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By Miri -
Travel guides to
Middle Eastern countries tend to either reduce local artistic
expression to antique artefacts, usually found at historical
or archaeological sites, thereby situating the apex of creation in
the past, or, to emphasise what is commonly referred to as “authentic”
or “folkloric” culture, such as Bedouin tents and belly dance.
Artistic and cultural forms of expression that do not fit those
categories are commonly relegated as “Western”, or as
“influenced by the West”. This attitude obviously ignores the
fact that Western culture is and has always been influenced
by Eastern culture and vice versa. It furthermore simply omits the richness of works of contemporary Middle Eastern artists, architects,
musicians etc. who, just as creative people in the West, strive to
find their own voices and their personal ways of expressing
themselves.
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Amman's Citadel, one of the main tourist sites of the capital. |
An Amman tour is very illustrative of that argument. Jordan's
capital unquestionably features a big number of unique historical
sites which are definitely worth a visit. Focussing only on its past,
however, will make you miss out on a whole dimension of Amman,
which contributes to its relevance within the greater Middle Eastern cultural
and art scene.
The city offers quite a few art galleries and museums,
displaying a great variety of contemporary art that originated from
all over the Arab World. The most institutionalised of these museums
is probably the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts,
which showcases more than 2000 works, including paintings,
prints, sculptures, photographs and installations by more than 500
artists from 59 countries, mainly in Asia and Africa.
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Sculpture in the garden of Darat al Funun |
Similarly, Darat al Funun
aspires to provide a space for contemporary Arab art, especially for
young upcoming artsist and presents itself as “a home for the arts
and the artists of Jordan and the Arab world”. It's ambition to
point out the continuity of local artistic expression from antiquity
up until the present is already illustrated in its choice of location
in three traditional buildings situated next to the ruins of a
Byzantine church from the sixth century, which itself was built over
a Roman temple. Other than its exhibition space, Darat al Funun also
operates open studios, which can be used free of charge by local and
resident artists and where regularly workshops are being held.
During its respective temporary exhibitions, Darat al Funun organises
thematically related programmes, such as lectures and other events
from the realm of performing arts. Every summer the institution
organises “a multi-disciplinary annual celebration of the visual
and performing arts”, a festival featuring the work produced in its
studios and by the students of its annual summer academy.
Any lover
of contemporary visual arts will thus surely not be disappointed by
the variety offered in the galleries of Jordan's capital, but also
for those music fans, who want to listen beyond the traditional oud
player and belly dance music, Amman has a lot to offer.
One of
Amman's most impressive archaeological sites, the Citadel, is
frequently turned into an open air concert venue where
internationally renowned artists, such as jazz singer Diana Krall,
hit the stage. Probably even more memorable to the local audience
are however those concerts featuring musicians from the Arab World,
such as the Lebanese indie band Mashrou3 Leila which conquered the Middle
Eastern audience in a storm and has already established itself a
solid fan base in the West.
Within the capital, musicians of all
creeds have been working hard to create their own musical identity
and Amman's music scene is growing and flourishing
and spans across a great variety of genres, including
heavy metal, indie rock, pop and more. The band Autostrad which fuses Reggae, Funk, and
Rock with elements of more classical Arabic music, complemented by
lyrics sung in the local street slang, has a lot of followers that
reach far beyond the Jordanian borders.
![]() |
Amman's DJ Shadia |
Amman's female musicians are
just as creative and successful as their male counterparts. In 2007,
singer-songwriter Ruba Saqr won the UNESCO prize for Best Innovative Performance for Bridging
Traditional and Contemporary Traditions. Amman's DJ Shadia
is reportedly the first female DJ of the Arab World. Starting her
career at local radio stations, Shadia greatly contributed to
popularising Hip Hop and electronic music in Jordan. Very soon she
also became a celebrated live DJ and has toured clubs and venues in
nearly all Middle Eastern countries, opening for international
superstars, such as 50 Cent and Sean Paul.
The list of what to hear,
see and do can be extended endlessly, suffice it to say, that it is
definitely worthwhile to look beyond what your tour guide suggests
you, and to think beyond the dichotomies of East and West, authentic
and imported culture and to go on a search for all the treasures that
contemporary Amman has to offer.
Green Olive Tours is organising tours in Jordan, including an Amman tour. Contact the Tours Coordinator for details.
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