Ahmed Umar

Ahmed Umar (b. 1988, Sudan) is an interdisciplinary artist and visual autobiographer.They have lived in Norway since arriving from Sudan as a political refugee in 2008. Working across media including ceramics, jewellery, performance, installation, and photography, Umar explores the intersections of cultural tradition, religion, and personal history. They graduated from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts in 2016 and has since developed an extensive exhibition practice, with works featured in the 60th Biennale d’Arte di Venezia, the Biennale of Sydney, and the Toronto Biennale of Art.

During their residency at S12, Umar became familiar with glass as a material and experimented with various methods of incorporating writing into glass works.

Objects produced during the residency will be included in sculptures composed of diverse materials and featured in the exhibition series Glowing Phalanges—a spiritual excavation of identity, faith, and resistance. The series will be presented at the CHART art fair in Copenhagen in August and in a solo exhibition at Kunstmuseum Stuttgart in November 2025.

The residency was supported by the Alexander Tutsek Stiftung.