The Asiri Cat…an art that weaves the splendor of culture on the walls of homes

A tourist landmark and a window on heritage

The art of"Cat" In the tourism aspect in the Asir region in a large way, as it was restored to the memory of society through mural paintings executed by women who were famous for this art in some tourist sites and hotels, the most famous of which was executed by Fatima Abu Qahs – may God have mercy on her
One of the important events in the path of this ancient art is the display of a mural of"Cat" At the United Nations building in New York in late 2015, it was carried out by 12 people from the Asir region under the name "Our mothers house" With a length of 18 meters, it received great admiration from visitors to the place, who received them and explained to them the secrets of the mural. The owner of the idea of the work was the artist Dr. Ahmed Mater, and the supervisor of its preparation was the researcher Ali Maghawi.

The Journey of Beautification of Houses

In the stages of beautification of houses in Asir, plastering – drawing a cat – begins by covering the interior walls with a layer of plaster called sahhara by the people of the region, and after it dries, the specialized women beautify it with various types of drawings and decorations. The art of decoration and embellishment is not limited to architectural walls, but rather this art has been used on most of the region’s traditional pottery products.
Decorative patterns are divided according to regions and geographical location, as they can be classified into popular decorations in the Tihami Plain, popular decorations in Al-Asdar, popular decorations in the Sarat Heights, and popular decorations in the interior plateaus."

Using lines in decoration

Horizontal lines are the most common in all the governorates and centers of Asir. In fact, almost no traditional home is devoid of them. There are homes that content themselves with drawing parallel horizontal lines only to beautify their interior rooms. Perhaps the reason for their frequent use is due to their meanings of stillness, stability, and extension. As for broken lines, they are a group of lines that have changed from a static, stable, balanced position to a vertical, rising position, or to a diagonal position. Moving.
Broken lines have been used in decoration and embellishment in the Asir region in more than one situation, including what we see on both sides of the stairs, where the horizontal lines turn vertical and then horizontal again. As for the curved lines, they are considered part of the circumference of a circle that is repeated in a wave form, making the recipient feel energetic and flexible, while diagonal lines give a feeling of movement and instability.

Al-Qattata and the Use of Colors

She was the popular artist. (Al-Qatata) in the Asir region deals with three types of colors: colors extracted from limestone powders, colored clays, or some plants and fruits. These natural colors are prepared by themselves by adding fixatives and polishes to them. The second type of colors used are ready-made colors in the form of powders that were imported from some neighboring countries.
By adding water and fixatives to them, coloring is done. As for the third type, they are modern oil colors, noting that this type of modern colors has only been used. Soon.
Al-Qatata also dealt with the basic colors, which are mainly red, yellow, and blue, in addition to the binary colors such as green and orange. As for the tri-colors, I use them at the present time. After the popular artist Fatima Abu Qahs knew the techniques of colors and the processes of mixing and color composition, she used the tri-colors and (shades) to obtain multiple colors with complete ability, and she also demonstrated her artistic ability in distributing the colors in a harmonious manner.

Types of Cat Art

And Art "Cat" Visual vocabulary is divided into 10 types:
"Girls" It is an artistic stamp that symbolizes the female and often appears at the top of the cat engraving"Feathers" They come in the form of plants, perhaps reflecting the relationship between the female and the plant, and"Niches" It symbolizes the religious aspect that society cherishes.
In addition to: "Parking" and"Balsagna" and"Combs" and"Feeding" and"Sincroly" and"Triangles and pentagons" and"Palm" and"network"

Pioneers of cat art

One of the most prominent pioneers "Cat" Some of whom have been famous for about 150 years: Juhaha bint Baridi, Fatima bint Isbaa, Amna bint Muhammad bin Hadi, Fatima bint Muhammad Al-Zahr, Sharifa bint Ahmed Al-Alma’i, and Fatima bint Ali Abu Qahas.