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Disturbance on the Nile: Modern and contemporary art from Sudan

From March 07, 2024 until June 23, 2024Mondays through Sundays, from 10:00 to 8:00 p.m.

MADRID

Casa Árabe exhibition halls (at Calle Alcalá, 62). Mondays through Sundays, from 10:00 to 8:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.

In Spanish.

On Thursday, March 7, Casa Arabe will be opening this exhibition at its Madrid headquarters, allowing visitors to see works by 13 Sudanese artists, resulting from the latest events and changes in that country.

Since the second half of the twentieth century, Sudanese contemporary art has evolved in a vibrant and dynamic scene which reflects the country’s rich cultural heritage, diverse communities and complex socio-political realities. Sudanese artists, both within its borders and in the diaspora, have managed to bring together artistic cross-culturalism in order to address a wide range of themes using various media, often blending traditional influences with modern approaches that explore identity, history and social challenges.

The historical journey endured by contemporary Sudan has been marked by loss, pain and violence. However, many emerging artists have sought to move away from the victim’s perspective and, in spite of the fragility left behind by armed conflict, to build a solid stage for expression.

With the exhibition Disturbance on the Nile, hosted previously at at Lisbon’s Brotéria Gallery, Casa Árabe hopes to fill a gap in Madrid’s art scene. The lack of knowledge about what is going on in this unique country, the “nation of the two Niles,” straddling the Arab and African worlds, creates an opportunity to go on a journey through modern and contemporary art by viewing the work of eleven Sudanese artists, most from Khartoum. More specifically, they are Mohammed A. Otaybi, Rashid Diab, Tariq Nasre, Eltayeb Dawelbait, Sannad Shreef, Yasmeen Abdullah, Bakri Moaz, Hassan Kamil, Miska Mohmmed, Reem Al Jeally and Waleed Mohammed.

The selection of these eleven artists, decided by curators Rahiem Shadad (Sudan) and António Pinto Ribeiro (Portugal), seeks to reflect the lively scene created by the 2018-19 revolution, not only through mastery in more traditional techniques such as painting, but also in more experimental narratives, which include audiovisual media. As part of its mission, Casa Árabe is attempting to act as a meeting point and provide support, with a safe place to build lasting bonds between Europeans and Arabs; a bridge between the Iberian Peninsula and Africa; a space for closer ties between the Spanish and Sudanese societies.