Saudi Arabian Art

Jeddah is a delightful city to walk in because of the massive, whimsical outdoor sculptures.  Many more have been added since our visit in the 1980's, making it all the more reason to return.

Artist:  Abdullah al Shaikh

As much as I would have loved to bring back a sculpture as big as my house, I did collect the above three (more practical) pieces while in Saudi Arabia.  The saturation of bold color and the use of calligraphy in Islamic Art makes it a joy to look at.  Because the sacred scripture of the Qur'an is such a part of Saudi Arabian law and life, I saw very little depictions of either human beings or animals in the art there.  In fact, while we traveled into the interior, even the figures of the camels on the roadsigns had been blacked out.  The Qur'an forbids such pictures in order to prevent idol-worship.

However, once I started to learn how to read Arabic and write in its beautiful script, I began to appreciate its artistry.  The script itself is geometric, balanced and fluid, lending itself to art very easily.  The ways the script were used by the artists were absolutely brilliant.