Art that lives indoors
In Asir, much of the most striking art is inside the house. Al-Qatt Al-Asiri decorates interior walls with geometric shapes and symbols, usually on a base of white gypsum. It is done freehand, and it is seen as a key part of the region's identity.
The walls that get the most attention are those of the rooms kept for guests.
From woman to woman
For generations the art belonged to women. A woman would invite female relatives of different ages to help paint her home, and the younger ones learned by watching and doing. That is still the main way it passes on.
Painting together strengthens social bonds and solidarity, and practitioners describe it as calming. Today men and women both practise it, as do artists, designers, interior designers and architects, who carry the patterns onto new surfaces. UNESCO listed it in 2017.