This study analyzes deconstructivism as a pedagogical intervention in heritage education in the Art Education Department at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in response to the need for contemporary education attentive to heritage as required by national policy set forth by the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation, and Oman Vision 2040. Specifically, it analyzes thirty-four survey responses evaluating the final project of the Modern and Contemporary Painting Course for forty-two students in the fall of 2022; this project tasked students with researching, drawing, deconstructing, and reassembling a self-chosen article unique to Omani cultural heritage. The purpose of this investigation was to explore the relationship between culture and deconstructivism as a pedagogical intervention in the teaching environment at Sultan Qaboos University within one continuous semester of study (4 months). The findings of this study suggest that contemporary art interventions in heritage education are one way to newly engage students already well-versed in Omani heritage while also answering the demands of national directives and suggestions of past art education research for a rigorous art education curriculum inclusive of both heritage and contemporary art and its theories.
References
[1]
Abdul-Ghani, M. (2006). Hospitality and Tourism Education in the Making. Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism, 6, 71-87. https://doi.org/10.1300/J172v06n02_06
[2]
Abu-Zaid, E. (2013). Contemporary Issues of Fine Arts in Sultanate of Oman. In The Omani Plastic Arts: The Reality of Practices and Approaches of Experiments (Vol. 1). The Ministry of Heritage and Culture.
[3]
Al Badi, S. (2020, April 29). Hassan Meer: The Artist Helping Shape Oman’s Contemporary Art Scene. https://sekkamag.com/2020/04/29/hassan-meer-the-artist-shaping-omans-contemporary-art-scene/
[4]
Al Saadi, N. (2022). The Reality of Scientific Research in the Fine Arts, Sultanate of Oman. SSRG International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 9, 90-93. https://doi.org/10.14445/23942703/IJHSS-V9I2P115
[5]
Al-Amri, M. (2010, March). Evaluating Art Studio Courses at Sultan Qaboos University in Light of the Discipline Based Art Education Theory. Journal of Instructional Pedagogies, 2, 1-20. https://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/09369.pdf
[6]
Al-Amri, M., Fawzi, Y., & Al-Yahyai, F. (2022). The Extent to Which the Dimensions of National Identity Are Included in the Students’ Artworks in the Department of Art Education at Sultan Qaboos University from the Point of View of Experts in the Field. Jordan Journal of the Arts, 15, 279-251. https://doi.org/10.47016/15.1.17
[7]
Almamari, B. (2015). What Happens When Women Dominate Traditional Craft Industries. SAGE Open, 5. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015587562
[8]
Almamari, B. (2017). Imported Traditional Pottery: Methods of Overcoming the Challenges for Traditional Ceramics Industries in Oman. Humanities and Social Sciences, 5, 1-4. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20170501.11
[9]
Almamari, B. (2020). Investigating Omani Artisans’ Skills in Marketing Their Creative Manufactured Goods. Saudi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 5, 466-469. https://doi.org/10.36348/sjhss.2020.v05i09.001
[10]
Al-Moteey, M. (2021). Contemporary Vision of Packaging Design for the Traditional Omani Products “Applied on Omani Sweets”. Journal of Architecture, Art and Humanistic Science, 6, 461-179.
[11]
Al-Saadi, N. (2020). The Importance of Fine Art to Sustain the Cultural Heritage in Oman. Journal of Arts and Humanities, 9, 62-67.
[12]
Al-Wahaibi, S. (2021). The Dynamics of Visual Culture and Experimental Practice in Contemporary Omani Plastic Art. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Art and Technology, 4, 138-161. https://doi.org/10.21608/ijmsat.2021.238915
[13]
Al-Yahyai, F. (2009, January). Omani Heritage Vocabulary as an Introduction to Teaching Modern Painting for Students in the Art Education Department at Sultan Qaboos University. Journal of Research in Art Education, 26, 20-42. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280308136_The_Omani_Heritage_motives_as_an_approach_to_teach_the_course_of_Modern_Painting_for_the_Students_in_Art_Education_Department_at_Sultan_Qaboos_University
[14]
Al-Yahyai, F. (2017a). The Significance of Museums to Fine Art Education in Oman. Art and Design Review, 5, 189-199. https://doi.org/10.4236/adr.2017.53015
[15]
Al-Yahyai, F. (2017b, January 11). The Significance of Omani Identity in the Works of Omani Painters. Journal of Arts and Humanities, 6, 21-31. https://doi.org/10.18533/journal.v6i01.1070
[16]
Brunette, P., & Wills, D. (1993, October 29). Deconstruction and the Visual Arts: Art, Media, Architecture. Cambridge University Press.
[17]
Doubleday, P., Al Zubair, B., Nunn, S., & The Specialised Centre for Professional Training of Teachers (2016, April 29). Museum Art Education—A Partnership Approach to “Ways of Looking” at Visual Art in Oman. Multaqa: A Forum for Gulf Museum Educators, 1, 61-71. https://www.academia.edu/28679628/Multaqa_professional_journal_of_the_Gulf_Museum_Educators_Network
[18]
Elsemary, A. (2001). The Philosophical and Artistic Concepts of Ancient Culture and Its Relation with Post-Modernist Art as an Approach for Painting Inspiration. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Helwan. (Unpublished)
[19]
Gabrael, I. (2017). Identity Representation: self-Orientalism and Hyper-Nationalism in Arab* Design. Master’s Thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. https://www.academia.edu/33684768/
[20]
Gugolz, A. (1996). The Protection of Cultural Heritage in the Sultanate of Oman. International Journal of Cultural Property, 5, 291-309. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0940739196000069
[21]
Hameedh, M. (2013). Situation of Fine Arts in Oman: Readings & Critical Visions. In The Omani Plastic Arts: The Reality of Practices and Approaches of Experiments (Vol. 1). The Ministry of Heritage and Culture.
[22]
Hassaan, R. (2021). Contemporary Artistic Formulation of Omani Traditional Costumes Embroidered Motifs. International Design Journal, 11, 159-171. https://doi.org/10.21608/idj.2021.180914
[23]
Hassan, F., de Trafford, A., & Youssef, M. (2008). Cultural Heritage and Development in the Arab World. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
[24]
Hemmy, K., & Mehta, S. (2021). The Role of Liberal Arts in a Skills Economy: A Case Study in Oman. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 20, 274-294. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474022220949432
[25]
Ismail, H. (2014). Industrial and Craftsmanship Orientation of Public Schools’ Students in the Sultanate of Oman. In 3rd World Conference on Design, Arts and Education.
[26]
Johnson-Perkins, J. (2019). Art at the Oasis: Reflections on Art, Education, and Culture in Muscat, Oman. Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon.
[27]
Kothaneth, L. (2021, September 5). Art Studio to Spread Awareness on Art Market. https://www.omanobserver.om/article/1106393/oman/art-studio-to-spread-awareness-on-art-market
[28]
Meier, P. (2010). Authenticity and Its Modernist Discontents: The Colonial Encounter and African and Middle Eastern Art History. The Arab Studies Journal, 18, 12-45. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27934077
[29]
Methuku, H., & Adel, I. (2021). Pioneering Entrepreneurship Using Art & Design Pedagogy—A Case Study of Scientific College of Design, Oman. Journal of Arts and Humanities, 10, 72-79.
[30]
Morelli, N. (2022, October 14). Women Are at the Forefront of Oman’s Contemporary Art Scene. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221014-women-are-at-the-forefront-of-omans-contemporary-art-scene/
[31]
Moridi, M., & Ebadifar, S. (2021, April). Orientalism and Neo-Orientalism in the Contemporary Art of Middle Eastern Women: A Study of the Exhibitions of Breaking the Veils (2002) and She Who Tells a Story (2013). Journal of Women in Culture Arts, 13, 91-113.
[32]
Nasr, E., & Khalil, M. (2022). Assessing the Adaptive Reuse of Heritage Houses in Sultanate of Oman. Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCHMSD-03-2021-0057
[33]
Nasser, R. (2020, April 8). Educational Reform in Oman: System and Structural Changes. In Porto (Ed.), Education Systems around the World (pp. 75-92). IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84913
[34]
Oman Vision 2040 Implementation Follow-Up Unit (2020, December). Vision Document. https://www.oman2040.om/index-en.html https://www.oman2040.om/assets/books/oman2040-en/index.html#p=20
[35]
Phillips, R. (2015, June). Aesthetic Primitivism Revisited: The Global Diaspora of “Primitive Art” and the Rise of Indigenous Modernisms. Journal of Art Historiography, No. 12, 1-25. https://arthistoriography.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/phillips.pdf
[36]
Sachedina, A. (2021, September 15). Cultivating the Past, Living the Modern: The Politics of Time in the Sultanate of Oman. Cornell University Press. https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501758614.001.0001
[37]
Statement on the Art Education Department (n.d.). In Sultan Qaboos University. College of Education. https://www.squ.edu.om/education-ar/
[38]
Wigley, M. (1993, November 1). The Architecture of Deconstruction: Derrida’s Haunt.
[39]
Yousuf, M. (2008). The Art Movement in Oman: Features of Development and Direction of Expression. Thawra Newspaper.
