Taiz University.. Fine Art is a Brush Without an Artist (Special Report)

In the city of Taiz, which has long been known as the cultural capital of Yemen, the Faculty of Arts at Taiz University issued a decision to close the Fine Arts Department, ten years after its launch within the Fine Arts Department, which was launched in 2014.

The Faculty of Arts at Taiz University justified the decision as a result of the scarcity of financial and logistical capabilities, the absence of academic staff, in addition to the weak turnout, while linking the possibility of the return of the visual arts activity to the extent of acceptance of students enrolled in this specialization to register under the parallel system and private expenses.

scarcity of resources

The Fine Arts Department in the Fine Arts Department at the Faculty of Arts, Taiz University, does not receive any official budgets, and this is the same case for the various faculties and departments of the university, as each department relies on itself to provide its operating expenses, from tuition fees in the parallel system and the private expenses of the students enrolled in it, which led to the inability of the Fine Arts Department to continue due to the small number of students enrolled in this specialization.

In this context, Dr. Amin Mahyoub, Head of the Fine Arts Department at the Faculty of Arts, Taiz University, points out that: “The Faculty of Arts is self-reliant, and does not have official budgets. Academic work is managed from student revenues and tuition fees in the parallel and private expense systems for various specializations,” as he put it.

Mahyoub added in an interview with "Yemeni Youth Net": "There are talented students who have great abilities, but the financial capabilities are absent, and we in the Fine Arts Department are facing a state of poverty, and we need someone to provide us with support to accommodate these unique artistic talents, but at the present time we are unable to continue due to the scarcity of capabilities available to us in the Fine Arts Department."

He continued: "The Fine Arts Department has not been closed permanently yet, but it has stopped due to the scarcity of resources and the department's inability to meet its needs as a result of the small number of people coming to it."

He explained: "If a number of students, no less than 15 students, agree to switch to the parallel system or private expenses, which covers their financial needs, the department will reopen the branch again."

Mahyoub stressed that: “Visual art is very important, especially in light of the political circumstances that the country is currently going through. It is the language that the world shares, as any society can address different social classes, including the deaf and mute, and through a simple painting we can convey our messages to the world in general,” he said.

He concluded by saying: “The Faculty of Arts is ready to resume the activity of the Fine Arts Department if sufficient support is available to meet the requirements of those joining the department, whether in terms of academic staff or other material requirements.”

Low turnout

While the Faculty of Arts justified the suspension of the Fine Arts Department on the pretext of the weak student turnout, Hafiz Allah Muhammad, the only and last student in Fine Arts, who continued his studies in this specialization for four years without colleagues, after his colleagues transferred to other specializations, believes that it is not possible to measure Fine Arts by the number or number of those enrolled in it.

Hafiz Allah Muhammad said in an interview with “Yemeni Youth Net” that: “The first and main motive for his study of the field of visual arts was his innate inclination towards art and his love for drawing since he was young, which was the greatest motive for him to join the visual arts department.”

He added: "My insistence on this department, especially since I am the only student who continued studying it, is that visual arts cannot be measured by quantity or quantity, but rather it is an artistic inclination, and it is a specialization that requires talent to support it academically, and there is no room for judging it like other specializations that you can join just because it will guarantee you a prestigious job. On the contrary, visual arts is a specialization that requires talented people."

He noted: “At first, I was not the only student, but the former head of the Fine Arts Department encouraged the students who were studying with me to switch to the Graphics Department.”

He confirmed by saying: “She also threatened students who were about to major in this field, that if they did not transfer to the Graphics Department, they would be expelled from the university, and she succeeded in transferring them and closing the Fine Arts Department,” he said.

Hafez Allah complains that he is being neglected by the Faculty of Arts because he is the only student, while he says that the deanship has deprived him of his rights to education, by refusing to pay the financial dues to the teachers who teach him by the hour.

He concluded by saying: “This is my last academic year. The college deanship removed me from the hall designated for the Fine Arts Department, under the pretext that I was the only student. I was greatly marginalized and the Fine Arts Department halls were turned into halls for students in the Graphics Department.”

Technical stagnation

Artistic specializations of all kinds have witnessed a significant decline recently, especially visual arts such as painting and sculptures. However, specialists see it as an old problem that has increased more during the last decade with the change in political conditions in the country and the outbreak of the war that has been ongoing for more than ten years.