Dubbed ‘The Forgotten Crisis’ by TIME magazine, the conflict in Sudan is one of the largest humanitarian crisis known to date. More than 12.7 million people, or nearly one-third of the population of Sudan, have been forced to flee from their homes according to a report from OXFAM. The lives claimed by fighting and famine are equally staggering. Yet much of the world is either unaware of what is happening or turns a blind eye.
The exhibition “Resistance in Memory: Visions of Sudan” is on view at The Africa Center in New York City through March 22, 2026 and curated by Edith Arance the Galería Sura, in collaboration with Evelyn Owen, Associate Director, Curatorial Projects, The Africa Center. It presents 42 works by 12 emerging Sudanese photographers who examine the crisis unfolding in front of them: Suha Barakat, Altayeb Morhal, Mohamed Zakaria, Fakhr Aldein, Ammar Yassir, Abdelsalam Abd Allah, Marwan Mohamed, Altayeb Abd Allah, Jood Elsheikh, Mohamed Abuagla, Shaima Merghani, Al Mujtaba Ahmed.
Arance found all the photographers through social media. Edith Arance’s goal in doing so is to seek out and give a voice to local photographers from different parts of the country whose work would otherwise not have such a large reach as it would in the exhibition.
“One of the main challenges in putting on this exhibition was finding the best way to convey and explain the events and the different realities within the country,” Arance tells Blind. “This explanation was key so that the exhibition wouldn’t simply be a visual journey, but a learning experience, a connection with the photographers, an understanding, and a way to become aware of a conflict of paramount importance for understanding many others happening on the continent, and not only there.”
The current war has its roots in late 2018, when a popular revolt began in Sudan culminating in April of 2019 with the ousting of the country’s president Omar al-Bashir in a coup. The coup had been carried out by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which had originally been one of al-Bashir’s militias.
The SAF and RSF established a transitional power-sharing government and a new constitution, and chose Abdalla Hamdok, an economist and development expert as prime minister. But in October 2021, the SAF and the RSF staged another coup, overthrew Hamdok, and suspended the constitution. Then in 2023 the power-sharing agreement between the Dagalo and the Burhan broke down, each side saying the other broke the deal first, and the current round of fighting began.
“I hope that visitors leave the exhibition knowing more, understanding a reality that was perhaps unfamiliar to them, or with a deeper understanding,” Arance explains. “I wanted people to leave the exhibition wanting to know more, to get more involved, perhaps even to write to the photographers and talk to them, to start a dialogue and build bridges, of whatever kind. I wanted to raise awareness, as a preliminary step to anything else, whether that awareness then translates into action or not. But we cannot live without knowing and without trying to understand. The world is becoming an increasingly dark place, and I wanted to bring some light.”
The 12 photographers all came to pick up the camera in their own way as the situation in Sudan changed around them. Shaima Merghani, for example, had studied photography in high school, but had mainly photographed daily life and street photography. Al Mujtaba Ahmed had no real experience till the war, when he began using the camera on his phone to document what was going on around him and be a conduit to show the world what was happening.
“As the war broke in 2023, my perspective in photography shifted into documenting and storytelling,” says Merghani. “While many photographers had to flee the country there was no media coverage, but the world needed to know more about the war of Sudan and I found myself there telling the stories via photos.”
Covering the situation in Sudan is also a very dangerous enterprise for photographers documenting the country, and for journalists in general. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, in 2025, 9 journalists were killed in the country, bringing the total to 15 who have died since the current war began in 2023.
Reporters Without Borders, which ranks Sudan in 156th place out of 180 countries on their Press Freedom Index, in their report on Sudan, tells of the increase in threats, attacks, and abuses on journalists in the country have become much more frequent. In addition, many independent outlets have stopped working, and independent journalists who are still working are targeted for their work. Meanwhile the state-run media work as government mouthpieces, and work to spread propaganda. But they will keep doing their work till then.
“While on duty, I endured immense pressure and was harassed and arrested by various sides in the conflict,” tells Marwan Mohamed. “I was once detained by the RSF, under whose captivity I was subjected to torture and aggressions. Much of my material was confiscated, including files from a project documenting the reality of Darfur, footage of El Fasher, the chaos unfolding there, the dismantling of the city by the military, the last siege, and the high death toll.”
Through the ongoing war, mass displacement, and all the other atrocities that are the byproduct of a conflict on a scale such as Sudan, the photographers continue to work to raise awareness of what is going on in their country, and at the same time create a visual history for future generations to be able to see and know what happened.
“The role of photographers is fundamental, not only in bearing witness to what is happening in Sudan, but also in raising awareness about the true nature and implications of the conflict, especially in Darfur, as seen firsthand,” adds Mohamed. “I hope that our work will not only help change the reality of Sudan by showing the brutality of the war, but also that the precarious situation of photographers will change and they will begin to receive greater recognition.”
As 2026 starts, so does the 3rd year of the conflict since the breakdown between the SAF and the RSF, and the situation in Sudan doesn’t seem to be at a point where the violence will stop. The fighting continues unabated. Drones, smuggled into the country, are now playing a bigger role in the conflict, and striking both civilians and aid workers and their supplies by both sides. In Darfur, the RSF and their allied partners have been accused by Human Rights Watch of a campaign of ethnic cleansing. Neither side seems to have an upper hand that could end the fighting one way or the other, and so the violence continues.
“I just want to enjoy this life and go back to taking pictures of other topics; of daily life and nature. I have been waiting for a long time for a simple life in which there is no war,” Ahmed says. “I don’t want great luxuries or a level of comfort beyond what any ordinary person desires. I just want something that gives me a reason to live.”
“Resistance in Memory: Visions of Sudan”is on view through March 22, 2026 at The Africa Center at 1280 Fifth Avenue in New York City. More information about visiting the exhibition can be found here.
