Kamala Ibrahim Ishag, Louder than Words

On 3 December 2019 at Louder than Words, seven extraordinary women from around the globe shared how their work in culture has an impact on their societies. All seven speakers were Laureates of the 2019 Prince Claus Awards.
We were joined at the Compangietheater by Principal Prince Claus Laureate Kamala Ibrahim Ishag (visual artist, Sudan), Prince Claus Laureates Paulina Suárez of Ambulante (documentary film organisation, Mexico), Mariam Kamara (architect, Niger), Bill Kouélany (visual artist, writer, Congo-Brazzaville), Djamila Ribeiro (philosopher, Brazil), Anocha Suwichakornpong (filmmaker, Thailand), and Next Generation Prince Claus Laureate Mónica Ojeda Franco (writer, Ecuador). The evening was hosted by international broadcast journalist Ghida Fakhry with performances by award-winning singer and pianist Karsu. Louder than Words was made possible through a collaboration between the Prince Claus Fund and Amerpodia, with the support of the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts.
Watch more Louder than Words: tinyurl.com/vwkjf63
Watch the 2019 Prince Claus Awards: tinyurl.com/uqzemzu
Kamala Ibrahim Ishag (Omdurman, Sudan, 1939) has been a pioneer in African visual art since the 1960s. Among the first women to graduate from the College of Fine and Applied Art in Khartoum, in 1960 she was a foundational figure in the modern art movement in Sudan. She was associated with the Khartoum School, which forged a modern artistic identity for the newly independent nation, drawing on both its Arab and African traditions. A decade later, Ishag’s ideas had evolved. She rejected the Khartoum School’s emphasis on heritage and its seemingly male-dominated world view. With a number of her students, she founded what came to be known as the Crystalist Group. Their manifesto (1976) characterised the world as infinite and unbounded, like a crystal with its transparencies, multiple angles and reflections. Her own work has focused on the intangible aspects of women’s lives in Sudan, Africa and the Arab worlds. Her interest in women’s lives led to field research and large-scale paintings of Zār, a traditional Sudanese women’s ceremony that entails spirit possession and trance-like performance. The works and writing of William Blake and Francis Bacon were a large influence in Ishag’s portraits of distorted figures. Ishag has remained active in organising exhibitions with younger generations of women artists. Hence her participation in current social movements where women play a central, visible role. She continues to be an intellectual catalyst and inspirational force among a younger generation of Sudanese artists. princeclausfund.org/awards
Film credit:
Juliette Stevens Moving Portraits

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