PLACE-IDENTITY: NEW VISION TOWARDS A PHENOMENOLOGY OF IDENTITY IN CONTEMPORARY ART IN SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract

The dissertation centers on my personal journey in Saudi Arabia and the USA as an art student, educator, and researcher, illuminating social, cultural, racial, and gendered dimensions that intersect in various places. The study concludes with a design for a digital platform that can share my protocols and encourage others to experiment with arts-based phenomenological practice to explore place identity. Overall, this dissertation advances the understanding of place identity conceptually and empirically and offers a foundation for future research to promote experiential learning, nurture creativity, and underscore the role of perception in shaping our comprehension of identity and place in art education. This study critically assesses the ways in which identity is discussed in the contemporary art and culture scene in Saudi Arabia, proposing a more complex understanding of identity that is intimately connected to place. Although Saudi Arabian arts policies encourage art as an expression of identity, their notion of “identity” is undertheorized and does not engage with contemporary theories of identity important in the larger art world. Employing a phenomenological framework drawn by Merleau-Ponty, as well as insights from feminist and Latina phenomenologists, the research focuses on embodied and embedded identity, exploring themes of home, in-between, and multiplicity. My research aims to reveal the identity that emerges from body-place interactions. The study employs an experimental, art-based “protocol” method to analyze body-place interactions, exploring the multiple layers of identity that guide the body in the world. In particular, I created a series of protocols as phenomenological “breaching experiments” to help me critically reflect on the pre- conscious ways in which body, place, and identity interact.