Muhsana Ali
jeudi 14 mars 2013
Introduction
Muhsana Ali was born in Philadelphia, PA in the USA in
1967. She has lived in Senegal since 2002. Muhsana holds a BFA degree and a MA in art education. She studied at Parsons School of Design
(NYC), University of the Arts (Philadelphia), PA Academy of the Fine Arts, (Philadelphia),
The American College in Paris (Paris, France) and the L’Universite de St. Denis
(France). Muhsana began traveling at the age of 18 and has exhibited throughout
West Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa, Europe and the US. Muhsana’s work covers a broad spectrum of
mediums, including painting, sculpture, installation, photography, printmaking
and video. Most comfortable in three-dimensional
work, she has produced major outdoor sculptural works as well as large-scale
alternative mosaic murals, using a variety of materials including under-glass
painting, found objects, tile and mirror.
Other material Muhsana has used in her work includes fabric manipulated
into solid shapes and forms, chains, bones, earth and wood. Muhsana’s work often touches on human and or
environmental conditions, sometimes raising metaphysical questions concerning
the same. She investigates notions of
race and identity and has explored historical tragedies such as the
transatlantic slave trade and the resulting psychological state of its African-American
descendants. During a Fulbright
Fellowship in 1997, Muhsana traveled to over 7 different African countries
researching traditional and contemporary African art. In 1999 she produced a 2-year exhibition project
in an abandoned building with Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) street youth entitled Portes et Passages du Retour. Her experience with this group of drug-addicted,
crime and violent-prone youth, shifted her creative focus to working primarily within
given communities as a means of achieving a level of social transformation. In 2000, Muhsana founded the U.S.-based
non-profit organization, Doors and Passageways
of Return Foundation, which served to assist the Abidjan youth who had
trained with her to continue their creative pursuits. In 2005, she co-founded its Senegal-based sister-association,
Portes et Passages du Retour, which has
been making artistic interventions within the rural community of Ngueniene
since 2005. The association created a Center for art and Holistic Development and artist residency space in the
same area. Muhsana’s paintings are
featured in the award winning motion picture, Philadelphia, and she is
recipient of numerous awards and honors including a Fulbright Fellowship and a Pew
Fellowship in the Arts.
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