Ebtihal Hussain: Painting Shades of Sudanese Features

Ebtihal Hussain: Painting Shades of Sudanese Features

Jude Kateete‍

“To be an artist is to satisfy myself first, to feel satisfied every day and thank God that you have found it. Being an artist and not someone else gives me joy. When I’m not [working on my art], I draw henna, learn a new language, learn to play the piano, read books about heritage and cultures, and prepare for a new project,” remarks Ebtihal Hussein Al-Toum Mustafa, a prolific Sudanese artist. 

Simply known as Ebtihal Hussain, the visibility of her artwork has kept her away from the silent shadows of history, plausibly because it strikes the right chord in the hearts of an audience moved by her representations of Sudanese features. In most of her artwork, she depicts the Sudanese woman with well-dressed hair, tranquil, and reflecting deep or serious thoughts. Those thoughts tend to be concealed by the attention given to the head wrap or free-flowing braided hair of the composite image of a woman at the crossroads of freedom, equality and equity. Her male figures are depicted in equally pensive moods. 

The women in her work are depicted with boldness to colourfully suit the tenor of life in the socio-cultural milieu of Sudan and its dynamic socio-political environment. With self-reflection, she redefines what it means to be a woman, in addition to what it means to be a Sudanese woman, and a woman with self-assurance and dignity. Through her composition of line, form and colour, she has progressively used art as narrative to address the plight of women in the social system using Afro-Sudanese imagery. She has also used the art of henna, in light of the cultural significance of its decorativeness, to celebrate special occasions and good health for people of different socio-economic standing in society.

Hussain is a Sudanese artist but was born in Doha, Qatar, in 1995. At the age of five, she returned to Sudan to complete her studies. From childhood, she had a great passion for drawing and painting, and was drawn early on to the art of henna. She did not know that there was a university in Khartoum where she could train as an artist and went on the path of a self-taught artist. She began her art career in 2016 and participated in a number of workshops with the Deaf community in Al-Obeid, inspired by art for social change. In November 2017, she took part in the art workshop and exhibition to celebrate the 72nd United Nations Anniversary at the Rashid Diab ArtsCenterin Khartoum, with themes inspired by Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They opened her distinguished art career, and she was invited to a number of such high-profile workshops around the world.

In her commitment to continue honing her skills and to pursue an art career, in 2017 she joined the department of painting at The College of Fine and Applied Art in Khartoum where she graduated summa cum laude in 2023, earning a first class degree. It was the only public art school in Sudan since colonial times, when it was opened in 1945 as the School of Design in the former Gordon Memorial College which subsequently became the University of Khartoum. That Department provided her with the requisite light for her growth and development as an artist in the modern Sudanese visual arts tradition. It gave her a new identity built upon the foundation set by The Khartoum School as a modern art movement which started in the 1960s.

Since 2017, political and economic conditions in Sudan have deteriorated and interfered with her art education when the University of Khartoum was closed. During that period, she travelled around the region to draw henna in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Doha in Qatar. She also worked in beauty salons, which provided her with some financial means to survive and helped her to produce art. Hussain’s work as a henna artist enabled her to survive as melodies of lines and shapes she designed for her clientele flowed from her head and sprang through her hands with artistry and dexterity. Through henna art, she demonstrated her fine motor skills and attention to detail.

Hussain also uses portraiture as a form of social commentary, and in 2019, she took part in the workshop for portraiture at the Museum of Modern Art in Doha. Her portraiture not only captures the character of the depicted persons but also conveys the ideas which those persons embody, and brings out the best of her humanity. From an intellectual standpoint, she was able to use it as a visual enquiry into the persons behind the narratives. Her interest in an arts-based approach to the exploration of trauma and resilience opened an opportunity for her to participate, in 2022, in the Psychological Trauma Workshop at the Khartoum Art Gallery Center. 

She subsequently resumed her art education. When her graduate project “Painting Shades of Sudanese Features” came into fruition, in March 2023, war broke out in Sudan, and she fled to Doha in Qatar. She subsequently continued her art career and, when opportunity arose, she participated in a number of workshops both in Sudan and abroad. The turning point in her life, which shaped her career as an artist, was, arguably, her graduate project where she began to link her work to issues that concern her and her community. She is inspired by presenting her memory and emotional connection to art through which she tries to create a visual and emotional appeal to its audience. In her work, she usually likes to show strength in colour and shape, and also works at realising simplicity in expression. Hussain has worked with most painting materials, but the ones closest to her heart are watercolours and acrylics. She has participated in a number of solo and group exhibitions. Her remarkable art career enabled her to earn the 2023 distinguished production grant from the Goethe-Institut in Khartoum.

Cover artwork: Ebtihal Hussain, Untitled, 2023. Acrylic on paper, 30 x 42 cm

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