'Technical design services for an exhibition by pioneering Sudanese artist Kamala Ibrahim Ishag, whose work intertwines the earthly and the spiritual through an understanding of our connections with the natural world.'
The major survey included large-scale oil paintings, works on paper, and painted calabashes, screens and leather drums, alongside displays of Ishag’s graphic design practice, personal archival material and new works. Building on recent solo exhibitions organised by Sharjah Art Foundation (2016). It was the most comprehensive exhibition of Ishag’s work in London, a city that holds important connections for the artist since her studies in the 1960s at the Royal College of Art.
IDK provided technical design services for the exhibition. We worked closely with the curatorial team to build a full digital 3d model of the gallery, sizing all of the artworks to allow the network of curators in London and Sudan to collaborate on the final hangs and arrangement of artworks. Showcases and plinths were sized and laid out to ensure that the sculpture and supporting ephemera in the show were properly housed within the galleries. Exhibition design is more than just devising great concepts; technical work and close collaboration with curatorial teams at the delivery stage is an essential part of setting shows like States of Oneness in the best possible light; a service where IDK has extensive experience.
With a career spanning over sixty years, Kamala Ibrahim Ishag (b.1939) is a defining figure of modern and contemporary art. Her widely recognised paintings, where often human and plant forms intertwine, use a distinctive palette rooted in the colours of the sun, sand and sky and contemplate the cyclical flow of life and the intangible aspects of women’s lives in Sudan.
London
2022