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Ammon News - by Elisa Oddone | The Jordan Times

AMMAN — Jordan needs to promote art education, accessibility to its artistic production and re-think its marketing strategy if it wants to establish a sustainable and world-class art scene within its boundaries, artists and gallery directors said on Saturday.

“Jordanians should understand that art is not a piece of furniture or a decoration, but something else,” Mohanna Durra, a pioneer painter who brought abstract art to the country, said at a debate on the local art scene held within the Art Amman Week.

“Art is not a concept; it is more about the impact it generates in a person already trained to undergo such a perceptual experience,” he said, adding that art should be everywhere in schools from a very early stage.

A similar view is shared by filmmaker Annemarie Jacir, whose latest feature “When I saw you” won Best Arab Film at the Abu Dhabi International Film Festival last year and will be screened at the 2014 Berlin International Film festival, but faced problems in local distribution.

“Independent films do not have an audience in the Kingdom, as the public lacks the knowledge and [willingness] to watch films other than Hollywood blockbusters,” she said.

Distribution and bureaucracy are major obstacles that artists have to deal with every day in the Kingdom, she said.

“I work most of the time in distribution rather than filming due to the country’s lack of movie theatres willing to screen independent movies,” Jacir added.

Jordan is rich with talented artists but, “unfortunately”, what is missing is an efficient marketing strategy to allow creative people to establish their names, not only in the country but on an international stage, noted Lina Attel, founder and director of the National Centre for Culture and Arts.

“The government should play a bigger role in creating networks for artists and establish a platform they can always refer to,” Attel stressed, adding that “there is a need for an umbrella institution to make the whole scene sustainable”.

Barbara Rowel, founder of art gallery Jacaranda Images, said galleries must also try to approach potential visitors in a different way as they are often considered “intimidating” by the general public.

“What we need is education in schools to train people’s aesthetic taste, open our galleries and a friendly environment to trigger the public’s interest,” she added.

Until September 15, Art Week Amman will be hosting exhibitions and workshops around the capital to give the general public a peek into the art world.