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Modern and Contemporary African Art: A Collaborative Vanderbilt Student Research Project

Ibrahim el-Salahi Interview with Morgan Quaintance

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Ibrahim el-Salahi This is good!

Interview:
In his interview with writer and curator Morgan Quaintance, Ibrahim el-Salahi discusses his education and artistic style, as well as the challenges he has faced as an African artist and modernist. In the interview, el-Salahi reveals that he never intended to be an artist, but rather was drawn into the field and away from his other interests by his passion for creative work and his skill. He discusses his journey to the Slade School of Fine Art in London, where he began to embrace modernism, and his experiences in the Khartoum School at which he began to utilize traditional Arabic calligraphy in his work. Additionally, he reveals the ways in which his art career led to his appointment to the Director of Culture position in the Sudanese government in the 1970s. Next, el-Salahi discusses the events that led up to his unjust imprisonment.

The video demonstrates el-Salahi's connection to the broader experience of African artists because of his discussion of the devaluing and lack of recognition that he has received from Western art critics and curators as a result of his African heritage. In fact, the interview occurs on the event of Tate Modern's largest showcase of African art and artists. El-Salahi's experiences reveal the progression of the recognition of value in African art and how long a way there still is to go when it comes to hearing African art voices.

Life and History:
Ibrahim el-Salahi is a Sudanese painter who uses calligraphy, line, and abstraction in his work. He is considered a pioneer in both Sudanese and African art and a leader in Arab and African modernism. Born on September 5, 1930 in Omdurman, el-Salahi studied Art at the School of Design of the Gordon Memorial College. Later, he received a scholarship to the Slade School of Fine Art in London where he attended from 1954 to 1957, and studied renaissance art in Perugia in Italy. After his time in Europe, el-Salahi went back to Sudan to teach at the School for Applied Arts in Khartoum, where he worked until 1962. After receiving a UNESCO grant to visit the United States, he used his time in the West to visit South America. He later received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation in 1964. Soon after his time in the U.S., el-Salahi led the Sudanese delegation during the first World Festival of Black Arts in Dakar, Senegal in 1966.

While he was well-educated and recognized in the arts, el-Salahi also delved into the world of politics for a brief time. The painter served as the assistant cultural attaché at the Sudanese Embassy in London from 1969 to 1972, and later returned to Sudan as the Director of Culture in 1972. Next, he became the Undersecretary in the Ministry of Culture and Information, a position which he held until 1975.

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

Artistic Style and Influence
As a member of the Khartoum School, Ibrahim el-Salahi was a member of the first group of artists to utilize Arabic calligraphy in his paintings, and has been known to both use the figures traditionally by writing them into his paintings and incorporate them more subtly by mimicking the swooping, fluid strokes of the figures into his brush strokes in a more abstract way.

Later in his career, el-Salahi also began using modernist lines and angles in his work, moving from more abstract shapes to more structured ones. His style over the decades has included black and white color schemes, earth tones, structured lines and angles as well as organic shapes, and line drawings as well as more textured, colorful paintings.