T. M. GAVRISTOVA, Doctor of Historical Sciences P. G. Demidov Yaroslavl State University Keywords: Ibrahim el-Salahi, African modernism, calligraphy, wood, Sufism Ibrahim el-Salahi (Sudan) is a representative of African modernism - one of the most engaged trends in the visual arts of the XXI century. Since 1998, he has lived in Oxford (UK). His solo exhibition was held at the Tate Modern Gallery in London from July 3 to September 22, 2013. It featured more than 100 paintings belonging to him - from private and museum collections. Among them are his famous "trees". The artist and the scientist improve until the end of their days... I. Shishkin Ibrahim el-Salahi was born in Omdurman (Sudan) in 1930 and first started drawing at the Koranic school where his father taught. In the 1950s, he studied at the Schools of Fine and Applied Arts in Khartoum and Slade - at the University of London; at an early age, he gained a reputation as an excellent draughtsman, experimented, studied the world's artistic heritage (works by ancient authors, William Shakespeare, works by Paul Cezanne, Giotto, Salvador Dali, etc.) and folklore. In 1956, Sudan was freed from colonial dependence, and in 1957, el-Salahi returned home. The search for his own style prompted him to engage in calligraphy and abstraction, experimenting in the field of color. At some times, he preferred the colors of sand, dust, and earth to all shades; at others, white and black. In 1961, in Nigeria, Ibrahim met Uche Okeke, the founder of" ulism " * and was largely influenced by his ideas [1] to establish himself in the idea of the primacy of synthesis in the development of art. In Sudan, El-Salahi tried his hand as an artist, writer, poet, and teacher. He founded the creative "Desert and Jungle Group", which supported the synthesis of African and Arab traditions in literature and painting. On Khartoum television, he hosted a program dedicated to cultural issues. Based on the interaction of iconographic traditions, symbo ... Read more