Foreword & Introduction

Prologue by Khalid Wad Albaih

At a young age I moved with my family from Sudan, a society with a Sudanese majority, to Qatar, where international expatriates are in the majority. I grew up with people from everywhere and learned how to start conversations in many languages. Along with each conversation and introduction to a country, there was always a mental image that represented each place and its people. I normally formed this mental image from an accumulation of media and conversations. For example: Dome of the Rock for Palestine, Ikea for Sweden, the pyramids for Egypt, Qadafi for Libya, and so on… Sadly, when it came to Sudan, due to the lack of Sudanese media output it was a blank for most people, including myself. 

I always found myself providing a roadmap to what used to be the biggest country in Africa: “Sudan is the biggest country in Africa,” “we have the most pyramids in the world,” “the Nile is actually formed in Sudan,” “no, Sudan is not all jungle” … you get the idea.

Sudanese are very proud people. However, the lack of knowledge and appreciation of an inclusive Sudan has been one result of the successful political Arabisation and Islamisation of Sudan since the country’s independence in 1956. 

Like many, I only knew what I heard from my family about how clean and organised all the main cities were, where milk in glass bottles used to be delivered to homes every morning, where people took the tram and the well-equipped train, how well-established Khartoum University was. However, that is not enough to compile a mental image for me, let alone the rest of the world. 

This book is the first edition of a selfish attempt to form a mental image of Sudan by tapping other artist’s memories. 

The first-ever collection of its kind, “Sudan Retold” puts together creative narratives on diverse moments from comic book writers, graphic designers, cooks, film-makers, and illustrators. These artists were selected through an open call by Goethe-Institut in Khartoum in 2017.
 

Introduction by Larissa Führmann

Sudan – the name derives from the Arabic bilād as-sūdān (بــادالســودان) “the lands of the Black [people].” It refers to the land where the two Niles meet and 74 languages are spoken; where the queens of the Nubian civilization dating from around 2,000 BC ruled their matriarchies, beating back the Romans and building around 255 pyramids – double the number of pyramids in today’s Egypt. Thousands of years of trade and Hajj pilgrimage routes di-versified the people, their cultures, and traditions. It is the country that fought against Turkish, Egyptian, and British colonisers, a country with impressive churches and mosques alike – a country famous for having had three revolutions in the past 62 years. Malcolm X visited Sudan in 1959, followed by other influential people such as Louis Armstrong, Harry Belafonte, Jimmy Cliff, and Miriam Makeba. 

Nowadays most people outside the country’s borders are unaware of Sudan’s rich past, multifarious present, and kaleidoscope of people. International media outlets mainly talk about the wars, famines, and political crises there, painting an incomplete picture of the country which was the largest on the continent before it split in half just a few years ago.

In June 2016, I was contacted by Khalid Albaih with a concept for a graphic novel he called “Sudan Retold.” He talked about the importance of finding a way to retell or initiate stories about Sudan in collaboration with a generation of young artists in book form. The artists would narrate excerpts from their ancestral land’s history through photography, comics, poetry, storytelling, paintings, and more. Khalid’s idea was that the book would fill a gap and add pieces to the puzzle of Sudan’s image outside its borders. 

Through a call for applications, more than 30 artists and creative talents with all kinds of backgrounds, interests, and skills were selected to participate in the project. In a 3-day workshop in January 2017, Khalid presented his vision and the artists immediately voiced their ideas. Discussions were initiated. In the following weeks, the group members had time to develop their ideas and put them on paper. As news of the book travelled throughout the diaspora, more and more artists sent in contributions. 

After the initial concepts were developed and drafts were completed, another workshop – this time with the German comic artist Reinhard Kleist – added input to the realisation of the first Sudanese graphic novel. The enthusiasm sparked among the artists’ circles produced 26 chapters that made it into the final selection for the book. The chapters give insight into Sudan from the perspective of young artists. They will enrich people’s knowledge of the country and its people, raising awareness of the continent’s rich but concealed history.