Hassan Musa mail art collection

The catalogue lists 58 items; several contain two or more pieces that tally for a total number of 70 pieces. There are 40 ‘works of art’ of which 36 are the artist’s Mail Art; the other four are lino prints. ‘Correspondence’ includes accordion letters with photographs and drawings, drawings on envel...

Full description


Date(s) of creation: 1990s to present
Level: Collection
Format: Archive           

Reference number: MS 381333
Summary: The catalogue lists 58 items; several contain two or more pieces that tally for a total number of 70 pieces. There are 40 ‘works of art’ of which 36 are the artist’s Mail Art; the other four are lino prints. ‘Correspondence’ includes accordion letters with photographs and drawings, drawings on envelopes and cards by Aya Musa (the Musas’ daughter), undecorated post cards and ephemera.
Main author: Musa; Hassan (b 1951); contemporary visual artist
Extent: 1 box
Admin history: Hassan Musa (b.1951, Sudan), a contemporary visual artist, is well-known for his complex textile paintings and subjective calligraphy. For many years, his eye-catching hand-made works, often satirical, sometimes absurd, have been exhibited in innovative, international group shows (list below) and in commercial galleries. His practice demonstrates how new imagery transcends the canons for African, Islamic and western art to represent a plural identity. Concomitantly, as a persistent activist, Musa has widened the reach of conventional visual art ... View more
Acquisition: The donation was made to the SOAS Library in June 2018 by Elsbeth Court, an academic who teaches African Art on the IFCELS course at SOAS, with the support and agreement of the artist Hassan Musa. It comprises items that were received and collected by Court who has known and worked with Musa since 1992, when he first exhibited in London and performed a ‘graphic ceremony’ in the old Assembly Hall, SOAS. Since then, he has enjoyed intermittent associations with the School including a mini-exhibition of his Mail Art during the opening week of the Africa’95 season (see Africa’95 Archive, Ref No: AF95, and the SOAS Archive: Centre of African Studies for ‘African Artists: School, Studio and Society', Ref No: SOAS/CEN/01/01/40) and other cultural spaces and events in London.
Accruals: A further donation is intended to provide more of their correspondence and other documents that are associated with the Mail Art.
Arrangement: The collection is arranged in broadly chronological order.
Access status: Restrictions Apply
Access conditions: Requests to access this collection should be made to the Archives & Special Collections department in advance.
Copyright: Copyright in the artwork of Hassan Musa assigned to SOAS by the artist, 2018. Copyrights persist in other images and texts. The user is advised to investigate copyrights before making any re-use of this material.
Language: English
French
Arabic
Scripts: Latin
Copies: Digital copies of material in this collection can be see on the SOAS Digital Collections.
Format: Archive           
Subjects:
Art
Access Points - Person, Corporate & Family Names:
Name Code Person, Corporate or Family Name Type of Entity
GB/SOASNAF/P1883 Musa; Hassan (b 1951); contemporary visual artist Person