Visual Arts

Both the Jordanian government and private groups are taking measures to promote and foster the arts. I ike that of other countries of the Arab world, Jordanian art is an expression of Arab and often Muslim identity. But Jordanians are not sticklers for the traditional; contemporary artists have many more Western tendencies and use visual art as an outlet for personal as well as cultural expression. Modernity is eroding the traditional Islamic taboo against the portrayal of animate objects. Jordan’s architecture, painting, and sculpture have all developed substantially in this century.

When it comes to their folk art, Jordanians do abide by tradition. Techniques developed over centuries make for skillful weavers of wool and goat-hair rugs and tapestries. Leather handicrafts, pottery, ceramics, and coral curios also belong to the family of mastered Jordanian folk art. Jordanian painters often display their work in galleries in Amman, with nature, Bedouin life, and Palestine common subjects. It is wood-carving, though, that is the Jordanian specialty. Artists can do beautiful carvings of your name right on the street, for an appropriate fee, naturally. You will find most of these crafts sold proudly on the streets of Jordan.