Saudi female students exhibit artwork in US

Female students from four Saudi universities recently displayed their photographic artwork at an exhibition in the United States.
The exhibition held at the University of the District of Columbia was entitled Visionaries: Receiving Personal Identity, and included 38 pieces from students at four Saudi universities. There were six participants from Dal Al-Hekma University.
The show ran from Nov. 5 to 19, and will move to Dar Al-Hekma University in Jeddah, and finally to the American University in Washington in April 2015.
The Dar Al-Hekma students were Tasneem Bhuiyan, Ragad Abonomai, Diala Tinawi, Haya Al-Garny, Noura Al-Amoudi and Qurra Al-Ain Akhter. Linda Schaefer, an assistant professor, supervised the show.
Suhair Hassan Al-Qurashi, president of Dar Al-Hekma University, said she was proud of the students. “We are proud of our students and alumni and know that they are capable of making the world a better place,” she said.
The exhibit was organized by a former faculty member, Rania Razek, who is now at the University of the District of Columbia.
Cordula Peters, department chair for visual communication at Dar Al-Hekma University, said: “During the course of their studies with us in visual communication we tried to connect our students as much as possible with real-life work experiences.
“This is usually done by bringing in actual clients for projects, having students submit work for publication, or as in this case providing them the opportunity to get their work exhibited outside Dar Al-Hekma University. Events like this provide a perfect platform for cultural exchange and showing people from other countries what the young women here in Saudi Arabia are made of.”
Four of the commercial photography students used Jeddah’s Corniche as a backdrop for their portraiture. Two other students submitted artistic renditions that reflected their personal identity.
According to Schaefer, Dar Al-Hekma students are excited by the prospect of sharing their culture with people outside Saudi Arabia. Through their work they would like to convey the kindness and compassion inherent in the people of Saudi Arabia.
She said the students would like to keep breaking stereotypes of how others view the people and culture of the country. Through the photographs they will be able to convey different perspectives to audiences about women in Saudi Arabia, she said.