The practice
Al-Qatt Al-Asiri is a women-led tradition of geometric interior wall decoration originating in the Asir region of Saudi Arabia.
MA Creative Research Project / King's College London
Made Together,Displayed Apart
A Creative Research Inquiry into Al-Qatt Al-Asiri in Asir, Saudi Arabia
This project explores how women practitioners experience the transformation of a collectively transmitted domestic practice as it moves into institutional, commercial, and public contexts.
Artist and researcherThe researcherAsir, Saudi ArabiaFieldwork / July 2026
Academic research presentationScroll to enter
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The central inquiry
What happens to a practice that was never meant to be made alone?
For generations, women in Asir painted together, learned from one another, and transformed domestic walls into shared cultural memory. This research asks what changes when that practice becomes formally taught, publicly displayed, commercially circulated, and institutionally safeguarded.
01Home02Women03Memory04Transmission05Institution06Display
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Research context
From domestic wall
to public frame.
Collective transmission
The practice was historically learned through observation, participation, family relationships, and collective making.
Transformation
Following increased recognition and safeguarding, Al-Qatt now appears in institutional training, tourism, products, public surfaces, and commercial environments.
Research focus
The project centres the voices and paintings of women practitioners across two generations within the same families.
Domestic surface Institutional frame
This digital experience presents the project structure and creative research outputs. It does not replace the formal dissertation, participant information sheet, or consent documentation.
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Phase 1 / Individual painting
Ten participants.
Five family pairs.
Each pair brings together two generations from the same family. Their paintings are held as related works rather than isolated images.
Pair relationship Named participants Public display approved
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Current state
All ten individual paintings are presented with participant attribution.
Painting archive available04
Fieldwork record / Segmented display
Ten paintings.
Five family pairs.
One shared view.
The planned collective painting session could not be completed within the available fieldwork time. The ten completed paintings are therefore gathered here in one segmented display, without changing or combining the handmade artworks themselves.
Each panel remains an individual handmade painting. The display places the works together for comparison while preserving the authorship and integrity of every participant's canvas.
10 handmade paintings 5 family pairs 1 segmented display
Segmented painting displayTen original handmade works shown together
Fieldwork recordIndividual paintings presented together / July 2026
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Creative research methodology
Making as a mode
of knowing.
This project combines individual painting, recorded conversation, and intergenerational comparison. The planned collective canvas was not completed, so the ten handmade paintings are presented together without altering them. The individual paintings are part of the research process, not only illustrations.
Individual painting and conversation
- Ten individual participants
- Five intergenerational family pairs
- Open painting prompt and individual canvas
- Recorded conversation after painting
- Approximate session length: two to three hours
- Painting and spoken reflection analysed together
Planned collective session and documented outcome
- Ten completed individual paintings
- Five intergenerational family pairs
- The planned collective canvas was not completed
- Ten original works shown in a segmented display
- No image generation or alteration
- Each painting retains its participant authorship
LocationAsir, Saudi Arabia
Planned fieldwork8-28 July 2026 / six visits
Session planningAgreed with participants
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Interview themes
Questions guiding
the inquiry.
These questions are indicative and not exhaustive. Responses will not appear here until fieldwork, analysis, and consent review are complete.
- What did you choose to paint, and why?
- What motifs and colours did you choose?
- What do those motifs and colours mean to you?
- What does painting Al-Qatt mean to you personally?
These questions are indicative and not exhaustive.
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Ethics, consent, and privacy
Participant care
is structural.
Publication is treated as a consent decision, not a design setting. All ten participants consented to be named.
PublicAnonymousRestrictedPending consent
- Participation is voluntary.
- Participants may decline any question.
- Participants may request that recording pause or stop.
- Withdrawal conditions follow the approved consent documentation.
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Research archive
Formal documents,
held in view.
The attached source documents are available here for academic review. They retain their original bilingual content where applicable.
01Participant Information SheetInformation Sheet - English and Arabic
Project purpose, participation process, risks, benefits, data handling, confidentiality, and withdrawal information.
Open document02Participant Consent FormConsent Form - English and ArabicParticipant consent options, anonymity choices, data handling acknowledgement, and optional public-display permissions.
Open document03Indicative Interview QuestionsInterview Questions and Topic GuideTopic guide for individual and collective painting conversations.
Open document04Research ProposalAcademic Research ProposalAcademic proposal outlining the research question, context, methodology, creative research design, and project rationale.
Open documentThese are the approved versions used in the fieldwork.
Personal identity / academic use
Researcher / Academic context
The researcher
Artist and Researcher
The researcher is a Saudi artist and a practitioner working between contemporary art and cultural management. This project brings artistic practice into dialogue with heritage transformation and women's knowledge.
“My role in this project is not only to document Al-Qatt Al-Asiri, but to create the conditions through which practitioners can paint, reflect, compare, and make together.”
Reflective close
What happens to a practice that was never meant to be made alone?
HomeWomenFamilyMemoryGestureVoiceTransmissionDisplayTogether
This project does not treat transformation as a simple story of loss or preservation. It asks how women practitioners themselves understand what is carried forward, what changes, and what collective making can still make visible.