Ibrahim is part of a distinct group of UAE artists referred to as “The Five”. This tight-knit avant-garde community also included the late Hassan Sharif, Abdullah Al Saadi, Hussein Sharif and Mohammed Kazem, and was one wrought of mutual mentorship.
“Indeed, each brought distinct knowledge to the group,” Allison writes in her essay in the book titled On Not Knowing. “Hassan Sharif had studied art in London and particularly responded to the work of Marcel Duchamp, Joseph Beuys and Fluxus — and it is through this lens that the work of this community is most frequently interpreted.
“Hassan’s brother Hussain studied theatre scenography in Kuwait. Mohammed Kazem studied music and is a proficient oud player. Abdullah Al Saadi studied English but also spent a year looking at traditional art in Japan.”
As for Ibrahim, his studies took him from Pakistan, where he explored archaeology, to Al Ain, where he studied psychology. He came of age as an artist in the UAE in an era in which the visual arts were not yet valued culturally or taught as university degree programmes. But in 1986, Ibrahim met Hassan Sharif, a founding member of the influential Emirates Fine Art Society, and was pulled out of a secluded practice to an artistic methodology that blurred the lines between friendship, mentorship and collaboration, as well as set the foundation of today’s UAE creative community.
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