Mechanisms of Visual Integration between Al-Wasiti's Illustrations and Iraqi Scenes in the Creation of Mosaic Mural Models

Abstract

Abstract

The present study, entitled “Visual Integration Mechanisms between Al-Wasiti’s Paintings and Iraqi Contemporary Scenes for Producing Mural Models Using Mosaic Technique,” examines visual integration mechanisms as a contemporary artistic approach aimed at reorganizing relationships between images within a unified visual structure that combines traditional references with contemporary Iraqi visual scenes. This is achieved through two interrelated levels: a cognitive level associated with perception and imagination, and a technical level related to execution methods and visual processing techniques, with the aim of producing contemporary mural formulations characterized by integration and coherence.

The research is structured into four chapters. The first chapter addresses the methodological framework, including the research problem, significance, and objective, which focuses on identifying visual integration mechanisms and their application in producing mural models, in addition to defining the research boundaries and key terminology. The second chapter presents the theoretical framework through three sections: the first discusses visual integration in ancient civilizations and its cognitive and technical mechanisms; the second examines the stylistic characteristics and visual strategies in Al-Wasiti’s paintings; and the third focuses on mural art, its techniques—particularly mosaic—and its role within architectural space.     

The third chapter outlines the research procedures, including defining the research population and sample (Al-Wasiti’s paintings and contemporary Iraqi scenes), adopting an applied methodology for execution and a descriptive approach for analysis, along with the production of practical models using the mosaic technique.            

The fourth chapter presents the findings, which confirm that visual integration between Al-Wasiti’s paintings and contemporary Iraqi scenes constitutes an intellectual structure for re-producing the image within a contemporary context through the deconstruction of visual references and their reorganization into new mosaic-based configurations, transforming the process into an aesthetic practice that moves beyond representation toward meaning production. The findings include:   

• The mechanism of visual analysis is embodied in deconstructing the image into its chromatic, formal, and symbolic components, allowing each element to be recontextualized within a contemporary visual framework. Recomposition, in turn, establishes new relationships between elements within a unified space based on interaction and adjacency rather than replication, producing a hybrid visual structure.
• Mosaic mural models become the final manifestation of the visual integration process, where cognitive mechanisms merge with material techniques in reshaping visual memory within an open interpretive space.
• Omission functions as a cognitive mechanism in simplifying the visual structure by removing non-essential elements, enhancing the image’s adaptability for reintegration and reconstruction.

 The study concludes with several key findings, most importantly:

• Visual integration is based on deconstructing elements from Al-Wasiti’s imagery and contemporary scenes and reconstructing them into a unified structure that generates a new relationship between heritage and present as a process of meaning production rather than retrieval.
• The mosaic medium, despite its limitations in representing fine details, plays a positive role in reshaping mental imagery through simplification and abstraction. This limitation transforms into a constructive force that enhances semantic density and clarifies the overall structure, achieving harmony between material and final visual conception.

Finally, the study recommends further exploration of visual integration mechanisms in contemporary mural arts, the enhancement of mosaic and digital techniques in reinterpreting Iraqi visual heritage, and incorporating these topics into curricula of fine arts colleges.