تأصيل الهوية البصرية للطب العربي: دلالات رمزية

Abstract

Arabic medicine, one of the oldest medical schools, has gathered the experiences of ancient world's medical nations. Despite its deep roots in Arab culture and the recommendations of WHO and UNESCO to protect the medical knowledge and intangible cultural heritage of peoples, its identity is subjected to comprehensive attempts of appropriation due to the civilizational weakness that the Arab world is going through. This necessitates its documentation and inclusion under a visual identity banner. This qualitative study was designed to answer the question: What are the best options for designing a visual identity for Arabic medicine? To answer this, the study extracted the elements that form the visual identities of medical schools, global medical organizations, and institutions interested in Arabic or alternative medicine in the Arab world as a social reality. It also deconstructed the symbolic meanings of concepts and roots of Arabic medicine that can be included in a proposed visual identity. The research concluded the richness of the area of practicing Arabic medicine with its medical myths and symbolic meanings. The analysis showed the necessity to avoid many of these meanings as they carry pagan contents that may be rejected by society. It also suggests avoiding adopting a visual identity according to the functional vision that reduces Arabic medicine to mere practices or tools that form a small part of the whole. It ends with suggesting models that can be unifying cultural elements characterized by the simplicity and coherence essential for effective promotion and widespread recognition.