Artist hopes to revive Jerusalem's arabesque art

STORY:

This Palestinian artist is working to revive arabesque patterns

previously prevalent on glass windows in Jerusalem

(Azzam Abu Saud, Artist)

‘’This hobby started in my childhood; it was a wood carving hobby. When I used to watch my uncle carving wood, I tried to imitate him. Also, when I saw artists at Al Aqsa mosque, close to where I used to live when I was a child, particularly Italian artists, working on the windows of the Dome of the Rock, I used to involve myself and work with them, I learnt the craft and art.”

Abu Saud exhibits his artwork in galleries around Jerusalem and the West Bank

"I care about creating paintings for houses that belong to Jerusalemites or Arabs wherever they are, in order to preserve this art from being lost. We do not want this art to be present only in mosques and churches, we want it in our houses. Our houses have windows. Especially today, our houses look odd and are based on copied designs. We must add the Arab spirit to the façade of our houses and to some of the windows to explain that these windows belong to Arabic houses."