Art Crawl

Last updated on July 26, 2017

A few friends and I went on an Art Crawl in Khartoum this evening. Ok, I use the term crawl loosely, since we only went to two art spots.

We first went to an Art Show featuring relief work, sculpting and painting by Sudanese artists. There were many interesting pieces. The best part of the experience however was chatting with the manager for the place. She told us about some workshops that she’s done with both Sudanese artists and children. The current ten day exhibition features the work of artist who were involved in an art workshop before Eid. The exhibition runs for 10 days, and the pieces are changed daily so that each work is displayed for at least one day. Opening night was last night. She expressed pleasure in the attendance last night, saying the gallery provides an opportunity for art appreciation that is too rarely provided in the Sudan. Even though she has sold few pieces, she considers the exhibition a success because it makes art accessible to others and provides an opportunity for families and children to come to a place where they can see art.

I’m looking forward to other exhibitions at this gallery. The manager seems to be involved in some great work with artists in general, as well as female artists in particular. She was the director of a women’s artist association for several years. I look forward to finding ways to support her work.

It seemed too early to end the night so we then went to Dabanga, a coffee shop and gift shop in Amarat. There are some beautiful pieces there, items from all over Africa that I have not seen in any other shops. The prices are above my budget, so I did a stroll through to appreciate some of the art and crafts from different parts of Africa.

We hadn’t spent any money on art so we were able to afford dinner. We went to Solitaire and had a great dinner and coffee before heading home. A great night out in Khartoum. We need to create more of these … Next week, english bookstore crawl in Khartoum.