| This study aims to highlight the attitude of Islam towards image in artwork, especially in relation to modem art education trends in Muslim societies. For it must be recognised that, even though art and image are difficult to define, and have positive and negative aspects, image representation has significant educational value for representing and explaining many complex issues and viewpoints. At the same time, there is great danger in relying on, one kind of image representation as a source of artistic truth. This has, indeed, been a problem for art educators since the time of Plato. Without proper training in the theory of art and art traditions, it is difficult for art educators to recognize the usefulness of the image. However, in recent years, rich sources of information on all aspects of art have become available and they must be put to good use. Indeed, it must be realized that image is one of the most important issues in art education in Muslim countries, especially at a time when visual images have taken over from other traditional means of communication, such as writing and speech. This research is motivated by the fact that there is a serious problem associated with image representation, in Muslim cultures, especially when the Western art aesthetic is introduced into art education. As a result, there arises an ideological conflict in art education. In some Muslim societies, the problem of image may become caught up in religious debate, which diverts attention away from the central issue of defining the Islamic art aesthetic and designing art education courses, which take this into account. Most studies, so far in relation to this question, have only considered image from a theological point of view, and attempted to show the position of Islam with regard to visual figurative art, overlooking the basic fact that Islamic art operates on a different artistic premise than that of Western art. This study attempts to explain why figurative art has never been a dominant artistic medium in Islamic culture and shows how script instead became the central art aesthetic. However, as cultural exchange took place between the West and the East, the Western aesthetic of the figure and image representation became the main focus of art education, in an education system imported from the West. This situation has created difficulties in that many Muslim countries already have a strong local art tradition, which has regrettably become sidelined in favour of Western art theories and practices in art education. The study aims to set figurative painting in its original aesthetic and cultural context and suggest a way in which representational art could be included as one important element in the art world of Muslim countries today. Therefore, the art experience associated with figurative painting should be carefully considered for inclusion in the art curriculum of Muslim schools, especially in relation to the art education programme of Saudi Arabia, which is the central focus of this study. |
