Extended Cities: Khartoum - PortSudan - Cairo
Residency Project
2024
Extended Cities is an intersectional artistic residency that explores the relationship between countries and cities and the themes on which they are based, including history, literature, and memory, focusing on the theme of construction and demolition.
“Extended Cities, Khartoum – Port Sudan – Cairo”, studies from a visual and artistic perspective the re-narration of the city of Khartoum in the cities of Port Sudan and Cairo following the post-war displacement in April 2023, which led to social and economic transformations in the city’s space.
Why do we study Port Sudan and Cairo?
Sudan is suffering from the worst displacement crisis in the world after the outbreak of the war on April 15, 2023. About 246,979 thousand people were displaced towards the city of Port Sudan, and about 514,827 thousand people took refuge in the Republic of Egypt. This crisis led to social and economic changes and changes to the city’s space, some of which resulted from a re-narration of the city of Khartoum by the displaced and refugees in these cities.
The displacement movement to the city of Port Sudan led to changes in the shape of the city through the activities of the displaced, which produced a new neighbourhood form and a new economic movement that worked to make the narrative of Khartoum in the city so that the names of the shops and the form of transportation in the city became closer. In the city of Cairo, changes were evident through economic and social activity, as the Sudanese carried with them the narrative of Khartoum through the names of restaurants, types of perfumes, the food market, and dried foodstuffs, which created a space through which the narrative of Khartoum was reproduced.
Why now?
Despite the history and great cultural rapprochement that brings together the countries of Egypt and Sudan externally and Port Sudan and Khartoum internally, the great and surprising changes that the war brought about in the reality of the cities contributed to changing the city in some of the regions and areas in which the Sudanese were stationed. The project seeks to document these changes that occurred during just one year of the war.
The project aims to:
Forming a theoretical framework that allows understanding various aspects of the city and its impact on individuals and communities. Providing narratives to dismantle stereotypes that hinder interaction between communities. It also seeks to explore and understand the city in a new way, through an artistic approach that allows artists to find a common idea about urban life and personal experiences there, in light of war, displacement, and the common suffering experienced by citizens in the three cities. Connecting local artistic communities with expatriate Sudanese artists and creating joint projects that ensure their interaction with each other.
Resident Artists
Kamal Hashim
Kamal Hashim is an ophthalmologist, university professor, and former university president, born in 1962 in the Buri district of Khartoum. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting) in 2020 and is considered one of the leading visual artists in Sudan. He has participated in solo and group exhibitions inside and outside Sudan, including his solo exhibition at Cairo University in 1985 and the Rashid Diab exhibition in 2012. His style blends African and Islamic elements with Sudanese heritage, creating contemporary artworks. His profession as an ophthalmologist inspires his use of colours, allowing him to express dreams and reality through surreal details.
Tahir Khalid
Tahir is a Sudanese photographer and filmmaker specialising in documentary photography. He resides in Port Sudan and works with the Rasif Theatre Group, contributing to documentary filmmaking and photography. Tahir is self-taught in photography but studied cinema and visual anthropology at the Sudanese Film Institute. He has worked on several documentaries, including Farja, which explores behind-the-scenes performances by the Rasif Theatre Group. He also co-directed a short film and was the Director of Photography for Voices, a visual podcast. Currently, he aims to focus more on photo essays, documentary street photography, and art books, with a deeper emphasis on photography over filmmaking.
Siddig Alhadi
Siddig Alhadi is a Sudanese ethnographic photographer and filmmaker. He is currently in his fourth year studying sociology and anthropology and attending the Sudan Film Institute. He is passionate about photography and visual archiving, focusing on visual anthropology and its impacts on art, culture, and society. He began his documentary photography career during the December 2019 revolution, which intensified his interest in filmmaking, particularly anthropology. He participated in the film “To You, My Country, Peace,” showcased at the Ismailia International Festival for Short Documentary Films. Through his artistic work and research, he seeks to understand the dynamics of Sudanese society and visually reflect social narratives.
Suzan Ibrahim
Suzan Ibrahim Mahgoub is a Sudanese artist and academic, holding a Bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Fine Arts and Applied Arts, a Master’s in Folklore, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Art. She is an assistant professor and head of the Art Education Department at the University of Khartoum. She has held four solo exhibitions, participated in over 35 group exhibitions inside and outside Sudan, and conducted art workshops. She is a member of the Office of Theoretical Affairs at the Sudanese Artists Union and serves on the Committee of Fine Arts at the Sudanese Artists Gathering in Egypt. Her works range from expressing women’s rights to drawing inspiration from memories and heritage. Presented in a semi-abstract style, they allow for contemplation and deep exploration of the artwork. Suzan draws her artistic inspiration from the relationship between humans and the natural environment, and Sudanese culture, expressing a strong sense of belonging.
Rawan Abbas
Rawan Abbas is a multidisciplinary artist born in 1996, currently residing in Cairo, Egypt. She has participated in local and international exhibitions, showcasing her work in textiles, sculpture, installation art, and video. Rawan held prominent solo exhibitions at the ARD Arts Foundation in Cairo in 2024 and at Westwerk and Galerie Genscher in Germany in 2023. She also participated in the Dakar Biennale 2022 and the 1-54 Art Fair in London. Rawan facilitates printmaking workshops at the Contemporary Image Center, exploring themes related to femininity, social dynamics, and Egyptian folk heritage through her textile practices. She earned a Bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Applied Arts at Helwan University in 2020 and studied fine arts at Cardiff Metropolitan University as part of the Erasmus+ program.
Mohammed Ohaj
Mohamed Ahmed Ali Ohaj, born in Port Sudan in 1999, is a visual artist who graduated from the College of Fine and Applied Arts at Sudan University. His work focuses on reflecting the culture of local communities and its role in shaping individual cultural identity. Through his art, Mohamed visually highlights the tangible and intangible heritage representing various cultural practices and social activities in Sudan. He has participated in numerous art projects and group exhibitions both within Sudan and internationally, showcasing the country’s cultural richness and diversity.
Residents Gallery
The project worked directly with resident artists through Conceptual sessions and practical discussions that led to the final artistic production of the artists. These sessions included:
The First Session: Cities Memory and Displacement With Sarah Haj Al-Hassan
The session focused on exploring the concepts of memory and displacement within the City context. Led by researcher Sarah Haj Al-Hassan, the session included activities and discussions about the impact of personal experiences and memories on shaping cities besides individual and collective identities. The artists’ initial projects and Conceptual orientations were also presented, the activities included creating creative maps of places and expeditions to highlight the emotional and social connections associated with them.
The Second Session: The City and It’s Relationships Formation, A Study of The Relationship between Sawakin, Barbar, Sinnar and between Khartoum and Cairo Cities. With Hassan Al-Nasser
The second session aimed to formulate a conceptual introduction for the study cities, understanding the relationship between the city and the road, the city and the region, comparisons between cities and understanding the idea of “Extension”.
This session attempts to deconstruct the concept of extension into elements through which we can understand the context of comparing each city with the other. We also recognize the relationships history between cities, and how the emergence of cities effects on other cities. We took a historical model and a contemporary historical model, so we can re-understand city relationships through the society and its economy and accordingly power and external conflicts dynamics contributing in forming a counter for every city.
The Third Session: Re-producing The Fabric in The City – Cairo as a Case study . With Ahmed Zaza’a
In the third session of the artistic residency project ‘Extended Cities’ (Khartoum – Cairo – Port Sudan), we discussed the recreation of space within the city, focusing on Cairo as a model. The session addressed the impact of social and economic transformations and the role of authority in shaping the city, as well as the relationship of new cities to redefining centrality and power relations with the regions. The session was presented by Ahmed Zaza’a, architect, urban researcher, and co-founder of “10 Tooba”
The Fourth Session: Linking Between The Theory and Visual Perception in Artistic Practices. With Farah Hallaba
This session of the ‘Extended Cities’ artistic residency explored the relationship between Conceptual content and visual creativity, with focusing on research-based art projects and interdisciplinary approaches. The discussion was led by Farah Halaba, founder of Anthropology in Arabic, and specialist in social anthropology and visual ethnography. Farah shared her expertise in ethnographic narrative and collaborative workshops, highlighting how to integrate research into artistic narratives and enrich creative processes.
This project is funded by Next Level – Production Fund, a project of the Goethe-Institut as part of the German-Arab Transformation Partnership and supported by the German Federal Foreign Office.