The Body in Twilight : Representation of the human body, sexuality and struggle in contemporary Arab art

Abstract

This thesis analyses the work of six Arab artists who live and work outside the Arab region, who use video, film, performance, photography, installation, digital and other new media to express, reflect and represent the human body, its sexuality, identity, eroticism and the struggles of people in contemporary Arab societies. This thesis can be viewed as a response to the confusion that surrounds the interpretation of the words “ Arab” and “ Islam” in the West, which leads to the tendency to marginalize Arab contemporary art and culture. In addition to that, I have been concerned at the scarcity of data in the Australian research scene about these issues, particularly those related to the human body and its portrayal in Arab societies. The aim of the thesis is to offer a guide to developments in contemporary Arab art, relying on specific and comprehensive theories, and to link the findings to various movements in Arab culture and society in relation to international art. This thesis is comprised of four chapters. The first chapter introduces the thesis to the reader and states the subject under investigation and its topic, and the methodology of the thesis. The second chapter deals with the subject of erotic matter in contemporary Arab art. I study the impact of Arabic classical erotic literature and the Islamic holy text of the Qur’an on Arab art and Arab artists. This chapter also focuses on the exploitation of Arab and Islamic culture for the benefit of Western ideologies such as feminism, and how Arab artists who have adopted the West as a second home have became trapped in these ideologies. The third chapter presents a critical and historical analysis of the issue of the veil, demonstrating its importance and place within Islamic societies and its impact on the development of contemporary Arab art. In addition, this chapter focuses on colonial theories in developing the issues of inferiority and stereotypes and how such complexes shaped the discourse of veiling, and it also examines how Arab contemporary art has been affected by these theories. The chapter includes a supplementary section examining contemporary cultural terms and conflicts such as “Orientalism”, the impact of the media in stereotyping and marginalizing Arabs and Islam, and the way this is affects their artists. The fourth chapter examines one of the most serious political conflicts in modern history, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Outlining the historical theory of the conflict, I look into the issue of war and dispersion that has hit Arabs physically and spiritually. This chapter deals with the way Arab visual artists reflect the struggle, confrontation and the resistance of the human body to war and death. The issues of death and the human body are mingled, and the discussion encompasses the metaphorical concept of territorializing the body’s physicality and sensuality in the Arab region, and its fragmentation as seen in contemporary Arab art. I hope, throughout this study, to pose and then to answer various questions related to the nature of the human body’s representation in contemporary Arab and international visual arts and its relationship to culture, history and theory. In addition, I hope to introduce these issues to those who may be newcomers to the topics of visual art, and provide new sources for scholars, students and those interested in these specific areas.