Did you attend the Arab Art Fair London? If so, which artist or artwork stopped you in your tracks? If you couldn't make it, what kind of Arab art would you most love to see showcased internationally?"
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Often described as the “Mona Lisa of Hijaz,” the self-portrait, "Al Zaboon" captures Saudi artist Safeya Binzagr aligning herself with a dignified, modern Hijazi woman whose identity is rooted in traditional dress. The title, meaning “the customer” in everyday Arabic, also names the long tailored zabun garment itself, linking the sitter to the intimate worlds of tailors, markets, and women’s domestic gatherings where such clothes were chosen and commissioned. She sits in an ornate chair with her calm, steady gaze meeting ours. Her medium-brown skin is softly modeled, framed by dark hair tucked under a white headscarf that wraps closely around her head and neck. She wears a high white collar fastened with small gold buttons, over which a long yellow zabun that is striped and fitted through the torso and falling in sharp pleats. Her hands rest in her lap and along the carved wooden arm. The chair’s inlaid geometric patterns echo round turquoise-and-rose medallions that repeat across a blue wall, surrounding her in a halo of textile-like motifs. In urban Hijazi costume, the zabun is a structured outer dress with a shaped bodice, long sleeves, and decorative fastenings, worn over layers of under-dresses. By painting its sharp yellow stripes, buttons, and flowing skirt with such care, Binzagr turns this everyday garment into a central subject, preserving details that were already beginning to disappear from city streets. Created just after the artist’s return from art school in London, the work combines European portrait conventions with the visual language of local textiles and architecture, reflecting her broader project of researching, collecting, and painting regional dress. Later shown internationally and now a centerpiece of the Darat Safeya Binzagr museum, the self portrait has become an emblem of Saudi women’s presence in art history as both an intimate likeness of the artist and a lasting record of Hijazi cultural memory, fashion, and women’s social spaces.
"Al Zaboon (الزبون)" by Safeya Binzagr / صفية_بن_زقر (Saudi Arabian) - Oil on canvas / 1969 - Darat Safeya Binzagr (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) #WomenInArt #SafeyaBinzagr #صفية_بن_زقر #Binzagr #DaratSafeyaBinzagr #WomensArt #WomanArtist #WomenArtists #artText #BlueskyArt #ArabArt #SaudiArt #SelfPortrait
Oil on canvas
50×60cm
#painting #illustration #design #sketch #art #digitalart #contemporaryart #egyptiancontemporaryart #modernart #finearts #arabart #abudhabiart #londonart #arte #egyptianartist #abstractart #photography #visualarts #artoftheday #bluesky
Did you know Ziad Rahbani? What did he mean to you?
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#ZiadRahbani
#LebanonCulture
#LebaneseDiaspora
#MiddleEasternVoices
#ArabCreators
#DiasporaStories
#RememberingZiad
#CulturalIcon
#LebanonArtScene
#ArabArt
#LebaneseMusic
Did you know Ziad Rahbani? What did he mean to you?
.
.
#ZiadRahbani
#LebanonCulture
#LebaneseDiaspora
#MiddleEasternVoices
#ArabCreators
#DiasporaStories
#RememberingZiad
#CulturalIcon
#LebanonArtScene
#ArabArt
#LebaneseMusic
#LebanonLegacy
#LostLegend
#ArabWorld
#DiasporaReflections
#WhatWeLost
Oil on canvas.
100×70c
#painting #illustration #design #sketch #art #digitalart #contemporaryart #egyptiancontemporaryart #modernart #finearts #arabart #abudhabiart #londonart #arte #egyptianartist #abstractart #photography #visualarts #artoftheday #bluesky
Colorful wall tiles in Mazara del Vallo's Arab quarters. #MazaraDelVallo #Sicily #ArabArt #TileDesign #History #CulturalHeritage #Mediterranean #Travel #Italy
Feed for artists who are Black, Indigenous, & People of Color.
This feed searches A LOT of keywords to be comprehensive of who's included in this acronym. It also filters out AI images.
💜🖼️ or #bipocart to feature work.
#indigenousart #blackart #asianart #asianamericanart #latinxart #arabart #noai