After the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) liberated Khartoum in March 2024 from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the capital looked very unfamiliar in the eyes of many Sudanese who returned home such as 23-years-old Mohamed Taha. When he fled Sudan, seeking refuge from fighting between the SAF and the RSF in April 2023, Taha never thought it would take him two whole years to return to his beloved home.
Born to Sudanese parents in Al Lith, Saudi Arabia, Taha pursued a double major in French and Psychology at the Faculty of Arts, University of Khartoum. Today, he stands out as one of the most interesting up-and-coming artists in Sudan’s contemporary art scene. Now based in Khartoum, Taha is working on a new art series. As a tribute to the resilience of civilians who have remained through the war, he dedicated his ongoing series of digital paintings, Future Present War, to the adaptability and strength of the people in the tri-state area.
As part of 500WM’s new Face Behind The Canvas series, we shed light on Taha and discuss his beginnings as an artist, his inspirations and influences, and reflect on some of his artwork.
A young boy sitting with his mother. © Mostafa Alian
What inspired you to become a painter? What were your beginnings like as an artist?
I started doodling at a very young age like most kids do. It was almost a daily activity for me growing up. From there it was an on/off thing until 2016, that’s when I started taking drawing more seriously and the goal was very different from what I am currently doing. I was more focused on drawing comics as it was a popular movement back then.
I continued down that path, producing nothing but comics until 2022.
Why did you choose painting from other art mediums?
In late 2022, I happened to discover the art scene in Khartoum; I found out there were artists and galleries. From that point, I leaned towards painting a bit more, but still had not left the comic book scene yet.
In 2023, after the war broke out, I was met with a dead end in making comics. It was too much of a hassle; you are a writer, an artist that draws, a director of the scenes while also being on the marketing end of the project, even though it was not the most rewarding experience. At the same time the personal growth that I faced post-war proved to me painting was a more suitable medium for me to express my ideas and that was the main reason in me switching towards painting post-war, in addition to other factors like the connections I formed.
When you say rewarding, do you mean it is more financially rewarding or do you mean it from a satisfactory point of view?
From all aspects. When you are drawing comics you work relentlessly like a machine, sometimes without even thinking because everything is preplanned. Expression is limited in drawing and is more confined to the writing aspect of the process. This makes drawing a very mechanical process.
Another aspect is the matter of the audience; your audience basically are other artists checking out your work. There are no pure readers out there who are willing to read the products you put out there. This hinders the financial aspect of comic production.
You used water paint for a period of time. What made you switch from the traditional water painting to the more modern digital painting?
I used to water paint but only for a brief training period as water colours are essential when learning colouring basics. The main reason I abandoned water colours is how anxious it makes me because it is such an unforgiving medium. Actually I do not understand those who claim water painting is relaxing at all. I have used oil paint, acrylics, wood paint and many other mediums, nevertheless water colours were the most difficult to master as there are no second chances and no possibility of editing. One mistake affects the way the whole painting looks.
The reason I switched to digital painting was mainly financial, as you pay in one installment only. It also allows you the creative freedom to commit mistakes and implement different ideas to the same painting.
This goes back to the fact that the process of producing digital art differs from the process for traditional art. I liken the process of digital painting to kneading. I make a reference for the painting and keep mixing and editing different ideas freely as I am two clicks away from the previous frame.
As for the contemporary and historical influences, who are the artists that inspire you and have a great impact on your work?
Mustafa Alian (@aliean.artist) is the one artist who ignited this passion in me. He was the man that started everything for me. I used to visit his art studio in Al Arabi up until the war broke out. If you examine both of our works, his inspiration and influence is very clear in my paintings. At the same time I think he is quite under appreciated considering his raw aesthetic. Another Sudanese painter that influenced me is Waleed Mohamed(@artistwaleedmohammed).
Portrait of J C Leyendecker. Image source: Wikimedia
As for historical artists, I would say Edward Hopper and J C Leyendecker who was one of the earliest people who made me realise the importance of shapes in painting, how I tirelessly gazed at his paintings but failed to replicate them. Everytime, I look at any of these artists’ works I find something new to admire.
The influence Alian has on your work is very recognisable, though it is evident that you seem to give more attention to the backgrounds of your artwork as if they were a character on their own. Are the backgrounds of great importance to you and what do they represent?
Personally, backgrounds are of great importance and hold a great value in the painting as they represent the context which my figures interact in, whether this context is feelings that can be transmitted to the observer through colours, the relationship between the characters or a story I aim the reader to conclude from the painting. The colours can also be used to portray a particular feeling that a black and white sketch without the background will not be able to reflect.
Nevertheless, these backgrounds merely represent the environment. Despite their importance, they cannot stand on their own without the characters and you will be left with colourful yet meaningless spaces.
To conclude, both the characters and the background complement each other producing my paintings.
A recurring theme in your work is displacement and forced migration. How did the experience of displacement affect Taha the human first before affecting Taha the artist?
The experience of forced migration impacted me as a person and that impact extended over to my works, and the biggest benefit I gained art-wise is being an observer.
I took quite the tour, I went to Khartoum, Al Gezira, Dongola, Port Sudan and the UAE. Throughout this tour, I encountered different events and these events created a network of people and experiences that I never imagined experiencing pre-war. Being an observer allowed me to notice different patterns, phenomena and traditions that occurred around me. All of these intersecting circumstances and acquaintances led to the work I am producing at the moment and it develops due to the same reasons. Even after this series of displacements came to a conclusion I still kept that sense of observation along with me.
Displacement is such a difficult topic and experience. It becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with previous habits and functions. How did you keep your passion ignited and how did you navigate pursuing art amidst all of this movement?
I work with a small device, my Ipad, so moving with it was not a draining subject. It needs no set-up, for instance I worked at a shop in Al Gezira and would constantly draw. Such easy accessibility allowed me to continue working in varying environments and limited my pauses significantly.
Moreover, there was no shortage of phenomena or events. I noticed different patterns and intersecting lives co-existing all the time which I insisted on portraying. I could have taken a different route and used photography to express these events, nonetheless I wanted to use the medium of painting so I can present it how I want it to be presented.
By the River © Ala Kheir
Mentioning photography, you must be familiar with the works of Sudanese photographer Ala Kheir (@ala.kheir), who heavily draws inspiration from regular life in Sudan. Do you draw inspiration from photography and what is your relationship with it?
I deeply appreciate Kheir and his work. He is one of my most visited profiles and I would have probably used one of his photographs as reference.Photography and my paintings share a strong bond. When I plan to implement some idea, I take a few photographs and use them as a reference before tweaking some details and putting the photograph in the context of the backgrounds. Therefore, photography is a huge part of my work, whether they are pictures I had taken or ones that had been taken by others.
What does Sudan look like through your brush?
It is hard to predict a future amidst the current circumstances, but if you see Sudan through my brush, you will see adaptation. Life in Sudan, including Khartoum, especially post-war, forces you to adapt and I try to capture this adaptation through an ongoing series that I am currently publishing. I would say adaptation is the main theme in Sudanese lives currently.
What is your vision for the Sudanese art scene?
As for the art scene there is some sort of hazy fog covering the future possibilities. The art scene in Sudan pre-war was so lively; there were regular galleries, emerging artists and connections forming. All of this was dismantled by the war. Everybody from artists to curators got displaced and resuming the pending activities would take quite some time, due to people barely being able to fulfill their basic needs. It would take a few years to rebuild what had been lost but eventually we will be able to reestablish the art scene.
Could you expand on your ongoing series concerning Khartoum post-liberation?
I started the series a month after I got back around August 2025. I named it Future Present War. It serves as an attempt to reflect how the citizens have adapted to the new life they found after returning to the capital or how those who kept residing in the state throughout the war adapted to this new life post-liberation.
Another thing I noticed is how most experiences had become collective with less individuality. In Fever, the painting represents the biggest collective experience I encountered in Sudan since coming in 2021.
When an event occurs, it mostly affects people as a whole whether it is a health epidemic, power cuts, how markets operate and the dynamics occurring in this new environment. All of these are phenomena I attempt to depict through my paintings.
Do you have any closing thoughts for the readers of 500WM and Sudanese artists in general?
My message to creators whether they are painters, writers, poets, etc, is to keep creating, as this, especially in these difficult times, gives people purpose, including me, even if there is no monetary gain, and monetary is not limited to finance, people’s praise is also a form of monetary gain. You just working is not an easy thing, it gives you purpose to push through. Just keep creating!
To follow Mohamed Taha’s work, find him on Instagram @goodnightmohamed or on X (formerly Twitter) @problersolvem. His artwork is available for purchase on INPRNT at @reallmohamedd.
As he ventures into this brave new world ahead of him, 2005-born Muathal Hisham tries to reflect on the experiences he encounters through poetry and prose. An aspiring bilingual essayist who aims to reinvent the way literature, art and music are interpreted, Muathal provides a thrilling dive into regional and international cultures, with the hope it might inspire positive change in his community. When he is not writing, Muathal is often busy video editing or studying for medical school at Ain Shams University. Find him @muathall on Instagram or visit his blog on Medium at @Muathal.
