Ibrahim Ahmed — Artist

Only Dreamers Leave 2016

“Only Dreamers Leave” is an installation of 30 sails fabricated from heavy and porous textiles associated with labor and domestic work. Embroidered on the fabrics are gold patterns referencing baroque and arabesque iron gates, symbols of wealth and status in Egypt that dually function as exclusionary barriers for a large number of people. Weighted to the ground and congesting the space, the sails create an obstruction to the visitor’s path through the installation. These stagnant metaphors of mobility rewrite the narrative of the immigrant dream to include the reality of global systems of exclusion and segregation that are impossible to leave.

No.1 12ftx5ft Mixed Media 2016

No.2 12ftx5ft Mixed Media 2016

No.3 12ftx5ft Mixed Media 2016

Only Dreamers Leave Prototype Installation 2017

Only Dreamers Leave Prototype Installation 2017

Only Dreamers Leave Prototype Installation 2017

Only Dreamers Leave Prototype Installation 2017

Only Dreamers Leave Prototype Installation 2017

Only Dreamers Leave Prototype Installation 2017

Only Dreamers Leave Installation – Dakar Biennial – 2018

Only Dreamers Leave Installation – Dakar Biennial – 2018

Only Dreamers Leave Installation – Road Map To The Renaissance – Darb1718 – 2019

Only Dreamers Leave Installation – Road Map To The Renaissance – Darb1718 – 2019

Only Dreamers Leave Installation – Road Map To The Renaissance – Darb1718 – 2019

Only Dreamers Leave Installation – Road Map To The Renaissance – Darb1718 – 2019

Only Dreamers Leave Installation – Road Map To The Renaissance – Darb1718 – 2019

Only Dreamers Leave Installation – Road Map To The Renaissance – Darb1718 – 2019

Only Dreamers Leave Installation – Road Map To The Renaissance – Darb1718 – 2019

Only Dreamers Leave Installation – Road Map To The Renaissance – Darb1718 – 2019

Only Dreamers Leave Installation – Road Map To The Renaissance – Darb1718 – 2019

Installation Shot – Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU – 2021 – Photography by David Hale

Installation Shot – Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU – 2021 – Photography by David Hale

Installation Shot – Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU – 2021 – Photography by David Hale

Installation Shot – Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU – 2021 – Photography by David Hale

Installation Shot – Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU – 2021 – Photography by David Hale

Installation Shot – Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU – 2021 – Photography by David Hale

Installation Shot – Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU – 2021 – Photography by David Hale

Installation Shot – Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU – 2021 – Photography by David Hale

Installation Shot – Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU – 2021 – Photography by David Hale

Installation Shot – Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU – 2021 – Photography by David Hale

Installation Shot – Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU – 2021 – Photography by David Hale

Installation Shot – Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU – 2021 – Photography by David Hale

Installation Shot – Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU – 2021 – Photography by David Hale

Installation Shot – Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU – 2021 – Photography by David Hale

Installation Shot – Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU – 2021 – Photography by David Hale