Ibrahim el-Salahi

El-Salahi was born on 5 September 1930, in Omdurman, Sudan to a Muslim family and is arguably one of the most important modern African artists. His father's career was running a Qur'anic school, which transpires to be the place where El-Salahi learned and practiced his calligraphy, which is predominant throughout his artwork. As a result of his lack of interest and his marks in school prevented him from pursuing medicine, which fortunately led to him beginning his art career. He studied Art at the School of Design of the Gordon Memorial College, currently the University of Khartoum. On the basis of a scholarship, he subsequently went to the Slade School of Fine Art in London from 1954 to 1957. At the Slade School of Fine Art, El-Salahi was exposed to European schooling, modern circles, and various historical artist that unintentionally alters the constructions of his artworks. Studying here also allowed him to take formal and ideological cues from modernist painting, which helped him learned to balance pure expression and gestural freedom. Additionally, in 1962 he received a UNESCO scholarship to study in the United States, from where he visited South America. From 1964 to 1965 he returned to the US with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation, and in 1966 he led the Sudanese delegation during the first World Festival of Black Arts in Dakar, Senegal.

Due to the completion of his education training, he returned to Sudan. During the duration of his stay, he channeled calligraphy and elements of the Islamic culture that played a role in his everyday life. Trying to connect to his heritage, El-Salahi began to fill with symbols and marking of small Arabic inscriptions. As he became more advanced with incorporating Arabic calligraphy, the symbols began to produce animals, humans, and plant forms, providing more meaning to his artwork allowing viewers to connect to his work. El-Salahi learned to combine the European styles with the traditional Sudanese themes in his art, which evokes a transnational African-influenced surrealism.

El-Salahi was assistant cultural attaché at the Sudanese Embassy in London from 1969 to 1972, when he returned to Sudan as Director of Culture under Jaafar Nimeiri's regime, then Undersecretary in the Ministry of Culture and Information until September 1975, when he was imprisoned without charge for six months for being accused of participating in an anti-government coup.

While imprison El-Salahi would use his 25 exercise minutes he received everyday to sketch out ideas for huge painting. He would secretly sketch and bury the small drawing into the ground to maintain his ideas. Ten years after being released from prison he self-exiled himself from the country and for some years worked and lived in Doha, Qatar, before settling in Oxford, England.

He is considered a pioneer in Sudanese art and was a member of the "Khartoum School" that was founded by Osman Waqialla. In the 1960s he was associated with the Mbari Club in Ibadan, Nigeria.

He developed an own style and was one of the first artists to elaborate the Arabic calligraphy in his paintings. His work has developed through several phases. His first period during the 1950s, '60s and '70s is dominated by elementary forms and lines. Then his work becomes rather meditative, abstract and organic. Subsequently, his work is characterized by lines, while he mainly uses white and black paint.

In 2001, Ibrahim el-Salahi was honored with a Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands.

In the summer of 2013 a major retrospective show of El-Salahi's work was mounted at Tate Modern, London, running from 3 July to 22 September 2013, The Tate's first retrospective dedicated to an African artist.

• 2016: The Armory, New York (Vigo Gallery)
• 2016: Salon 94, New York
• 2015: Vigo Gallery, London
• 2015: Frieze New York (Vigo Gallery)
• 2015: Jerwood Gallery, Hastings
• 2014: Vigo Gallery, London
• 2014: Skoto Gallery, New York
• 2013: Tate Modern, London
• 2012: Katara Cultural Village Foundation, Doha
• 2012: Sharjah Art Museum
• 2011: Skoto Gallery, New York
• 2010: Rashid Diab Arts Centre, Khartoum
• 2000: Dara Art Gallery, Khartoum
• 1992: Savannah Gallery, London
• 1984 & 1990: Iwalewa Haus, Contemporary African Art Centre, Bayreuth
• 1974: Art Gallery of the National Council for Arts and Letters, Kuwait
• 1972: Agisymba Gallery, Berlin
• 1967 & 1969: French Cultural Centre, Khartoum
• 1967: Traverse Gallery, Edinburgh
• 1967: Galerie Lambert, Paris
• 1966: Carl Durisberg, Munich
• 1964: Daberkow Gallery, Frankfurt
• 1964: Irvington-on-Hudson, New York
• 1963: Murphy Gallery, Baltimore
• 1963: Middle East House, Washington DC
• 1963: ICA Gallery, London
• 1962: Galerie Lambert, Paris
• 1962: American Cultural Centre, Khartoum
• 1961: Mbari Gallery, Ibadan
• 1960: Grand Hotel Exhibition Hall, Khartoum

• 2011–12: Meem Gallery, Dubai
• 2010: Interventions & Sajjil, Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha
• 2010: Tradition of the Future, Future of Tradition', Haus der Kunst, Munich
• 2010: Selections 2010, Skoto Gallery, New York
• 2010: Doha Capital of Arab Culture, Qatar
• 2004: The Oxford Show, Modern Art Oxford, Oxford
• 2004: Sudan Past and Present, The British Museum, London
• 2003: Asylum Years, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford
• 2001–02: The Short Century, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich; Haus der Kulturen der West, Berlin; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Museum of Modern Art, New York
• 2001: 20th Anniversary of Iwalewa Haus, Bayreuth
• 2001: Century City: Art and Culture in the Modern Metropolis, Tate Modern, London
• 2000: L’Afrique á Jour, Lille
• 2000: Contemporary Sudanese Art, Oriental Museum, Durham
• 2000: Blackness in Colour, Howard Johnson Art Museum, Cornell University, Ithaca
• 1999: Sharjah International Arts Biennale
• 1999: Contemporary Sudanese Art, Cardiff
• 1998: Art sans Frontières, Maison de l’UNESCO, Salle Miro, Paris
• 1996: Malmö Konststhall, Malmö
• 1995: Africa 95: Seven Stories of Art from Africa, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
• 1995: Sharjah International Arts Biennale
• 1994: Savannah Gallery, London
• 1992: Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne
• 1991: A Grain of Wheat: Art Relief from Africa, England
• 1991: Paradox of the New: Art from Africa, England
• 1978: Maison de la Culture, André Malraux, Rheims
• 1977: Festac, Lagos
• 1976: Bab Elloog Art Gallery, Cairo
• 1975: Georgetown University Hall, Washington, DC
• 1975: African Art Then and Now, Royal Commonwealth Society, London
• 1974: Khartoum Art Gallery, Khartoum
• 1974: Museum of African Art, Washington DC
• 1974: Arab Cultural Week, University of Tubingen
• 1971: Africa Centre, London
• 1970: Trinity College, Dublin
• 1970: Abgeordneten Hochhaus des Deutschen Bundestages, Bonn
• 1969: Islamic Art Exhibition, Nommo Gallery, Kampala
• 1969: Pan-African Cultural Festival, Algiers
• 1969: Contemporary Art in Africa, Camden Arts Centre, London
• 1967: Contemporary Art in Africa, ICA Gallery, London
• 1966: Museum of Philadelphia Civic Centre, Philadelphia
• 1965: Museum of Modern Art, New York
• 1964: Sudan Pavilion, World Fair, New York
• 1963: Academy of Fine Art, Calcutta

• 2015: Honorary Doctor of Literature (DLit), University College London
• 2005–07 & 2009: Visiting Artist, Cornell University, Ithaca NY
• 2004: Festival International des Arts Plastiques des Mahrès, gold medal
• 2001: Prince Claus Fund Award
• 1999: Honorary Award, Sharjah International Arts Biennale
• 1975: Order of Knowledge, Arts and Letters of Democratic Republic of Sudan: silver
• 1971: Order of Knowledge of Democratic Republic of Sudan: gold
• 1964–65: Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship
• 1962: UNESCO Fine Arts Fellowship

• 1945–48: Wadi Seidna Secondary School
• 1949–51: School of Design, Gordon Memorial College, Khartoum, and Art Department, Khartoum Technical Institute: general art course majoring in painting
• 1954–57: The Slade School, University College, London: painting and calligraphy
• 1964–65: Department of Journalism, Columbia University, New York: black and white photography
• 1975: The Sudanese Academy for Administrative Sciences: top management programme
• 1985: School of Economic Science, London: practical philosophy
• 1999–2001: School of Economic Science, Oxford: practical philosophy

• 1952–54: Demonstrator, Art Department, Khartoum Technical Institute
• 1957–59: Lecturer, Painting Department, School of Fine & Applied Art, Khartoum Technical Institute
• 1960–66: Tutor and Head of Painting Department, Khartoum Technical Institute
• 1967–69: Principal Lecturer at the School of Fine and Applied Art, Khartoum Polytechnic
• 1969–72: Assistant Cultural Attaché, Sudan Embassy, London
• 1972–73: Director General of Culture, Sudan Government
• 1973–76: Undersecretary, Ministry of Culture and Information, Sudan Government
• 1977–80: Expert Adviser, Department of Press and Publications, Ministry of Information, Qatar
• 1980–82: Expert, Office of the Undersecretary, Ministry of Information, Qatar
• 1984–85: UNESCO Consultant to the Ministry of Information and National Guidance, Somalia
• 1986–89: Expert, International Information Relations Committee of the Arab Gulf States; Adviser to the Undersecretary, Ministry of Information and Culture, Qatar
• 1989–97: Translator and Biographer, The Amir’s Office, Diwan Amiri, Qatar
• 1997–98: Translator, Political Department, Diwan Amiri, Qatar

• 1959: Member of Sudan Cultural Delegation to China
• 1966: Head of Sudan Delegation to the First Festival of African Culture, Dakar
• 1969: Member of Committee for the Study of Arab Culture, UNESCO, Paris
• 1969: Member of Sudan Cultural Delegation to the First Pan-African Cultural Festival, Algiers
• 1972–73: Established the Department of Culture, Sudan Government
• 1973: Sudan Representative to Foundation Conference, General Association of Arab Artists, Baghdad
• 1973 & 1974: External Examiner, Art Department, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
• 1984: External Examiner, College of Fine and Applied Art, Khartoum Polytechnic, Sudan
• 1972–76: Secretary General, National Council for Arts and Letters, Sudan
• 1974–75: Head of Sudan Delegation to Permanent Committee of Arab Information, Arab League
• 1979: Media Co-ordinator for the State Visit of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II to the State of Qatar
• 1980: Head of Preparatory and Executive Committees and the Secretariat Office of the Fifth Conference of Ministers of Information in the Arab Gulf States
• 1980–82: Member, Qatar Delegation to Permanent Committee for Arab Information, Arab League
• 1981: Member, Qatar Delegation to 3rd Conference of Arab Ministers for Cultural Affairs, Baghdad
• 1982: Delegate representing International Information Relations Committee of Arab Gulf States at the ministerial preparatory meeting for Arab Summit Conference in Fez, Morocco
• 1984: Delegate, International Press Seminar, Paris
• 1988–89: Editor, English section of Al-Mathurat Al-Shabiyyah magazine, published by The Arab Gulf States Folklore Centre, Qatar
• 1998: Participant, seminar ‘Visions of African Cultural Co-operation and Development’, UNESCO Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies, Stockholm, Sweden
• 1998: Participant, Symposium of the 7th Cairo Biennale
• 1999: Participant, Muscat Forum for Arab Fine Arts
• 2000: Member of ‘Africa in Venice’ Permanent Committee, New York
• 2000: Participant, Fifth International Conference on Sudan Studies, Durham University, UK
• 2000: Participant, Conference on ‘State of Visual Arts in Africa and the African Diaspora: Agenda for the 21st Century’, Paris
• 2000: Participant, Colloquium l’Afrique en Créations, Lille, France
• 2001–Member, Board of Directors, Forum for African Arts 2000–
• 2001: Participant, Colloquium International Festival of Plastic Arts, Al-Mahras, Tunisia
• 2009: Participant, second Pan African Cultural Festival, Algiers
• 2009–President, Sudan Studies Association UK

• 1962: Beier, Ulli Ibrahim el Salahi: Drawings, Mbari Publications, ASIN B007EI6MPI
• 2012: Hassan, Salah M., Ibrahim El-Salahi: A Visionary Modernist, ISBN 978-0945802587