Since 15 April, Sudan has been going through a bloody conflict between the Sudanese armed forces (SAF), lead by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), lead by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as “Hemedti.”

Sudan has already experienced two civil wars and several internal conflicts, the repercussions are dramatic. According to the United Nations, around 5.6 million people have had to flee the capital of Khartoum, the epicenter of the conflict. More than 3,900 have already died, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED).

Since the outbreak of war, Sudanese artists have found themselves caught between exile and the need to reinvent themselves in the diaspora. Ahmed Carlos, a Sudanese musician and composer now based in Cairo, is one such artist. He spoke with Tamooda about experiences. 

I met Ahmed in Cairo, where he settled on 18 May after fleeing across northern Sudan for over a month. Of course Egypt was geographically the most practical place to escape to, but he was also motivated to go there by the close ties between Sudanese and Egyptian artists. 

Co-founder of Aslaf, a music project focused on Sudanese cultural heritage, Ahmed has traveled throughout Sudan, including in regions beset by local conflicts, recording the different musical styles of this multi-ethnic state. Sudan has some 300 separate tribes, each with a distinct dialect and style of music. The aim of Aslaf is to raise awareness of this heritage among new generations. The initiative has given rise to a documentary, produced by Sudanese media company Ayin. 

Three days before the conflict erupted, Ahmed managed to save the Aslaf sound archives, the fruit of several years’ work on the heritage of Sudan’s musical repertoire. “Losing the recordings would have been like losing my studio,” he told Tamooda. 

Located in the center of Khartoum, behind the Presidential palace, his studio was hit during firefights between the army and paramilitary forces. At that time, Ahmed says he did not know the fate of his studio and of any of his belongings since he had to leave all the equipment behind when he fled. The caretaker was forced to evacuate the building as it came under heavy gunfire. Fortunately, most of Ahmed’s work survived. 

For Ahmed, music is a means of uniting his multi-ethnic country. “Ethnic diversity in Sudan is our greatest strength, but also our weaknesses,” says the artist, who remains convinced of the power of music as a peacebuilding tool.

Since his arrival in Cairo, Ahmed has joined a network of Sudanese, Ethiopian, and Egyptian artists. Together, they have performed at “Ici le Soudan,” a series of events in solidarity with the Sudanese artists led by The Institut Français d’Egypte in Cairo. Despite his relative success, there are still many challenges for the artist to tackle. He has had to adapt to a new audience, diversify his income, and carve out a niche for himself in Cairo’s prolific music scene. “You have to work harder to establish yourself in a new scene like Cairo, full of brilliant musicians,” Ahmed  told Tamooda.

The musician stays hopeful of being able to perform again with his band, Kush, which he co-founded in 2014 with Nancy Ajaj. Ahmed is the lead guitarist and also composed and arranged many of the songs. The group became fairly popular during the Sudanese revolution as their songs reflected experiences that many Sudanese could relate to.

Kush has already performed in a number of countries, including Saudi Arabia in 2018. Sadly however, the 14 members of Kush have been scattered between Sudan and several neighboring countries since the fighting broke out. Nancy Ajaj decided to stay in Sudan. If conditions allow, Ahmed says he would like to reunite Kush for a concert in Port Sudan and perhaps in Egypt too. Yet with the travel restrictions affecting Sudanese, the possibility of playing together remains illusory.

Stifling travel restrictions are also the daily lot of Sudanese sportsmen and women. Brahim Ahmad Snoopy's documentary Journey to Kenya, follows a Sudanese Jujitsu team on their long journey to Nairobi to participate in a championship. The film pays tribute to the revolutionary spirit of the Sudanese people during the 2019 revolution. The young athletes are willing to cross three countries in an old van, with no funding, taking on the restrictions and hazards of the journey. 

Ahmed Carlos said he “doesn't want to be overwhelmed by grief.” Despite it all, he feels optimistic about what will come after the conflict. “The children are an example of resilience that should inspire us not to sink,” he said. The kind of inspiration that Ahmed takes from the children of Sudan is the kind that many take from him and his fellow young artists.