A Visionary Modernist
Tate Modern
Ibrahim El-Salahi was born in 1930 in Omdurman, Sudan. Studied painting at the School of Design in Khartoum from 1949–52. El-Salahi left his home country in 1954 on a government scholarship to study painting and calligraphy at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. Returned to Sudan in 1957, where he became a key member of the ‘Khartoum School’ – a group of artists developing a new visual vocabulary to reflect the distinctive identity of the newly independent nation. The ‘Khartoum School’ was one of the most active contributors to the growth of modern art in Africa. El-Salahi’s art offers profound possibilities for understanding African and Arab modernisms and repositioning them within the context of a broader, global modernity. Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, El-Salahi travelled to the United States and participated in the Mbari Artists and Writers Club in Ibadan, Nigeria. He led delegations of Sudanese artists to two historically significant gatherings: the Black Arts Festival in Dakar in 1966, and the Pan-African Arts and Cultural Festival in Algiers in 1969. In 1972, El-Salahi returned to Khartoum to take a post as Director General for Culture at the Ministry of Information. The following year he became Undersecretary, a tenure that ended abruptly on 8 September 1975 when he was accused of anti-government activities and held without trial at the infamous Cooper Prison for six months and eight days. After this experience, El-Salahi left Sudan to live in Doha, Qatar. Since 1998, El-Salahi lives in Oxford, but his memories and experiences of contemporary Sudan remain a constant part of his artistic practice. (from the Tate Modern website) (the artist is present)
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