After 18 months of the outbreak of war in Sudan the artistic map changed as did the battle map changed on the ground multiple times between the Rapid Support Forces and the army as many Sudanese creators were forced to be displaced in displacement camps and refugees in neighboring countries.
In extreme silence and with less than 10 mourners – in most cases – more than 15 Sudanese poets, creators, football stars and socialites who were killed during the past five months were buried, after the bullets of the ongoing war in the capital, Khartoum, since mid-April were stopped thousands of their fans bid them farewell, as was the custom before the war.
Due to shells falling on their homes, their whereabouts, and because they did not receive treatment and health care due to the dangerous security conditions in the three cities of the capital, 7 of the country’s leading poets, musicians and artists died during the current war.
A significant number of creative people in Sudan suffer from a lack of treatment and food, especially those who live in shelters spread in safe states. Creative people complain of being marginalized by the relevant authorities. According to them, artistic unions do not receive the necessary support to conduct their work, especially after the outbreak of the conflict.
According to the Oud player and member of the Sudanese Musicians Union, Moataz Mansour, who lost one of his limbs due to the war, the artists inside the country were severely affected by the conflict. Some of them are injured and some of them died because of the war.
Missing role
Moataz goes on to say that the Artists Union itself needs state support because it has lost all of its sources and income in Khartoum and has become unable to perform its duties in supporting affected artists.
The head of artistic union in Red sea state think that the artistic body in Sudan has been affected by the war especially in the areas affected by the war in Khartoum, Darfur and Kordufan.
The Union of Artists in the Red Sea State transformed a number of its headquarters in the city of Port Sudan, the new administrative capital of Sudan, into homes to house dozens of artists, musicians and composers who were displaced by the war from Khartoum, Darfur and the Gezira.
Destroyed theaters
The Sudanese war led to the destruction of the artistic infrastructure, as most of the theaters and cinemas in Sudan were destroyed. The security and military authorities also impose restrictions on organizing artistic and social events.
The war that has been going on in Sudan for more than 18 months has limited the creativity of Sudanese singers, dramatists, and playwrights, as the majority of them were displaced within the country, while others took refuge outside the country.
According to the artist Moatasem Essam, the war in Sudan affected the artistic career of his fellow artists and stopped a significant number of cinematic, lyrical and artistic works that would have seen the light if the war hasn’t begun.
Art as a weapon
Both sides of the war in Sudan use the Sudanese song and popular heritage to bring in more support and fighters and to gain tribal and popular support. The Rapid Support uses the local heritage of the states of western Sudan, while the army uses the local heritage of northern and eastern Sudan.
Indeed, the ongoing war, since mid-April of last year, without any signs of a solution on the horizon, has led to a state of sharp polarization and open confrontations, especially on social media sites between artists calling for a halt to the military operation, or those lining up with one side of it, amid hate speech and language that amounts to setting up gallows for the other, based on charges of treason.
Since the beginning of the war, dozens of Sudanese artists have composed and sang new songs in support of both sides of the conflict, while some of them have composed songs calling for peace and an end to the war.
Art Restrictions
In addition to war complications the Sudanese authorities after war has restricted the cultural, political and musical events forcing hundreds of artists to get permission before 72 hours and sometimes not responding to them.
Waleed the director and theater critic says that “We faced the challenge of complexity of procedures. By example for giving a workshop even as a voulteer it took me so long to get a permission from Police, intelligence, army and other institutions”.
Waleed added “the authorities in Sudan need to change their behavior in treating creators and singers”.