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.
Art
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.
Solo exhibitions
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
Group shows
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: 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
Fellowships and awards
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
Education
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
Employment
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
Other cultural activities
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
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
Literature
1962: Beier, Ulli Ibrahim el Salahi: Drawings, Mbari Publications, ASIN B007EI6MPI
2012: Hassan, Salah M., Ibrahim El-Salahi: A Visionary Modernist, ISBN 978-0945802587