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Sudanese artists

20 artists

Sudan's art history reaches back to the kingdoms of Kush and Meroë, whose pyramids, temples and sculpture rivalled Egypt's, and to the painted churches of medieval Nubia. Modern Sudanese art took shape around independence in 1956, when artists trained in Khartoum and Britain founded the Khartoum School. Ibrahim El-Salahi, Ahmed Shibrain and their colleagues, including the painter and filmmaker Hussein Shariffe, built a modern art from Arabic calligraphy, African forms and Islamic ornament. Kamala Ibrahim Ishaq later broke away to found the Crystalist group.

Many Sudanese artists have worked in exile: the printmaker Mohammad Omer Khalil in New York, Rashid Diab in Spain before returning to found an art centre in Khartoum, and Ahmed Umar in Norway. The list also includes photographers, from the pioneer Rashid Mahdi to Ala Kheir, and two people better known for other things: the wildlife cameraman Hamza Yassin and Leni Riefenstahl, listed for her contested photographs of the Nuba. These are Sudan's artists, most looked-up first. See also North Africa.

Profiles

Painter

Ibrahim El-Salahi

Sudan · 1930–

Ibrahim El-Salahi fused Arabic calligraphy and African forms in the Khartoum School, drew his Prison Notebook in 1975–76 and had a Tate Modern retrospective.

Painter, filmmaker and poet

Hussein Shariffe

Sudan · 1934–2005

Hussein Shariffe, a pioneer of Sudanese modern art linked to the Khartoum School, showed in London in 1957, taught, made films and died in exile in 2005.

Artist

Ahmed Umar

Sudan · 1988–

Ahmed Umar, who came to Norway from Sudan as a refugee in 2008, uses ceramics, textiles, jewellery and performance to tell stories of queer Sudanese lives.

More artists

Most looked-up first. Names link to our profile, or to Wikipedia where we do not have one yet. Short descriptions from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons. Image credits

Better known for other work

Writers, presenters and public figures whom Wikidata also lists here; their profiles explain the connection.

Filmmaker and photographer

Leni Riefenstahl

Sudan · 1902–2003

Leni Riefenstahl, director of Nazi propaganda films, photographed the Nuba of Sudan in the 1960s–70s. Why the pictures are contested, and who studies them.

Wildlife cameraman

Hamza Yassin

Sudan · 1990–

Hamza Yassin, born in Sudan and based in the Scottish Highlands, is a wildlife cameraman, photographer and TV presenter — and won Strictly Come Dancing in 2022.