Guest curated by Reem Aljeally for BetterShared, “Of Faces, Tales, and Lands” is a selection of contemporary artworks by 10 established Sudanese artists. The collection combines portraiture, figuration and landscapes of the artists explorations of Sudanese social structures, traditions, cultural constructions, history and present constraints.
From the questions of identity opposed by Elhassan Elmuontasir and Hazim Alhussain in their abstract portraits to the digital collages of Yasmin Elnour on women in our communities, the traditional and iconic “Karkar” usage for hair that is addressed in the illustrations of Alaa Satir and the imaginative and poetry like compositions of Rayan Elnayal and Mohamed Hamid. The collection aims to showcase a diverse realm for an outsider’s perspective to the current matters illustrated in the Sudanese art scene through the lenses of those 10 artists.
The catalogue also includes three articles as follows:
- Parallel Existence of Times in Visual Arts of Sudan, By Rahiem Shadad
- On Sudanese fine art and the absence of reception, by Mohamed Morada, Edited by Mozafar Ramadan, Translated from Arabic by Reem Aljeally
- The current state of visual arts in Sudan and its conceptual trends, by Mozafar Ramadan, Translated from Arabic by Reem Aljeally
Participating artists
Ahmed Abushakeema
A documentary photographer started his photography journey in Khartoum, Sudan, with a portrait project under the name of A Thousand Portraits From Sudan.
Ala Khier
A photographer who’s active in photography training. Ala’s work documents various aspects of everyday life and culture in Sudan.
Alaa Satir
An illustrator and designer with works that often tackle social issues, political and current affairs, as well as taking inspiration from everyday life.
Elhassan Elmuontasir
A multi-disciplinary artist whose work seeks to question identity, inner identity, self-image, social structures and individuality.
Hazim Alhussain
Painter and visual artist who creates works that are structured from exploring identity and the collective thinking in society.
Khalid Abdalrahman
A self-taught artist whose work is an abstraction of urban spaces and landscapes of Sudan illustrated through an outstanding combination of techniques.
Mosab Zakaria
An illustrator, character designer and concept artist whose work combines and researches the Sudanese history and culture.
Mohamed Hamid
A figurative painter who combines patterns, everyday objects and plants in illustrious colourful compositions.
Rayan ElNayal
A designer that uses her architecture background in visualising and speculating on fictional spaces. She is interested in how magic realist techniques can aid in the production of ethnocentric futurisms and sci-fi in Sudan, the SWANA region and its diaspora.
Yasmin Elnour
An architect and designer whose work emerges from the roots of Sudanese culture, heritage, and social contexts.