system is a notable step that has been made to create manpower. The government effort to establish museum and to promote cultural activities is the other effort which are important in promoting art. The interviewee indicated that many of the teachers who teach and who participate in art curriculum development program have got their education in foreign countries. This is a clear indication that there is a lot that can be borrowed from art outside the country. This does not necessarily pose danger the indigenous art cultural values of the kingdom but instead will accelerate its growth. The researcher believes that the curriculum needs to allow controlled exposure of students to foreign country form of art so as to give the learners a global understanding of art. While embracing some foreign art the safeguard will be focused on some sensitive issues like the social norms. As noted in the research findings the interaction between people of the opposite sex is restricted by religion and the culture.This may not be the case with western countries where interaction of people of the opposite sex in the public normal and in teenagers it may seen as a normal process of socialization. In relation to this western art will portray this form of socialization which is normal in that set up. The foreign teachers who may not conform to the religion of the state may not be welcome in Saudi Arabia and this controls the degree to which foreign culture infiltrates into the mind of the learners through their art. While the objective of having the cultural values are put intact it is noted that there maybe considerable loss in terms of the people who may have experienced the Saudi Arabia culture and maybe voluntarily accepted it and spread it elsewhere. The foreign teachers may also be of great inspiration of the learners and native Saudi Arabia teacher. As the art of Saudi Arabia is developed it is very important to develop the consumer base. The consumers may be people of different cultural and religious background and this therefore calls for strategies of making this people feel welcome in Saudi Arabia at the same time appreciate the cultural values of the country. The study revealed different influence historical heritage had on the effectiveness of art education curriculum in Saudi Arabia schools. It was noted that through historical culture the art curriculum can be classified as a discipline that can be assessed like other subjects. Because the learners and the educators understand there historical culture and identify with it is easy for them to make art associated with this history. It is also possible to have understanding of the arts; depicting the weakness in the art as they are familiar with story being told by the art. The historical culture also is inspirational to the learners and they are much interested in learning about it through art and also transmitting it to the future generation through art. It is through the historical culture that enables the art curriculum to be a discipline based and therefore having the same value and assessment criteria like the other subjects offered in the learning institutions. References Al-Mermish, Khalid. (2001). Designing a new base for education and art education curriculaform an Islamic perspective, for use in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries.Unpublished Doctoral Thesis. University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. Christiansen, A. & Tippets. (2007). The shelf life of DBAE: art teacher retention of discipline-based art education strategies in the classroom. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis.Florida state university. Dichaba, E. (2002). A Thematic Based Art Appreciation Curriculum for Pedagogical Training of Junior Secondary School Teachers in Botswana. Unpublished Master's Dissertation, Central Connecticut State University. Loudermilk, et al (2002). The use of aesthetics in a comprehensive art curriculum. MA, Marshall University. Huntington, West Virginia. Mehrmohammadi, Mahmoud. (2008). General art education: What, Why, How. Tehran, Iran: Madreseh Publication. Read More