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Co-published by The Africa Institute and Skira, Ibrahim El-Salahi: At Home in the World – A Memoir is a thought-provoking documentation of his contributions as a Sudanese artist within a global history of modern art.

For more than a half-century, Ibrahim El-Salahi has been at the forefront of African modernism in the visual arts. A renowned artist, writer, critic, and teacher, El-Salahi continues to refine his unique modernist vision, which combines and challenges Islamic, African, and western paradigms of modernism in the visual arts. In this engaging memoir, El-Salahi recalls some of the most formative experiences of his career. From Khartoum to London to São Paulo to New York to Doha, and many places in between, El-Salahi shares his wide-ranging intellectual curiosity as he seeks out significant artwork and interesting conversations on several continents. He introduces his reader to encounters he had with figures such as the African-American modernists Hale Woodruff, Jacob Lawrence, and members of the Spiral Group; the legendary leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad; and the Mexican painter Rufino Tamayo. His memories of passing acquaintances are equally thoughtful and thought-provoking. El-Salahi also documents his contributions to Sudanese public culture, his unjust imprisonment under a military government, and subsequent exile from Sudan. In this important work, El-Salahi offers new perspectives on his development as an artist and on his foundational contributions to African and Arab modernism.

Featuring a foreword by Hoor Al Qasimi, President of The Africa Institute, she highlights her initial experiences with Ibrahim El-Salahi’s artwork during the Sharjah Biennial. Al Qasimi also explores El-Salahi’s remarkable body of work, emphasizing his standing as a transformative figure in the global art scene.

The book is edited by Salah M. Hassan, Director of The Africa Institute,  who in his introduction contextualizes El-Salahi’s artwork within a global history of modern art and expands its narrative.

For additional information about Ibrahim El-Salahi: At Home in the World – A Memoir and to purchase the book, visit here

About the Author

Ibrahim El-Salahi (Arabic: إبراهيم الصلحي, born 5 September 1930, Omdurman, Sudan) is a Sudanese painter, former public servant, and diplomat. He is one of the foremost visual artists of the “Khartoum School”, considered as part of African Modernism and the Hurufiyya art movement, that combined traditional forms of Islamic calligraphy with contemporary artworks.

About the Editor

Salah M. Hassan

Salah M Hassan is the Director of The Africa Institute and the Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences in Africana Studies and professor of History of Art and Visual Studies at Cornell University.

He curated a retrospective exhibition in tribute to the work of Ibrahim El-Salahi titled, “Ibrahim El-Salahi: A Visionary Modernist” initiated by the Museum of African Art, premiered in Sharjah Art Foundation, and later saw itself at Tate Modern in London (2013). The exhibit is also accompanied by a comprehensive book titled the same.

Salah is the founding editor of Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art. He is the author and editor of several books, and he has curated several international exhibitions. He is the recipient of several grants and fellowships, such as the J. Paul Getty Postdoctoral Fellowship, as well as major grants from the Sharjah Art, Ford, Rockefeller, Andy Warhol, and Prince Claus Fund foundations.

Commendations

‘This memoir, with its narrative generosity, lyricism, and texture, is as compelling and powerful as the brilliant drawings and paintings that made El-Salahi one of the most important and influential artists of the twentieth century.’

Chika Okeke-Agulu, Professor of African and African Diaspora Art History, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey

‘From the dreamscape of his childhood in the Sudanese city of Omdurman, study, international travels, exile, and making a home in the English city of Oxford; El-Salahi narrates his personal history with brilliance and integrity. His life story is a study in self-discovery, perseverance, and redoubtable triumphs; one that has made him easily one of the giants of twentieth-century art.’

Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi, The Steven and Lisa Tananbaum Curator in Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, New York

Co-published by The Africa Institute and Skira, Ibrahim El-Salahi: At Home in the World – A Memoir is a thought-provoking documentation of his contributions as a Sudanese artist within a global history of modern art.

Co-published by The Africa Institute and Skira, Ibrahim El-Salahi: At Home in the World – A Memoir is a thought-provoking documentation of his contributions as a Sudanese artist within a global history of modern art.

For more than a half-century, Ibrahim El-Salahi has been at the forefront of African modernism in the visual arts. A renowned artist, writer, critic, and teacher, El-Salahi continues to refine his unique modernist vision, which combines and challenges Islamic, African, and western paradigms of modernism in the visual arts. In this engaging memoir, El-Salahi recalls some of the most formative experiences of his career. From Khartoum to London to São Paulo to New York to Doha, and many places in between, El-Salahi shares his wide-ranging intellectual curiosity as he seeks out significant artwork and interesting conversations on several continents. He introduces his reader to encounters he had with figures such as the African-American modernists Hale Woodruff, Jacob Lawrence, and members of the Spiral Group; the legendary leader of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad; and the Mexican painter Rufino Tamayo. His memories of passing acquaintances are equally thoughtful and thought-provoking. El-Salahi also documents his contributions to Sudanese public culture, his unjust imprisonment under a military government, and subsequent exile from Sudan. In this important work, El-Salahi offers new perspectives on his development as an artist and on his foundational contributions to African and Arab modernism.

Featuring a foreword by Hoor Al Qasimi, President of The Africa Institute, she highlights her initial experiences with Ibrahim El-Salahi’s artwork during the Sharjah Biennial. Al Qasimi also explores El-Salahi’s remarkable body of work, emphasizing his standing as a transformative figure in the global art scene.

The book is edited by Salah M. Hassan, Director of The Africa Institute,  who in his introduction contextualizes El-Salahi’s artwork within a global history of modern art and expands its narrative.

For additional information about Ibrahim El-Salahi: At Home in the World – A Memoir and to purchase the book, visit here

About the Author

Ibrahim El-Salahi (Arabic: إبراهيم الصلحي, born 5 September 1930, Omdurman, Sudan) is a Sudanese painter, former public servant, and diplomat. He is one of the foremost visual artists of the “Khartoum School”, considered as part of African Modernism and the Hurufiyya art movement, that combined traditional forms of Islamic calligraphy with contemporary artworks.

About the Editor

Salah M. Hassan

Salah M Hassan is the Director of The Africa Institute and the Distinguished Professor of Arts and Sciences in Africana Studies and professor of History of Art and Visual Studies at Cornell University.

He curated a retrospective exhibition in tribute to the work of Ibrahim El-Salahi titled, “Ibrahim El-Salahi: A Visionary Modernist” initiated by the Museum of African Art, premiered in Sharjah Art Foundation, and later saw itself at Tate Modern in London (2013). The exhibit is also accompanied by a comprehensive book titled the same.

Salah is the founding editor of Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art. He is the author and editor of several books, and he has curated several international exhibitions. He is the recipient of several grants and fellowships, such as the J. Paul Getty Postdoctoral Fellowship, as well as major grants from the Sharjah Art, Ford, Rockefeller, Andy Warhol, and Prince Claus Fund foundations.

Commendations

‘This memoir, with its narrative generosity, lyricism, and texture, is as compelling and powerful as the brilliant drawings and paintings that made El-Salahi one of the most important and influential artists of the twentieth century.’

Chika Okeke-Agulu, Professor of African and African Diaspora Art History, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey

‘From the dreamscape of his childhood in the Sudanese city of Omdurman, study, international travels, exile, and making a home in the English city of Oxford; El-Salahi narrates his personal history with brilliance and integrity. His life story is a study in self-discovery, perseverance, and redoubtable triumphs; one that has made him easily one of the giants of twentieth-century art.’

Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi, The Steven and Lisa Tananbaum Curator in Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Editors

Salah M. Hassan

Publisher

The Africa Institute (Sharjah, UAE) and Skira Editore (Milan, Italy)

Language

English

ISBN

978-88-572-4652-9

Dimensions

16.5 × 24 cm, paperback

Specifications

246 pages

100 colour illustrations

Price

£ 35.00

Year of Publication

2022

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