Salah M. Hassan

Salah M. Hassan is an art historian, critic, and curator specializing in African and African Diaspora art history and visual culture. He holds the position of distinguished professor of arts and sciences in Africana studies and the Department of History of Art and Visual Studies at Cornell University. Additionally, he serves as the director of the Institute for Comparative Modernities (ICM) at Cornell.^[1] He is the founding director of The Africa Institute.^[2]

Salah M. Hassan
Born	Juba, South Sudan
Alma mater	University of Khartoum; University of Pennsylvania
Occupations	Art historian critic curator
Known for	Editor and co-founder of Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art

Early life and education

Hassan was born in Juba, South Sudan, and received an undergraduate degree from the University of Khartoum in 1978.^[3][4] He received his M.A. (1984) and Ph.D. in folklore (1984) from the University of Pennsylvania.^[4][5]

Career

Before joining the faculty at Cornell University in 1993, he taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo, the University of Pennsylvania, the College of Fine and Applied Art in Khartoum, Sudan.^[4] In addition to his positions at Cornell, Hassan serves as Dean of The Africa Institute of the Global Studies University in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.^[6]

Hassan is an editor and co-founder of Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art, published by Duke University Press.^[7] He has authored, edited, and co-edited several books, including Ahmed Morsi: A Dialogic Imagination (2021), Ibrahim El Salahi: A Visionary Modernist (2012), Darfur and the Crisis of Governance: A Critical Reader (2009), and Art and Islamic Literacy among the Hausa of Northern Nigeria (1992).^[1]

He has curated and co-curated numerous international exhibitions, such as Authentic/Ex-Centric at the 49th Venice Biennale (2001), Unpacking Europe at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (2001–2002), and The Khartoum School: The Making of the Modern Art Movement in Sudan 1945–Present at the Sharjah Art Foundation (2014).^[8][9][10]

Hassan has received several grants and fellowships, including a J. Paul Getty Postdoctoral Fellowship and grants from the Sharjah Art Foundation, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the Prince Claus Fund.^[11] In 2021, he was honored as that year's distinguished scholar by the College Art Association (CAA) for his contributions to the field of art history.^[12]