Bringing together 14 paintings and a large-scale installation, the solo exhibition which opened earlier this month, offers a deep immersion into Sudan’s repressed history.
Through his works, Amado Alfadni seeks to revive the civilization of Kush and the plurality of Sudanese identity, blending reality with imagination and creating a dialogue between past and present.
“In Kushit, I attempt to breathe new life into the spirit of the ancient Kingdom of Kush, this powerful and flourishing Nubian civilization. It is also an existential quest into the history of a people made up of 56 ethnic groups, facing an identity crisis and torn apart by the ongoing conflict. Historically, Kush referred to the kingdom established south of Egypt, rooted in the Neolithic cultures of the Nile corridor, extending across present-day Nubia and Sudan, and even as far as the Ethiopian borders,” Amado Alfadni explains.
True tapestries of Sudanese, Nubian, and Pharaonic signs and symbols, Alfadni’s works reveal themselves as the materialization of a disturbing truth. The artist repeatedly states: “The war in Sudan shocks me; it keeps intensifying and deepening the identity crisis. We are living through a fully quantified history. Who are we? This question of identity is not limited to cultural and historical aspects. It is also closely linked to contemporary political and social issues, which I seek to express through my works.”
A painful heritage
Amado Alfadni tackles the painful and sensitive chapters that have marked Sudan, from slavery to contemporary political crises, revealing untold stories since colonization. He reappropriates motifs from Kush, the ancient Sudan, while engaging, through pop art and activism, in denouncing contemporary abuses.
This approach is hardly surprising for an artist who claims the identity of an “archive artist,” following a fairly rigorous research methodology.
“My reference is history as written from the Torah. Kush, this forgotten kingdom, is mentioned in the Torah,” he asserts.
Adopting an archival and textual approach, he seeks to unearth neglected historical events and to anchor his work directly in sacred sources. He draws inspiration from the Book of the Dead of Ancient Egypt (associated with resurrection and judgment after death) as well as from the three sacred books of the monotheistic religions.
The artist draws on biblical verses such as Isaiah 18:1–7, Daniel 11:43, Zephaniah 3:10, and Ezekiel 30:4, which evoke the power and anguish of “Cush” (a term designating the Black kingdoms south of Egypt). According to the visual artist, this approach is the key to “making the Other aware of the dotted zone left behind by Sudan’s untold history.”
The embodiment of the unspoken between myth and memory
Amado Alfadni engages in a chromatic play that reaches its peak in the depiction of figures as black acrylic silhouettes (mixed media with image transfers on canvas). The upright figures embody the grandeur of the civilization of Kush, a flourishing Nubian kingdom as early as 2500 BCE.
Among the painted figures, one can recognize Queen Amanirenas, a symbol of resilience (1st century BCE); Apedemak, the prominent lion-headed god of war and protection; Sebiumeker, the Nubian god of fertility, procreation, and agriculture; Satet, the ram-headed goddess associated with the flooding of the Nile and divine protection; Arensnuphis, a god with a lion’s head or human head known as “the good companion”; and above all Mandulis, the falcon-headed sun god, the Kushite form of Horus.
All these powerful figures are rendered in black, like proud shadows, making this choice a visual embodiment of the “unspoken” and of Sudanese history fallen into oblivion. Beyond these major gods and goddesses, his works are rich in Kushite and Egyptian motifs, including the Eye of Horus, heron figures, the god Anubis, as well as various strange creatures.
These elements serve as a visual vocabulary that builds a bridge between mythology and personal reflection, urging the viewer to recognize themselves in these ancient forms.
“The work invites us to see ourselves in the shadows, symbols, and spirits of those who came before,” Alfadni explains.
He does not limit himself to sacred texts; he delves into historical layers. He also notes that he worked on the Meroitic civilization (which predates Kush), integrating Nubian scripts into his paintings.
The choice of titles is particularly evocative: War, Journey, Desert Goddess, and Isthmus. These titles encapsulate, in his words, historical violence, migration, spirituality, and fractured geography: elements that, in a way, sum up Sudanese identity.
To enrich this narrative, the artist also brings Kushite and Nubian deities to life on other canvases, such as Amun-Ra. He stages hybrid sacred gods as well, like Sekhmet, or animals with strange patterns, such as a bizarre dog, thus expanding the symbolic vocabulary of the exhibition.
Symbolic palette
The exhibition as a whole forms a vibrant tapestry of protective motifs and sacred symbols. Alfadni’s work is based on a powerful contrast between black and symbolic hues. Each color carries meaning: blue signifies the Nile or life; pink represents death and mourning; yellow embodies the sun of Egypt and Nubia.
The sequential arrangement of his figures, placed one behind the other, expresses a profound sense of mourning in tribute to his recently deceased mother and to the Nubian National Museum, which housed the Kushite civilization that has now largely disappeared.
This staging confronts reality with imagination, embodied in the contrast of colors. It is illustrated by the demolition of Kushite sites and the disappearance of artifacts, notably the statue of Tirhakah (or Taharqa), pharaoh of Ancient Egypt and king of the Kush/Nubia Kingdom, due to the current war in Sudan.
Ultimately, Kushite is far more than an exhibition; it is an invitation to an inner and collective journey. The works on display urge every Sudanese person to seek an answer to the existential question: “Who am I?”
By weaving together diverse heritages, the artist offers us a complex and nuanced mirror of his country’s plural identity. He beautifully expresses “the bitterness of an artist who always feels stateless, alone, and isolated in the world.”
The exhibition is curated by Heba ElMoaz.
It continues at Gallery Cairo, 11 Al-Kamel Mohamad Street, Zamalek, until Thursday 1 January. Opening hours: 11am to 8pm (except Fridays).
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*This article was originally published in Al-Ahram Hebdo (French) on 24 December 2025. Translation and additional edit: Ahram Online.
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