an islamic art project in rural humberside

G O R D O N W I L L I A M S An Islamic Art Project in Rural Humberside

It is now ten years since Nick Stanley described the tendency of people outside large urban areas to regard ‘multiculturalism’ as part and parcel of the problem of what are termed ‘immigrant areas’ and as evidence of a laager mentality [l]. In the 1970s and early 1980s local education authorities in rural areas of the U K tended to view multiculturalism as someone else’s ‘problem’. By the end of the decade, however, calls to implement multicultural politics and practice were beginning to fall on sympathetic official ears in a number of authorities which serviced large non-metropolitan areas. By the late 1980s, curriculum documents emanating from both the LEA and regional examination boards ensured that even schools in Humberside hitherto isolated from ongoing multicultural initiatives could no longer escape addressing at least some of the issues raised by the multicultural debate.

The problem encountered in Humberside of introducing multiculturalism into a predominantly ‘white’ school which is the focus of this report was not, therefore, primarily one of convincing those in authority of the need for such an approach. Rather it was one of searching for appropriate methods for educating children from a rural area with a high degree of cultural homogeneity about the cultural identity of groups outside their own experience and that of their teachers. Stanley’s recent description of ‘teachers struggl- ing to make sense of the concept of multiculturalism in an area of Britain generally seen as white’ [2] captures something of the spirit of this project.

This report records a search for a methodology by practising teachers in a specific working context which is still evolving. It was not a conscious attempt to implement change in line with a pre-ordinate theoretical position. Like much classroom based research it did not take place in a controlled laboratory environ- ment and we were forced to change and adapt our ideas and plans on a tactical basis in response to unpredictable circumstances. Any conclusions which might be drawn from it can only be ephe- meral and impressionistic, and reflect the subjective views of the individuals concerned who attempted both to participate in a project and to reflect analytically upon their experience of it. The potential richness of insights to be gained from this kind of ‘informal’ research by practising teachers may, perhaps, compen- sate for the lack of theoretical focus and of objectively quantifiable results.

The original aim of the Woldgate School Multicultural Arts Project was to extend the ‘critical studies’ programme already taking place in the art department beyond what was seen to be a largely Eurocentric approach. The project was implemented at a

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Journal of Art 15 Design Education

Voi 10, No 3, 1991

G O R D O N W I L L I A M S Isiamic Art Project

time when there was a lack of consensus as to what form critical studies should take. Criticism of existing models of ‘critical studies’ by authors like Taylor [3] had to be balanced against a strongly-held belief on the part of the art and design staff in the school that ‘making art’ was a proper stimulus for the development of critical judgements in pupils.

The multicultural arts project was implemented in a climate of educational change and pressures brought about by an impending National Curriculum. Records of achievement plus directives towards the development of cross curricular initiatives were also in prospect. Hillenbrand has this to say about the difficulties encountered by those who attempt to break free of the ‘comfort- able, familiar cocoon of Western culture’ and try to explore ‘the world outside’:

. . . . the apparent absence of reference points, the essential unfamiliarity of the landscape or a daunting sense of its vast extent. For those that persist, much of course has to be learned-new languages, new religions, huge new tracts of history, and new social systems whose rhythms and norms are very different from those of the Western world. There is no ready made anchor for Western students embarking on such studies; people have to fashion their own. [4]

The problem facing the potential student of Islamic art identi- fied by Hillenbrand cannot be disassociated from larger issues arising from the longstanding debate about ‘insider-outsider’ per- spectives in multicultural education [5]. How can children who are ‘outsiders’ hope to achieve any understanding of a culture different from their own in the absence of any ‘inside’ perspective if, as Benedict has argued [6] our principles of judgement are relative to the culture in which we are raised?

The insights of the social anthroplogist Geertz appeared to offer a rationale and potential method for accomplishing such an enter- prise. What an ethnographer or critic can aspire to do, according to Geertz is,

. . . . analyse the symbolic forms, words, images institutions and behaviours in terms of which . . . . people actually represent themselves to themselves and to one and another. [71

If as he has claimed, cultural beliefs, attitudes and assumptions determine the ways in which individuals see and understand the world, then to improve our understanding of them is to gain at least some purchase on an ‘insider’ perspective.

While this analytical task sounds more like the type of exercise a doctoral candidate might attempt rather than an eleven-year-old, Geertz’s ideas alerted us to the need to attempt to situate artefacts produced in any given culture in relation to that culture’s beliefs, values and history. Enough work had taken place in Media Studies to demonstrate to us that children were capable of investigating some of the social meanings of images and symbols. Previously established cross-curricular and inter-departmental links within the school were understood to have potential value for an enter-

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prise in which learning in art could be related to the circumstances bearing on its production. Once children had developed some insight into how certain cultural products came to be as they were, the intention was to use this knowledge as a way of stimulating them to produce and evaluate their own practical work critically.

The project took place between March 1989 and March 1990 at a rural comprehensive school in North Humberside with approximately 1,200 pupils of whom the overwhelming majority were ‘white’. The catchment area of the school includes a market town and its surrounding villages, which are increasingly becoming dormitory settlements for the city of York and isolated rural villages in the Wolds. More recently, a sizeable population of the children of prison officers have entered the school from urban areas all over Britain. Many local inhabitants still perceive themselves, somewhat romantically, as belonging to a traditional and specifically ‘Yorkshire East Riding’ local culture. This regional identity had manifested itself recently in a vociferous campaign against integration into Metropolitan Humberside. The school’s multicultural arts project as an attempt to counter this isolation. The project was conceived in early 1989. The backing of the school governing body for a multicultural arts initiative was obtained and it was discussed in a positive and lively meeting in the spring of that year. At that time, links between the school’s art and drama departments were envisaged as part of the project but these were later ruled out because of timetabling problems.

The decisions to start the project by focusing on the art and culture of Islam, and to undertake a pilot scheme with first year groups of pupils aged eleven and twelve, were influenced by a number of factors. Firstly a study of Islamic culture was already a part of the school’s R E syllabus and visits to mosques in Bradford had taken place for several years. This was fortuitous since it allowed art department staff to capitalise on R E staffs’ knowledge and understanding of Islam and facilitated an introduction to Islamic art together with study of Islamic cultural beliefs and values. Source material for a study of Islam was available in the form of Birmingham Polytechnic’s Ethnography Resources in Art publications [8] and in literature in Humberside County Libraries. Links already existed between the school and prominent members of the Bradford Islamic community. Islam presented a ‘hard case’ in so far as there was, at that time, a much publicized conflict of cultural values between certain factions of the Islamic community and other sections of British society. It was anticipated that problems might arise in this regard in the course of the project, and that these would be a reflection of the very real difficulties that exist in implementing a genuinely multicultural approach.

Three first year groups of approximately 25 pupils, taught by staff who expressed interest in participating in the project, were the target audience; but all first year pupils (200) had some contact with the activities. The main cross curricular links established were between Art and Design, RE, English and Textiles, although assistance was offered and interest was shown by staff in

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G O R D O N WILLIAMS Islamic Art Project

G O R D O N W I L L I A M S Islamic Art Project

the History and Maths Departments. No extra funding was sought for the project other than that normally given to these departments. This may seem perverse but the project team felt that it was important that the outcomes should be viewed as an example of what could be achieved at ‘bread and butter’ level.

Stage one of the project began in June 1989 and consisted of research into primary sources available for the study of Islamic Art and culture and the production of instructional materials for staff involved in the project. The second phase commenced in September 1989. In the first day of the term a fresh trawl for interested staff was carried out because of the last minute changes in timetabling. At that stage it looked as if the journey to ‘explore the outside world’ would have to take place in an improvised boat with a skeleton crew.

A decision was taken, nevertheless that the cross-cultural ‘anchor’ for the first group of pupils to become involved would be technological processes common to ceramic products of Islamic cultures and ‘low tech’ school pottery. Dishes, bowls, and water vessels, from Tunisia and Algeria were obtained, sketched and discussed. Their decoration , colours and glazes , and relationships between form and function were explored. The group simultaneously studied aspects of Islamic culture and beliefs in RE. They were familiarized with the notion that calligraphic script was used for ceramic decoration and, moreover, that this had originated for specific religious reasons. A transcription of an ancient Persian alphabet was examined and used as a source of decoration for slab dishes made in press moulds. But the extent of our ignorance of Islamic culture was such that it resulted in the production of designs based on the letters of pupils’ names which were aesthetically satisfying to our eyes but complete gibberish linguistically, especially as they were designed to be read in Western fashion from left to right (Figs. 1, 2).

The freshness and directness engendered by drawing symbols with a brush rather than a pencil was emphasized during prepara- tions for the production of tessellated tiles which coincided with work in mathematics. Tile panels decorated with marks derived from Islamic calligraphic inscriptions were employed as decoration. The reasons for the evolution of calligraphy and for the predominance of non-figurative art within Islamic culture were discussed and provided a basis for increased understanding of Islamic products. The information available in People, Processes and Patterns: Islam [9] about the historical development of forms of representation of figures and animals, in the context of the Koranic warning against idolatry, led to an examination of illustra- tions from a Persian bestiary. Descriptions of the animals, their characteristics and alleged medicinal properties were interwoven with visually exciting representations (Figs. 3, 4). It was decided that a similar bestiary of currently endangered species in which visual and textual description were linked should be produced so that posterity might know something of them if they became extinct.

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F I G u R E 1. Preparatory work for dish decoration based on Islamic sources.

F I G u R E 2. Pressed mould dishes with calligraphic decoration.

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F I G u R E s 3, 4. Animals from a Persian Bestiary: lion, simburgh, leopard.

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The chance that this offered to use art as a stimulus for both descriptive writing and to increase ecological awareness was grasped as a welcome extra. The bestiary was produced in colour and the various groups developed their ideas in different ways in collaboration with art staff. The outcomes included individual ceramic relief panels, large paintings and a tessellated bestiary. Another group started the project with creative writing stimulated by the ‘mysterious’ nature of a series of original Islamic prints owned by the English teacher (Fig. 5). He asked: What did they represent? Why did they look this way? Who were the characters? How had those prints ended up in a car boot sale? Research carried out by pupils, and letters to ‘authorities’, provided some of the answers.

In other English lessons, pupils studied Middle Eastern folk tales as part of the scheme and wrote and performed plays in self- made box theatres using puppets they had designed and made. The success of this attempt to contextualize Islamic art was dependent to a large extent upon the introduction to the central precepts of Islamic religion by R E staff. For several years all the second year pupils had visited mosques in Bradford where they had been addressed by leaders of the Islamic religious community.

In 1989 an agreement was reached that this activity would take place for all first years, instead, and that it would coincide with the Islamic Arts project. The logistics of bussing 200 children to


F I G u R E 5. Imaginative writing based on Islamic source material bought in a car boot sale.

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Bradford and back on two separate schooldays were formidable but had already been well rehearsed by the R E staff, In the course of the mosque visit where a talk and subsequent question-and- answer session took place some issues, which were potentially contentious and sensitive, were raised by pupils and answered by their hosts. During the day, visits to an Asian supermarket and the Aladdin’s cave of The Bombay Stores with its vast and colourful array of jewellery, clothing and textiles imported from the Indian subcontinent were undertaken also.

After the visit the RE department built three dimensional models of the mosque, which had been converted from several terraced houses and had challenged the pupils’ Western stereo- types of a building with minarets and towers. The Bombay Stores visit was used by the textiles staff as a stimulus for discussion and subsequent printing and embroidery activities and panels.

As one of the project aims had been to assist the development of pupils’ critical skills it was decided at the outset that they would be expected to produce written work describing, discussing and assessing the value of their participation in the project. The outcomes were displayed with practical art work in two exhibitions during the course of the year. The first exhibition of work in progress was followed by a final display of Islamic artefacts, practical work produced in response to the project and a perform- ance of the puppet plays at a school ‘open evening’. There was very positive feedback from parents, teachers, ‘feeder’ schools, governors and advisors about the Work in Progress exhibition. The only negative reaction came from a parent who disapproved of the study of an ‘exotic sect’ and did not wish his daughter to participate in the Bradford visit. She appeared quite happy, however, to become involved in all practical activities.

A major difficulty was that of liaison between the various members of the staff team. Because this was a pilot project it was carried out informally during marking periods. But time for liaison between staff would need to built into a more permanent scheme. In evaluating the project it became clear that despite the formidable logistical problems, inter-department co-operation facilitated approaches which attempted to contextualize art work, and enabled in-depth study to occur, which could not have been carried out in art lessons alone. Two models of inter-departmental collaboration were employed in the course of the year. One model involved staff in the different departments working within their own subject specialisms on individual topics related to the project and linking forces only for a common exhibition. The second involved two departments in an attempt to link work for the project simultaneously.

The second approach produced very interesting work but created the greatest problems of timetabling and liaison. With the advent of the National Curriculum it would probably eat into the paltry amount of time allowed to fulfil departmental attainment targets which are subject-specific. The first approach has several advantages. It allows the staff involved to contribute initiatives in the way they feel best equipped. Dialogue between departments

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still takes place and experiences can be brought together for a concluding exhibition, but project work does not have to take place simultaneously in all subjects. This alleviates the problem of ‘topic fatigue’. Nothing arose in the course of this project to suggest that those links which had occurred between one or two subject areas were any less valuable than a broader cross curriculum approach. It is not necessary to aim for an ‘all embracing’ cross curricular model. Interdepartmental links can be established where existing work schemes and timetable opportunities facilitate co-ordination, thereby avoiding the worst effects of what has been called the ‘Luton Airport effect’. [lo]

It is fair to say that this project instilled in the minds of the pupils concerned the notion that there are other forms of art in the world than those they had taken for granted and that they may operate on the basis of different cultural conventions and systems of belief. This does not mean to say that programmes of study such as the one described here are sufficient in themselves to eliminate racist attitudes. The ‘mass visit’ to Bradford appeared beneficial to us but the pupils may well have viewed our hosts as exotic ‘others’, a mere spectacle. Moreover, from an Islamic perspective, the curiosity expressed by large numbers of confident and excited children in their place of worship may have been read as disrespect.

The project failed to engage with the cultural variety and complexity of the Asian community in Bradford. A variety of ‘traditional‘ crafts and other historical works were studied, but, as Salmon has noted,

The visual arts seem to form an even less significant part of Bradford Asians’ lives that that of the white population. . . . You are probably less likely to see a reproduction of a Rajasthani or a Pahari religious painting in a Bradford Hindu home than a High Renaissance or Baroque work in a Catholic home. . . . Some artistic crafts seem virtually to have died, where others are maintained artificially. Visitors to Rajhastan can still be impressed by the traditional miniatures produced there. What most do not know is that the miniatures do not purport to be Rajhistani: they are copies of Mughal miniatures usually from a book printed in Britian. [l 13

We question now the eclectic approach we adopted out of ignorance. In lumping together North African pottery, Persian Miniatures and Sufi poetry did we construct a version of Islamic culture from our own perspective? Despite our best intentions the project may have become just one more example of post-modern cultural raiding in a contemporary culture in which eclecticism is rampant and in which, as Lyotard observed

, . . . one listens to reggae, watches a western, eats McDonalds food for lunch and local cuisine for dinner. [ 121

This is hardly surprising, but the practical sessions which took place did successfully engage the interest and willing participation of all those involved. The practical work the pupils produced was

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aesthetically pleasing from a Western standpoint and it was interesting to observe, also, how some of it became a pastiche of its Islamic origins, a post-modern patching together of superficial elements from east and west.

Notes and references 1 STANLEY, N. (1980) Introduction, in: LOEB, H., SINGES, D., SLIGHT,

P. & STANLEY, N. Projects and Prospects: Art in a Multicultural Society, p. 30. Birmingham Polytechnic.

2 STANLEY, N. (1 990) Photography: towards a multicultural approach a sense of place, Journal of Art and Design Education 9(2) p. 226.

3 TAYLOR, B. (1989) Correspondence: critical studies and modernism, Journal of Art and Design Education, 8(2), p. 217.

4 HILLENBRAND, R. (1989) The major minor arts of Islam, Art History

5 MERTON, R.K. (1969) Social Theory and Social Structure. New York,

6 BENEDICT, R. (1965) Patterns of Culture, London. 7 GEERTZ, C. (1979) From the native’s point of view, in: RABINOW, P. &

SULLIVAN, W.M. (eds) Interpretive Social Science, p. 228. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

8 GIBBONS, J., LILLY, S. & MACFADYEN, I. (1985) Peoples, Processes and Patterns: Islam. Ethnographic Resources in Art Education, Birmingham Polytechnic.

12(1) pp. 109-110.

New York Free Press.

9 Ibid., p. 7. 10 Ibid., N2, pp. 228 quoting HARGREAVES, D. 11 SALMON, D. (1984), in: HOPPER, J. & SALMON, D. (Eds.) Petals ofa

Lotus, pp. 70-71. Bradford, Bradford Art Galleries and Museums. 12 LYOTARD, J.F. (1984) The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowl-

edge, p. 3. Manchester, Manchester University Press.

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