زهرة عبد الرحمن نورين ……. An installation by KHALID KODI

Sudan Dirty Laundry.

An installation dedicated to Zahra Abdurrahman Noreen.
A teacher from Darfur.


This installation is a visual exploration of the exciting and important role played by colors in contemporary Sudanese cultures and societies, and of the physical and psychological manifestation of color in everyday life. The installation further explores the contradictory meanings that often evolve from historical and contemporary gender-based violence against women, particularly under conflict.

The instillation will examine the physical characteristics of the choice of colors by women from several regions of Sudan, and its relation to the unique environment and nature of these regions. As wearing distinctive clothes with strong and bright colors convey specific personal and social information, indeed, the physical and artistic expressions of many Sudanese cultures are evident in dress as much as they are evident in ritual and ceremony.

Given that recent history has documented an outbreak of intense violence against women in a number of war-affected areas in Sudan, and assuming that vileness may take decorative shapes, the work will explore the visual equivalent to violence: how these dresses might actually be decorated with violent images?

The elements of fascist propaganda that are strongly interlinked with such violence as Sudanese women have experienced will be gathered from Sudanese TV programmes in the 1990s as well as in the new millennium. In that sense, the show also engages critically with predominant representations of women in conflict situations as mere victims, and reveals the way in which violence can be inscribed much longer that is often assumed.