After the popular uprising that led to the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir in 2019, the capital of Sudan, Khartoum, experienced a large increase in the number of galleries promoting the work of Sudanese artists, and pop-up art became widespread throughout the country. The amazing murals created during the revolution formed part of a short-lived boom which ended bitterly with the outbreak of another war on April 15, 2023. Up to now, that conflict has resulted in mass displacement and uncertainty for more than 10.5 million people in Sudan. 

“Disturbance in the Nile” lives up to its name. The works brought together in this exhibition were taken out of Sudan days before the current upheaval and have found refuge in southern Europe, initially in Lisbon and now in Madrid. The exhibition represents an effort to affirm that, even when lives and homes are torn away from a community, the people’s collective voice and expression cannot be silenced. 

The lack of knowledge about what is occurring in this unique country, the “nation of the two Niles,” provides an opportunity to go on a journey through modern and contemporary art by viewing the work of eleven Sudanese artists, most from Khartoum. 

The round table discussion organized by Casa Árabe prior to the official opening event for the exhibition, will be attended by three of the artists: Rashid Diab, Eltayeb Dawelbait and Bakri Moaz, along with one of the curators, Rahiem Shadad, who was responsible for selecting the works, in collaboration with António Pinto Ribeiro of Portugal. Introduced by: Karim Hauser, coordinator of Casa Árabe’s Cultural Programs. 

Rashid Diab (Wad Madani, 1957). Arab-African artist and art theorist. His work has been displayed in different places around the world, including the French Institute of Khartoum in 2022, the National Museum of Bahrain in 2019 and the Cairo International Fair in 2021. He has received awards at the Cairo, Abu-Dhabi and Taipei Biennials, and also received an accolade as Ambassador for Peace in Japan in 2007. He received the Climate Icon as the Ambassador for the Environment from the British Council in Khartoum in 2010, and in 2013 he was decorated with the Cross of the Order of Civil Merit by then King of Spain Juan Carlos I. His work has focused on the formulation of artistic structures straddling the Sudanese and African, building a bridge between two cultures, those of Sudan and Spain. His creations reflect the harmony and color of his country. They form a window through which we can access a perception of Sudan from his standpoint. 

Eltayeb Dawelbait (Kosti, 1968). Eltayeb Dawelbait is a post-war Sudanese artist. Due to the armed conflict, there was no space for artistic creation in Sudan. Moving to Nairobi gave him greater artistic freedom far from the regime of Omar al-Bashir. His work is known for his inventive and innovative use of materials such as recycled wood. Dawelbait draws inspiration from his rural Sudanese upbringing and the everyday encounters he experiences in Nairobi, shown through portraits. He also draws on his childhood as a source of inspiration. His imagination is built through astronomy, the desert and the Sudanese sky. His most recent solo exhibition took place at the Nairobi Institute of Contemporary Art in 2022. 

Bakri Moaz (Khartoum, 1993). Abubakar (Bakri) Moaz is a visual artist who earned a university degree in Painting from the School of Fine Arts at the Sudan University of Science and Technology. Bakri was born and raised in Khartoum, and opened his studio in 2017, bringing him a slew of opportunities which allowed him to become a major force in the local art scene. His art was also curated for international exhibitions at several venues, including Kassel, Germany in August 2020 (Passwort); Kenya in February 2020 (Apartment) and Dubai in July 2021 (Art4you). Bakri addresses the relationship between the material and the spiritual. His works provide a raw reflection on the search for purpose and the pursuit of life. 

Rahiem Shadad (Khartoum, 1995). Shadad studied Mechanical Engineering at UTP Malaysia but has always had a close relationship with art. Rahiem started working in the art scene in 2015 through a platform called Sol for Change, which later transformed into Downtown Gallery in 2019. Its goal was to provide a space where artists could exhibit their works and various social issues could be discussed using visual arts. Rahiem is a curator for the ARAK collection in Doha and was one of the participants in the TURN2 LABS held in Nairobi. He is currently a cultural consultant for various projects with entities like UNICEF, UNESCO, AICS and the Goethe Institute. He is the director of The Rest program in Nairobi, focusing on Sudanese cultural activism in exile resulting from the war of April 15.