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Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Talking Art Series Explores Works Of Ibrahim El-Salahi |
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Exploring the work of one of Sudan’s leading Modern artists, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Talking Art Series will return on 18th April to discuss the importance and significance of Ibrahim El-Salahi’s illustrious career and creative output. The talk, entitled 'Pioneering Modernism: Ibrahim El-Salahi', will be led by Professor Salah Hassan, Goldwin Smith Professor of African and African Diaspora Art History and Visual Culture in Africana Studies and Research Centre, and Department of History of Art and Visual Studies, and Director of the Institute for Comparative Modernities, ICM, Cornell University, and will be held at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Born in Omdurman, Sudan in 1930, Ibrahim El-Salahi is one of the forefathers of Modern art in Sudan and a key contributor to African Modernism. His training in Sudan and the United Kingdom, coupled with studies and travel abroad, provided a transcultural framework for the development of his distinctive oeuvre, which integrates geometries, Islamic motifs, calligraphic forms, and imagery drawn from both African and Western art as evidenced by Untitled (1964), a work in the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi collection currently on view in Louvre Abu Dhabi collection galleries. Maisa Al Qassimi, Programmes Manager at Guggenheim Abu Dhabi at the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, said, "Ibrahim El-Salahi’s artworks reflect the transcultural nature of his career and display an array of cultural and aesthetic influences from around the world. His untitled artwork was chosen for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi permanent collection for this precise reason as it reflects the transcultural narrative of the future museum. We are delighted that this artwork is now available for the public to view in the galleries of Louvre Abu Dhabi." El-Salahi was a founding member of the Khartoum School in 1960, which sought to foster an arts practice that responded to the specific cultural heritage of Sudan as the country emerged from decades of colonial control, gaining independence in 1956. In this programme Professor Salah Hassan will discuss the trajectory of El-Salahi’s career, sharing his original scholarship on the artist and reflecting on the 2012 retrospective that he curated for the Sharjah Art Museum and Tate Modern. |
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