In 2023, the Production Fund aimed to increase the artistic and cultural presence of women and promote female discourses by funding 8 selected projects submitted and managed by women and targeting women.
Through a combination of qualification measures, such as a pitching and project management training, and the provision of a support fund, various projects have been realised.
The Production Fund 2023 reflects on the turbulences of Sudan's economic and political challenges, which had a tremendous impact on the country's cultural actors, especially women. Through arts and culture, the projects contribute to the promotion of women-led businesses and cultural productions. Projects creatively highlight the multifaceted relationship between business and women's empowerment.
Trained as an architect, Reem Aljeally is a visual artist and curator whose work explores the personality and life of a young woman. She draws her inspiration from personal reflection, observations, and general curiosity. Her curatorial practice has been influenced by questions about the formation of one’s identity in its social context, the spaces we inhabit, and what shapes the contemporary Sudanese art scene. She founded The Muse multi studios in 2019, an inclusive regional arts organization with a contemporary art gallery in Khartoum.
Weam is a feminist activist working for gender rights in Sudan. As a documentarian, she records and translates women's oral and written stories in collaboration with various organisations dedicated to documenting the experiences of Sudanese women through books, films, and data collection reports.
One of her proudest projects to date was working with two female researchers on an analytical study of women's participation in Sudanese politics from 2019 until the Framework Agreement in 2023. Together with their partners, they produced a documentary film called 'Al-Serira' as an extension of their analytical report.
Sulaf is an experimental artist who is passionate about expanding her creative processes to create sci-fi beauty stories. She explores alternative beauty ideas, experimental make-up techniques, fashion and industrial design, compositing and collage, lighting, and photography. She also incorporates desktop editing software, a touch of Afro-futurism and the personal input and spirit of her subjects, as well as music. Her aim is to create visuals that inspire fascinating stories about the beauty, cultures, history, intuitive technologies, and include wisdom of the people of Sudan, as well as our interconnected global and universal cultures - both ancient and contemporary.
Ebtihal started painting as an amateur in 2016. She attended workshops from 2016 to 2017 and then joined the painting department of the College of Fine and Applied Arts in 2017. She received her first degree in 2023 and has since participated in numerous exhibitions in Sudan and abroad. Notably, she participated in UN-sponsored events, including a sustainable development workshop at Petronas (2019), International Women's Day exhibition (2020), trauma workshop at Khartoum Art Gallery Center (2022), and portrait workshop at Doha Museum of Modern Art (2019). She also participated in group exhibitions such as the International Women's Day exhibition with the Bed Platform for Women (2023), a watercolour exhibition at the Regency Hotel (2016), and exhibitions with The Muse multi studios (2021) and Downtown Gallery's Beginnings exhibition (2022). She is currently participating in the second virtual exhibition called "Art for Sudan Relief" sponsored by the Sudanese American Physician Association, while working on her first solo exhibition entitled "Tattoo Art in Sudan".
Ikram is an independent filmmaker and photographer from Sudan, who is passionate about women's issues, identity, and racism. She is also interested in peace building and Sudanese culture. Ikram believes that art can bring about individual and societal change, as well as promote culture, values, inspiration, and understanding among people and nations.
Sala is a visual artist who has been working in the media and entertainment industry since 2014. She has worked as a make-up artist in many films, commercials, and video clips. Sala is also the founder of the Cycle Line Band, a women's contemporary dance group. The group aims to produce a wide range of theatrical and expressive dances combined with songs about women's rights that reflect the social and personal concerns of the group. The group is also in the process of completing a music video that addresses the challenges women face in today's society.
Monia is a Sudanese multi-talented artist who expresses her vision of the world through various art forms and is also an aspiring young entrepreneur. She is a mental health activist who founded @Naorg_sdn, a volunteer organization that aims to raise awareness about mental health, and the Sudanese podcast @athenaonair. Monia believes that her art is a powerful tool to give a voice to those who have been silenced. Through her creative work, she aims to inspire people to live new experiences and encounter stories they have never heard before.
"The Sudanese Women Economists Association (SWEA)" was established in June 2020 to address the underrepresentation of women economists in policy and academia in Sudan. SWEA's goal is to empower and amplify the voices of women economists and aspiring economists, bringing new perspectives to economic research. SWEA provides a platform for female Sudanese economists to network, share knowledge, and contribute to economic research. It also aims to build the capacities of female economists and young women pursuing degrees in economics. SWEA believes that by convening female Sudanese economists and encouraging their participation, it can enrich the economic research space with the contributions of its members.
Jury
Sara Mohamed
Rayan Khalil
Rayan is a painter and architect. During the 2019 sit-in, she worked with many young Sudanese artists and activists on different artworks. At the beginning of 2023, she opened her own small studio in Khartoum The Muse multi studio, and continued to develop her style with different media.
Shama Al-Rasheed
Shama is an architect, cultural actor, and researcher in the field of visual arts
She worked as a lecturer at the Faculty of Art and Design at Al-Neelain University.
She is the holder of several research grants and has published research papers and articles in the field of art criticism. Her research interests include the current state of art and culture in Sudan and the Arab world, and the critique of urban planning policies from the perspective of local cultures.
She has participated in a number of exhibitions, events, and artistic and cultural activities inside and outside Sudan and is currently working on a collaborative research project (Two Sides and One Goal: Arab visual arts and the preoccupation with liberation - a comparative study of the experiences of Marwan Kassab Bashi and Kamal Ibrahim Ishaq (1960-2010)) and on a project (Fasaha) to upgrade and rehabilitate the open courtyards in the city of Khartoum. The latter project aims to contribute to the promotion of cultural life in the city and to provide the citizens of Khartoum with a cultural life based on the values of openness, citizenship and pluralism.
Fahima Hashim
Fahima Hashim is a feminist activist with over 25 years of experience in action research and feminist transformative leadership training. She was the director of the Salmmah Women's Resource Centre, which was forced to close by the Sudanese government in June 2014.
Fahima worked for the Nobel Women's Initiative (NWI), an Ottawa-based organization, as a consultant for organizing a series of international events highlighting the critical role of women human rights defenders in the Middle East and North Africa. Fahima also mentors two young feminist groups through the “Sister to Sister” program organized by NWI. In 2015, she was a visiting scholar at the Feminist Research Centre at York University in Toronto, Canada.
Fahima has dedicated her life to promoting radical change for women, especially young women, and their place in society in Sudan, Africa, and the MENA region. Last May, Fahima was awarded a senior fellowship at AUB's Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship. She is also a board member of Nazra for Feminist Studies and an interim board member of Doria for Feminist Fund.
