Ibn Aseer (Son of Aseer)

Ahmed Mater was born in 1979 and raised in Rijal Alma, an Aseeri village in the bend of an expansive valley on the trade route between Yemen, Makkah and the Red Sea. Unlike much of the rest of Saudi Arabia, Rijal Alma has retained its traditional architecture and culture in the face of encroaching development. In contrast to the deserts of the East and the sprawling cities of Riyadh and Jeddah, the region of Aseer is green and mountainous, boasting the country’s highest peak, blossoming trees and rugged horizons. Aseer literally translates as ‘difficult’, which not only reflects the landscape, but also the independent spirit of its inhabitants.

The people of Rijal Alma are largely from the Tihama tribe, whose way of life Ahmed describes as similar to Yemeni culture. The Tihama are also known as the ‘flower men’, due to their custom of wearing garlands of dried herbs and flowers in their hair. The young flower men of today— traditionally considered to be one of the fiercest tribes in Arabia—look out of place amidst the fast food restaurants, shopping malls and petrol stations of modern Saudi. But Tihama communities continue to be dominated by tribal law and customs, and have remained relatively unaffected by the oil boom and urban development that has transformed the rest of the country.

Ahmed remembers how his mother, a painter of traditional Aseeri houses and a calligrapher, introduced him to Arabian and Islamic art. From a very early age she taught him that art was a way to preserve his culture, his heritage and his religion. These traditional values became the foundation of Ahmed’s daily routine, helping to shape his philosophical approach to life.

He describes how this traditional foundation was first challenged when his family moved from Rijal Alma to Abha, the regional capital and a modern Saudi city. “The new, globalised culture made me question the values established by my conservative upbringing. I had assimilated all these ideas in my childhood; then I tried to destroy them. A dilemma arose from this turmoil and I began to explore my obedience, my religion – everything that surrounded me. All of this influenced what I call ‘the change’ and gave birth to new experiments in my art.”