Ahmed Umar

Ahmed Umar (b. Sudan; He/she/they) is a cross-disciplinary artist living and working in Oslo. He received his MFA degree in medium- and material-based art from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts in 2016. Through his art, Umar has also been an important front figure for queer persons with Muslim backgrounds in Norway and Sudan. Umar’s art practice highlights questions regarding identity, religion, and cultural values through different modes of artistic expression. He uses personal experiences as tools to convey narratives not only about suppression and alienation, but also about liberation and owning one’s own history. Umar works within a broad range of media – sculpture, textiles, ceramics, jewelry, photography, performance and more– and with materials and techniques that are as multi-faceted as the stories they relate. His works have been exhibited at a number of institutions in Norway, and he was a participant in the 22nd Biennale of Sydney. Umar’s works are in the permanent collections of the National Museum, Drammens Museum and City of Oslo Art Collection and more. In 2023, Umar presented a large-scale solo exhibition, Glowing Phalanges, at Oslo’s Kunstnernes Hus and Bergen Kunsthall. He is also awarded with the Audience Award on the renowned Lorck Schive Kunstpris, at Trondheim Kunstmuseum.