Khartoum School
ハルツーム派 / 1960s–1970s / Style / Modern and Contemporary Art Movements
In post-independence Sudan, the fluid and contested Khartoum School recombined African, Islamic, Arab and Western references within modern art. Arabic calligraphic rhythm, simplified people and animals, local craft and narrative moved into abstraction.
At a glance
Visual cues
- Arabic writing transforming into human, animal and abstract contours
- Groups of elongated bodies and mask-like faces
- Wide space and line in ink, earth color, blue and white
- Local craft and story sharing a field with modern painting
Best used for
- Treating several cultural belongings as transformations of line and figure rather than one fixed emblem
- Rereading writing, story, craft and modern painting in relation to post-independence society
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Dictionary entry
- Type
- When using Arabic, verify word and writer and leave the transition from text to person or animal visible.
- Composition
- Place elongated forms in groups across broad space, keeping repeated line ambiguous among writing, body and horizon.
- Material
- Keep the absorption of ink, earth pigment, paper and cloth and resist cleaning every edge into a uniform vector line.
- Caution
- It was neither a monolithic look nor one uncontested national identity. Preserve differences among artists and debates around the name instead of generalizing it as African calligraphy.
- Further study
- Ibrahim El-Salahi, Ahmed Shibrain and Kamala Ishaq / Sudanese modernism after independence / Arabic calligraphic rhythm, African forms and contested identity
Related entries
- Hurufiyya (フルーフィーヤ)Same Modern and Contemporary Art Movements lineage.Compare Khartoum School and Hurufiyya
- Nsukka Group (ンスッカ・グループ)Same Modern and Contemporary Art Movements lineage.Compare Khartoum School and Nsukka Group
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- Mono-ha (もの派)Shared effects: Calm / Rebellion.
- Neue Slowenische Kunst (ノイエ・スロヴェニッシェ・クンスト)Shared effects: Rebellion / Trust.
Browse all Modern and Contemporary Art Movements entries
Cite this entry
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- Link
- https://indexstyle.org/styles/khartoum-school
- Markdown
- [Khartoum School — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/khartoum-school)
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- <a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/khartoum-school">Khartoum School — IndexStyle</a>