Saudi Women Artists: Identities and Narratives

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: Angles, Lenses, and Filters: Narrative Spaces

Abstract

This paper aims at describing the ways women artists in Saudi Arabia navigate and negotiate their identities. Through multiple case studies, the researcher applied a narrative discourse analysis approach using Ochs and Capps narrative dimensions to written/ audio online interviews with a sample of three women artists aged between 28 – 40, the research shared their stories including the support they receive from the community, their daily struggles, passion, educational experiences, and lived experiences in Saudi Arabia and how these factors have shaped who they are. Participants employed several different tactics of navigation such as embracing their beliefs, searching for opportunities and reflecting and refracting on themselves and their work.

Author

• Shaimaa Fatani, The Ministry of Culture- Saudi Arabia