"Challenging the Politics of Iconoclasm: Reflections, Artists from the Asir and the Subversive Potential of Contemporary Art in Saudi Arabia" By Joséphine LASQUIER Course “Contemporary Art in the Arab World” Taught by Robert Kluivjer at Sciences Po Spring 2016 This paper has received the KSP Student Paper Award ©of the Kuwait Program at Sciences Po © The copyright of this paper remains the property of its author. No part of the content may be reproduced, published, distributed, copied or stored for public or private use without written permission of the author. All authorisation requests should be sent to
[email protected] Contemporary Art in the Arab World Joséphine Lasquier Robert Kluijver, 2016 Challenging the Politics of Iconoclasm: Reflections, Artists from the Asir and the Subversive Potential of Contemporary Art in Saudi Arabia “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under earth” (Exodus 20: 3-5) “Every picture maker will be in Hellfire, every picture they make will be revived by Allah to torment them in Hellfire” (Fatwa No. 2036) © Figure 1: “Magnetism photogravure III”, 2012 1 © The copyright of this paper remains the property of its author. No part of the content may be reproduced, © published, distributed, copied or stored for public or private use without written permission of the author. All authorisation requests should be sent to
[email protected] Contemporary Art in the Arab World Joséphine Lasquier If the phrasing of the Exodus is slightly fancier than that of the recently issued Fatwa No 2036i, their message is however the same.