Eastern Promises - Harem

The Eastern Promises: Preserving Orientalist Painting Through Data Science invites us to consider the role of technology in art and the ways in which it can be utilised to engage in new forms of artistic expression. Art as a meta-discipline is “an umbrella encompassing history, philosophy, nature and science.” The AI-powered paintings presented by Mammadov offer a fresh and innovative take on a timeless artistic tradition, provide a glimpse into the future of art-making in the digital age, and raise crucial questions about polarisation, redefining our rapidly developing world as well as exploring and preserving the social and cultural heritage of humanity, with its own intricacies, in a way that has yet to be decoded by future generations.

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Harems were private spaces in the Middle Eastern households where women lived. The portrayal of harem scenes in Orientalist art was a popular theme and often portrayed the women as exotic and sexually alluring, reflecting the Western fascination with the East's sensual culture. The inaccessibility of the harems to Europeans helped perpetuate the image of the harem as purely sexual in nature and contributed to imperialistic discourse that positioned the East as inferior to the West.