Osman Waqialla

Sudan, b.1925 - 2007

Osman Waqialla is a painter, teacher and calligrapher. He graduated from Gordon Memorial College (1945) and the School of Design in Khartoum (1946).  After graduating from Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts in England (1949), Waqialla returned to Sudan and taught at the School of Design at University College in Khartoum.  He then left to Cairo to study at the School of Arabic Calligraphy, graduating in 1951.  Along with Shafik Shawki, Waqialla founded the College of Fine Arts in Khartoum where he taught painting between 1949 and 1954.  A member of the Old Khartoum School, he manipulates calligraphy for both its graphic qualities and content.