Page 32 - Studio International - April 1973

Popular Moslem art in Jerusalem pale blue, with a varying degree of blue from
house to house. There is no established pattern,
but nevertheless, many motives in these
AN EXHIBITION OF MOSLEM ART IN JERUSALEM, INITIATED BY THE ISRAEL MUSEUM, JERUSALEM,
compositions are common. Without enumerating
OPENS AT THE KUNSTHALLE, BERN, ON 16 APRIL.
all of them, there are certain categories which
The Hajj — the pilgrimage to Mecca — is one of the return home. can be classified as follows.
the five 'pillars' of Islam.' Throughout the Moslem orthodoxy expects the returning Designs from the floral world round off the
centuries the repercussions of this religious pilgrim to be imbued with the solemnity of the repertoire. There are different formulae for the
obligation and its accomplishment were carried event ;3 he should be calm and avoid integration of the designs into the paintings.
into the various fields of Islamic life. The ostentation. In fact, the contrary often prevails Stylized trees are common, or elongated floral
religious cycles of belief and theological ideas and there is every reason to consider the arrangements similar to garlands used in street
were nourished constantly by the concern of the admonition to respect the grave event as a decoration; more restrained are pots with
theologians of Islam for this duty. The reaction to the 'cheers for the returning `planted' flower s, or floral fields covering an
political connotations were inevitable insofar as pilgrim' which were practised. It seems entire wall and giving the effect of a polychrome
the relationships between the various countries of that popular spontanous welcome rug. In a few cases the flowers are intimated by a
origin of the pilgrims and the safeguarding of the predominated and was maintained in various sea of dots reminiscent of fireworks.
travellers were concerned. Socially, this was one parts of the Islamic world. Some of these floral motifs have a hidden
of the most dynamic means of communication The festivities that marked the pilgrim's significance. Thus repeated painted flowers or
between Moslems of different countries and return are beyond the scope of this article; here branches, drawn with an insistent number five
continents. In the Middle Ages it had no doubt we deal with one aspect as expressed in the (five petals or five flowers or five branches), the
prompted travel and helped to improve the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. number five carrying a symbolic connotation;
network of connections between Moslem On the eve of the pilgrim's return, many of similarly, stylized trees are sometimes thought
countries. Trade also was one of the great the fronts of Moslem homes are decorated with of as symbolic Trees of Paradise.
beneficiaries; Mecca, at the time of the Hajj, murals. The family awaiting the pilgrim's arrival More specifically symbolic are two other
was described as 'one of the greatest commercial prepare his reception. Inside the house is gaily elements, borrowed from popular lore. One is
fairs of the world in which were found the decorated, sometimes with paper flowers and the 'eye', derived from the belief in the evil eye,
products of Europe, Arabia and the Indies'.2 hangings, occasionally with tiny lights. The a fetishism shared in one way or other by the
Most of these aspects have been dealt with in entrance is cleaned, whitewashed, then decorated. whole of the Middle East.4 The other, equally
many scholarly publications, but there seems at The decorations are mainly wall paintings, general in its impact but even more frequently
least one other field in which more particular sometimes accompanied by green fresh-cut painted, is the Khamsa,5 the outspread palm of
trends developed; the domain of customs, branches which create a kind of triumphal arch. the hand. Occasionally the two motifs are
habits and traditions which evolved locally and Occasionally the green leaves cover the vault combined, with the eye (a protection against the
gave birth to popular expression. On the whole, leading to the inner rooms. evil eye) painted on the hand. Little birds may
they seem to have maintained a common pattern The paintings, as well as the whitewashing, be added to express the joy of the event.
but in some areas they have had more specific are usually executed by the same person, in But the dominating motif is undoubtedly the
characteristics. most cases the house painter, or sometimes by a Dome of the Rock. Although the pilgrim returns
It is one such typical expression connected sign painter, or a relative. This accounts for the from Mecca, the Ka'aba itself (the cube-like
with the tradition of pilgrimage that is discussed popular nature of the decorations. structure which contains the black stone) is
here. More precisely, one of the very specific The background is therefore the whitewash of depicted in relatively few murals, and then only
stages of the Hajj — the ending of the trip and the entrance, which ranges between white and as a secondary feature. Rarely is it found by

The Dome of the Rock. Inscriptions 'Allah' and 'Mohamed' in blue Old and new representation of the Dome of the Rock