Saturday, August 6, 2011

Art in Rabat

I am back in Rabat for the second half of Arabic lessons. I had the opportunity to visit  an artist's row next the park which had a rap concert going on.  In speaking with the artists, they informed me that this area was designed only for visual artists. This give artists an opportunity to showcase, sell their paintings and interact with the community. What amazed me was the quality of artwork. As an art teacher, I was also surprised that the paintings had real faces. In the art history books, they will say, Islamic art does not have people in it. I saw realistic to folk art portraits of people. In speaking with the artists, they brought to my attention that painting faces of people had nothing to do with religion. They didn't feel that they were doing anything wrong that would denounce their faith. Most of these artists had no formal training. Their love of art is what inspired them.

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