Focus on trans-Saharan cultural collaboration
Taking the format of a broadsheet newspaper, The Chronic features contributions from writers, commentators and artists on the politics, history and culture of contemporary Africa.
The current issue, entitled 'The Sahara is Not a Boundary', features images of Ibrahim El-Salahi’s 1976 Prison Notebook sketches, licensed through Artimage. The pen and ink drawings recount El-Salahi’s day-to-day experience as a political prisoner in Sudan’s notorious Kober (Cooper) Prison in Khartoum, in the mid-1970s under the regime of military dictator Gaafar Nimeiri (1969–85).
The Chronic's designer, Graeme Arendse, explains why the pioneering modernist painter was chosen for the current issue, which challenges the myth of a divide between north and sub-Saharan Africa: “We found that Ibrahim El Salahi’s work was central to our investigation into trans-Saharan cultural and political collaborations. He was constantly referenced in much of the writing for this issue – through his participation in Festac 77, his work on Lotus Magazine and other initiatives. Moreover, Sudan of the 1970s plays an important part in this project.”
Published by Chimurenga, The Chronic is distributed throughout Africa and internationally and is available to order online. The current issue also features a special Arabic only edition, designed in collaboration with Studio Safar in Beirut.
Find and license related images
Ibrahim El-Salahi’s images are available to license through Artimage. As a service from DACS, our image fees go back towards supporting artists and their estates.
Browse related images below or view all images by El-Salahi here.
Prison Notebook 1:
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Prison Notebook 9:
View all images by Ibrahim El-Salahi
To license an image, submit a request online, email [email protected] or call 020 7553 9095 to speak with a member of our team.
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Top image: Muzmin (Arabic edition of The Chronic, July 2015), Image courtesy Chimurenga. All other images: Prison Notebook Series, Ibrahim El-Salahi © Ibrahim El-Salahi, All rights reserved, DACS 2015.