ABUSHARIAA AT TRIBAL GALLERY
By Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 10.10.21)
Ahmed
Abushariaa is one of three Sudanese artists currently exhibiting their art
around the town. Salah Elmur’s art is one of eight contemporary East African artists
on show at Red Hill Gallery, and Miska Mohammed is having her first solo
exhibition at Circle Art Gallery.
All three
are graduates of Sudan University’s illustrious School of Fine and Applied
Arts, as are several other brilliant Sudanese artists who have shared their art
in Nairobi, including Eltayeb Dawelbait, Rashid Diab, and Yassir Ali among
others.
Like Miska,
Abushariaa is also having a solo exhibition, only his is at Tribal Gallery in
Loresho, where he has had several solo shows before, most recently in early
2020 shortly before COVID-19 came crashing in on Kenya and the rest of the
world.
Filling all
the walls of the many rooms and corridors of Tribal Gallery, Abushariaa tells BDLife
that this exhibition is different from his previous ones which tended to focus
on a specific theme. But in this case, his memories have taken him to many
parts of his early life when he was still living in northern Sudan.
One series
he entitles ‘Celebrations,’ which highlight joyful memories he recalls of
harvest times and weddings, happy times generally. In others he pays homage to
ancient civilizations that left pyramids and symbolic hieroglyphs not far from
his home. And in one of his most spectacular paintings, he paints his hometown
of Eltakala Abbashar, as he remembers seeing it for the first time as a child,
having climbed up to the top of his house and onto the roof to get what he
calls an ‘aerial view’ of his town.
This is the
one large painting that includes both watercolors, inks, and acrylic paints.
It’s a feat only achieved by stretching his canvas and then covering it with
watercolor paper since he says watercolors do not work well with canvas. But
the combination works beautifully, especially as he’s a master of inks and
watercolors. Plus, his aerial perspective enables us to see into the far
distance of his city, including the river Nile flowing straight across the
town.
Not all his
paintings are based on his memories. For instance, his ‘Revolution’ series pays
homage to the women who he says led the marches against the former president
Omar el-Bashir which ultimately resulted in his fall from power and the hopeful
ushering in of a new day. The four-part series devoted to women leaders are all
painted is a regal purple hue.
One of the
elders of the Revolution, Mohamed Matar is also painted in his favorite
sky-blue. And another set of four is painted in the color of the soil of another
city he holds dear, Omdurman.
But Abushariaa’s
show is not short on multi-colors, particularly the vivid watercolors that he
has experimented with virtually all his artistic life. “In Sudan, we didn’t have acrylics or a wide
variety of colors in those times, so I used to experiment producing colors
using everything from hibiscus, tobacco, and tea to coffee, saffron, and smoky
ash.” Knowing from an early age that he didn’t want to do anything other than
fine art, he majored in Oriental Decoration and Arabic Calligraphy at
university.
It was after
university that he had the good fortune to meet a Mennonite couple who saw the
paintings he created while working as a graphic designer and using printer’s
ink to draw on leftover scraps of paper considered trash by his employer. The
couple wanted to buy everything he’d produced but as he had no idea how to
value his art, he gave it all away.
“Upon their
return from the US, they brought me a huge box of art materials,” he says.
Their gifts constituted a turning point in his life since they brought him
paints, brushes, and the acrylics he had never used before.
Today,
Abushariaa has exhibited his art all over the world, and he says one reason he
has had these opportunities is because he aims to create paintings that make
people glad to be in a room with his art.
“I love to
create paintings that make people happy,” he says with a smile. He admits that
wasn’t easy for him to do during the pandemic, the news about which was
invariably depressing.
“So early
on, I decided to turn off my TV, and focus on my art. I relied on my memories
as my source of inspiration. Otherwise, I couldn’t handle the stress,” he adds.
At Tribal Gallery,
Abushariaa’s art runs from USD650 up to USD12,000.
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