679 lines
32 KiB
Markdown
679 lines
32 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "A Conversation with Khalid Shatta"
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authors: ["annaboozer.md", "shatta.md"]
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abstract: Anna Boozer interviewed visual artist Khalid Shatta about his artwork and its relationship to homelife over Zoom on August 22nd 2024. The following interview offers a transcript of that conversation, while smoothing over side comments and transitions.
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keywords: ["photography", "Sudan"]
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---
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**Boozer:** Can you tell us about your background and how it inspires
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you?
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**Shatta:** My name is Khalid Mohamed Hammad Elkhatteem. My nickname is
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Khalid Shatta. Two years ago, my older brother told me that our great
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grandfather was named Shatta also. I am Sudanese. I come from the Nuba
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Mountains in Kordofan, which is in the southern part of Sudan now. I was
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born in the Nuba Mountains but my family moved to Khartoum because of
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the war during that time and I grew up in Khartoum.
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I think my family can say also that they are a collapse of the history
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of the war in Sudan. I grew up in Sudan. I can feel the way I grew up in
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Khartoum. I now try to understand how my family, they were trying to
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settle down to the new place in their home. We weren't used to it. Sudan
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is a very diverse country -- its languages, its culture.
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I grew up in Shag-al-Nil in Khartoum. In my area most of the people
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migrated from South Sudan, Nuba Mountains, or Darfur and most of those
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people are the people who moved because of the war or the dictator
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regime or the basic needs. So, I grew up with a lot of challenges of the
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basic needs of the family and also the basic needs of me to continue my
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school journey. It was always ups and downs.
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I started art -- I don't really know when did I start. Ever since I knew
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myself, I was drawing or painting. Art for me is not only a talent or
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hobby but also art is a kind of sacred space for me to escape and
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express myself. It's a silent language that I do understand myself.
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I really like to travel and because of the situation of my family and of
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Sudan. My father, he passed away a long time ago and it was very hard
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during that time. We suffered a lot and I turned out to live in the
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streets for many years. What inspires me is people and places and
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migration itself is an inspiration. Because now in a way I feel at home
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wherever I go. I start having that concept of "I'm from here. I'm a
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human being. I'm a special creature in this universe. Why I should
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locate myself and say 'I belong to this place'?"
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I've been in Norway now for thirteen years in two places. And even in my
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country, I never stayed with my family for five years. So, the concept
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of family brings many questions for me. Once you have the right to stay
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in one place and the freedom to move that is home. Where you stay, find
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solace here, and how you can struggle to find a place to stay. But my
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soul is here in Norway now. But I am also very happy to have that
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concept that I also belong to another people, another country.
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**Boozer:** Multiple belongings.
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**Shatta:** Yes. And that shows also how it's a human journey. Some
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people are arriving and some people are falling so it leaves me to
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understand that all we have is civilization and history because we're
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all connected. And in a way to also be indigenous and native -- everyone
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is native if you believe we came from one human family. We are the
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result of all this evolution. It doesn't matter where we are located.
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But also, I think I like history and culture, art, everything. But in a
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way I'm also observing.
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**Boozer:** It sounds like you carefully observe all of the people and
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places around you for inspiration. Is that right?
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**Shatta:** Yes. Also, yes sometimes is sad because the human history is
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built with blood and it is a very painful journey to reach wherever we
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are. But, also its full of change and challenge because sometimes you
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have a question, such as "what is an American"?
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**Boozer:** There's no simple answer to that.
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**Shatta:** Yeah! And also, in Sudan even in our ancient history there
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is a lot of sacrifice for the gods, there is also violence. It's painful
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but in a way, it is also interesting how we change and accept.
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**Boozer**: All of the growing pains that we go through.
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**Shatta:** Yeah. And the beauty too. In Sudan I went to the Nuba
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Mountains, I was very scared when I was there because there was war. I
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was scared to just walk into the forest. It's just war. But when I came
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to Norway, I became more connected to the nature. Because when you are
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scared you can't enjoy the beauty around you.
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**Boozer:** You can't relax and observe.
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**Shatta:** I think places play a huge role in my artistic inspiration,
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so I like to travel.
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**Boozer:** It sounds like places, people, and deep histories inspire
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much of your work.
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**Shatta:** Yes, and also me and my journey of life.
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**Boozer:** Do you have any rituals or routines that help you with your
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creative process?
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**Shatta:** Actually, no, I have no routine. I just love to paint. I
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don't know how to express that. I don't have rituals. Sometimes my
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paintings inspire me. Sometimes just lying on my bed and looking at this
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painting seeing the canvas, the color, knowing I painted it, thinking
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"wow, this is nice!" And I feel good about that. Just to put my thoughts
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on canvas and create those kinds of shadows. Sometimes I don't
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understand it, but I like to not understand it. I like it that it
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creates a curiosity. Sometimes I can't explain my art, but, also, I feel
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it in my bones, I feel it in my soul. I can feel the power in it. I left
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my country because of my art. The government forced me to leave. I came
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to Europe because of my art. I won an international competition. I am
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here because of my art. I believe in that. Art can bring me to travel
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and also it can save me. I do believe in this power of art. I can see
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that power. Sometimes it is spiritual. It's something I don't understand
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also. But it is something that is very powerful. It is the essence of
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many things.
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**Boozer:** You spoke earlier about how art was your silent language and
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that it is a necessary form of communication for you. Although I am not
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an artist, it made sense to me how important it is to get something out
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of yourself. That art can feel true even if you don't understand it.
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**Shatta:** Yeah. It is beautiful.
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**Boozer:** How do you stay motivated to create?
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**Shatta:** You know understanding also motivates me. Just to try to
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understand is motivating. Because understanding goes both ways. At the
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end of the day, it is understanding. If it is pain, you understand why
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it is pain. If it is happiness, you understand why it is happiness. So,
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for me, understanding itself motivates me.
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**Boozer:** So, understanding your feelings motivates you.
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**Shatta:** Yes, understanding what I'm passing through. For example,
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we're passing through hard times. For me as a Sudanese even though I
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live in Norway I can see my people are just dying. There are so many
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people dying. But I need to understand the process of why we're having
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war. Also, it makes me more calm to accept the understanding rather than
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supporting the war. It's a really nice way of motivation.
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**Boozer:** You're accomplished at painting, drawing, and photography.
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What draws you to one medium over another? What differences do you find
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in your art when you change medium?
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**Shatta:** In my family I don't have a picture of me as a child. I had
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one picture when I think I was about five years or something, but I lost
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it.
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**Boozer:** Oh no!
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**Shatta:** Yeah! I didn't find it and my family didn't find it, the
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picture. But after that also I travelled a lot in Sudan. I moved to stay
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in different places. The first time I held a camera was with an
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organization for displaced children. They gave us a camera just to take
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a picture. I was happy! I felt I had a new eye to see things. And after
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that I just kept going, taking pictures. I even took photographic design
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at art school in Sudan. I like to take pictures but I find a different
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enjoyment in painting and drawing because I feel like it's all me. It's
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connected with my soul and my thoughts. And I feel like this is the
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knowledge I want to dive into more than taking pictures. But I can take
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pictures too. And from that time until now, I'm just painting, and I can
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see which level I am now. So now I'm thinking to take pictures because I
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feel like, wow. Because starting in 2009 I was a good photographer in
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Sudan and I made a lot of money from that, but it makes me very busy
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digitally. Now I'm more connected with my soul and my heart and my
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hands. I love that. And also, it gives me more perspective to create to
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make photographs. But also, because there are a billion great
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photographs. Photographs are very important, especially in the twentieth
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century, all of the history that changed the world through the
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photographs. Even the archive I'm working with in Berlin, because this
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is the one who did propaganda for Hitler, we see it's all about
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photographs. And even Mussolini it's about photographs. The
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assassination of Kennedy, it\'s about photographs.
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**Boozer:** The photographs are moving in a very specific way.
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**Shatta:** Yes. You know Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, it's the
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pictures. And it's important in that sense. But to paint or to draw is
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more meaningful. It connects me more. I feel it's me, me. Because we are
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humans, we want that. We like to take the credit. Because this
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photograph is the work of the camera. This painting is me.
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**Boozer:** You feel more connected to the paintings.
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**Shatta:** Yes. Maybe I don't understand why. Maybe I don't have the
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right approach. I think this picture is the work of the camera. This
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painting is the work of me. But maybe I don't understand. Maybe don't
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have the right answer for now.
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**Boozer:** Or your feelings may change over time.
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**Shatta:** Yes.
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**Boozer:** We talked before this interview about a photograph that you
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took and I'd like to talk about it more now. Or we could talk about
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another piece that reminds you of homelife or disconnection that has a
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story behind it.
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**~~Figure 1. “The Unknown Hope (1)”, Shatta’s hometown in El-Korgal, Nuba Mountains, Sudan. (Khalid Shatta, 2011).~~**
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**Boozer:** This one in the Nuba mountains with the white jalabiya
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(figure 1). This is where my mom and dad were born. And I don't know how
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to put it in English. You can feel the connection of home. The meaning
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is always very deep. The forest is home. The trees are a soul. And they
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are building what we call *rakooba* in Arabic.
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**Boozer:** A thatch hut?
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**Shatta:** Yes. And I really love it. The way of the motion and the
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connection. And even in my painting series, *The Migration of the Soul*,
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humans migrate from nature. When we migrated from nature, we became very
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harsh with each other. Because we don't have the language of the
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surroundings. We don't have the understanding. And I think that many
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village people are more connected with nature and they know how to
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define themselves with basic things. But in a way, they have a real
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connection with their land with nature. And I felt that in this picture.
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**Boozer:** Yes, you can see it in the way his arms cross.
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**Shatta:** Yes.
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**Boozer:** The connection is happening between him and the land.
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**Shatta:** Yes, the connection. You feel like you really belong to this
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earth.
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**Boozer:** Yes, it's beautiful. I see that connection. This one (figure
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2). This is the one we were talking about before, right?
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**~~Figure 2. “The Unknown Hope (2)”, Damazin Market, Blue Nile, Sudan (Khalid Shatta, 2011).~~**
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**Shatta:** Yes, this is the one. And on the boy's t-shirt it says "the
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eagle human eye". You see it?
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**Boozer:** Yes.
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**Shatta:** And if you think about it, I took this photograph in 2011.
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Now some of them may have three or five kids. You know how it is in my
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culture. And think about how in this kind of situation they are the ones
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who are killing. They are the ones who are stealing. They are the ones
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who are in the war. They are everything. And even me. If I am there, I
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am going to do the same thing. Because this is where I was born, this is
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how I was raised. This is what is normal. Because in Norway the police
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have no guns when patrolling. Just imagine if you grow up in a place
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where you have gangs everywhere.
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And also, it explains the trap of the history of Sudan. You know,
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because we are in war for more than sixty or seventy years, and even
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before that we have the British and the Egyptians, and the Turkish. In
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Sudan we never had a rest just to settle. The culture of war is very
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deep. The culture of war is also mixed with slavery and I think this is
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still what is ruling Sudan. It doesn't matter what place in Sudan you
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are located. Because especially this war reflects what Sudan is. It is
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very fragile. There is no basis of identity. It is a mix of races. It is
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a mix of people struggling. It is a mix of many things. But all these
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things are missing one thing. We don't have institutions to hold what we
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need, what we want to be as Sudanese. And I think this is one of the
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things. And even the system of the army that we have is a system from
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when the British colonized. And even the problem of South Sudan. They
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divided it because of the lack of opportunity for education because of
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the many lacks. And now South Sudan is divided too. And at that time,
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they said it was Christianity that was the issue, but now what about
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Khartoum?
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In a way you feel there is a country, there is a land full of minerals,
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full of resources, but there is no-one who belongs to it really. You can
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question yourself why are we like that. Even in Europe you can find a
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church that is four hundred years old or six hundred or more than that.
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They have this knowledge, these buildings. You don't feel that different
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from six hundred years ago. And some of those buildings are better than
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now. And that shows how we are very far even in the history because
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Meroitic, Kemetic, or Kushitic civilization you can be proud of that.
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But maybe we don't even belong to those people. It shows the dilemma of
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education, academic, of things. Because we need to accept that first. We
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need to see where history leaves us. We need to see that more. Maybe
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this picture for me holds those ideas. Because people think the problem
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is just from the former regime. No. It is deeper. It is more than that.
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**Boozer:** There are deep roots to it and the tree keeps growing,
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supported by those roots.
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**~~Figure 3. “The Unknown Hope (3)”, International Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Khartoum (Khalid Shatta, 2011).~~**
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**Shatta:** Yes. Because even the people who are in charge now in Sudan.
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They are Sudanese from our families. They came from the same
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communities. So, why do we ignore that? Ah, so this picture (figure 3),
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I took it in Omdurman. At that time, we were moving the South Sudanese
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and people from the Nuba Mountains. This is before the dividing of South
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Sudan. So, just imagine now what is happening in Sudan. People migrate.
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So, this is my city.
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**Boozer:** I love this one (figure 4).
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**~~Figure 4. “The Unknown Hope (4)” in the El-Haj Yousif Neighborhood, Sudan (Khalid Shatta, 2011).~~**
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**Shatta:** Yeah, this is really nice, you know? This guy, he's adopted.
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Maybe he's a soldier now. Our neighbor was the first woman where I lived
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to adopt. It was for me -- wow -- you know? Because we were living in a
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poor city, in a ghetto, so for me -- wow -- that was really nice. It was
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inspiring to me. And now maybe he's in high school or something.
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**Boozer:** It's been thirteen years now. That's a long time in a
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child's life.
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**Shatta:** Yeah. I just loved his expression.
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**Boozer:** Yes, his face is so sweet.
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**Shatta:** Yes. This is the Fulani, the Fulani people (figure 5).
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**~~Figure 5. “The Unknown Hope (5)”, Blue Nile, Sudan (Khalid Shatta, 2011).~~**
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**Boozer:** Tell us about the Fulani.
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**Shatta:** The Fulani, or Housa, are people who are located in many
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countries in Africa. The huge Fulani community is in Nigeria. But you
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find them in Sudan, in Senegal, in Chad, in Mali. Not like the Dogons.
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But the Fulani are linked even with the Tuwari, Tugu, and have other
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kinds of links. They really love cows like the Nuer in South Sudan. In
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Sudan we know them as *Omboro*. They are very spiritual. They are Muslim
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but also other things. In the Nuba Mountains we call in *kujur*, like
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voodoo, but those people also have these kinds of rituals with their
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cows.
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**Boozer:** So, they have other traditions and spiritualism entangled
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with Islam.
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**Shatta:** Yes, it is mixed because they are Muslim. Yes, all over
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Africa and even in Sudan where most of us are Muslim we have our roots
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in other traditions. This one is in el Kargal my hometown (figure 6).
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This is also Fulani.
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**~~Figure 6. “The Unknown Hope (6)”, Shatta’s hometown, El-Korgal, Nuba Mountains, Sudan (Khalid Shatta, 2011).~~**
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**Boozer:** Awe, so cute!
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**KS:** Yes.
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**Boozer:** This is a beautiful one (figure 7).
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**~~Figure 7. “The Unknown Hope (7)”, El-Haj Yousif Neighborhood, Sudan (Khalid Shatta, 2011).~~**
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**Shatta:** This is my niece.
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**Boozer:** She's so beautiful. Her face and the light you capture on it
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is just amazing.
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**Shatta:** It's really beautiful. This picture, I took it in a kitchen,
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but I took it I think with candles for light and a red lamp.
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**Boozer:** The lighting on it is so beautiful. Her face is so striking.
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**Shatta:** Now they are in a safer place. Kassala. They got out of
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Khartoum two months ago.
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**Boozer:** I'm glad to hear that...but...everyone is moving. It's so
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hard.
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**Shatta:** Yes, just imagine how tough it was for them.
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**Boozer:** Just to get out of the heart of the war.
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**~~Figure 8. “The Unknown Hope (8)”, the Roseires Dam, Blue Nile at Ad Damazin, Sudan (Khalid Shatta, 2011).~~**
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**Shatta:** Yes. There's one picture, I need to discuss with you, this
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one (figure 8). Imagine these people. They live beside the dam on the
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Blue Nile. Those people live just three meters from the dam and they
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don't have access.
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**Boozer:** They don't have access to the water?
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**Shatta:** Yes, they don't have access to the water.
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**Boozer:** That's incredible. They're so close.
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**Shatta:** Yes, I love this picture. This one is part of a series. When
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did I take this one? This was part of *Migration of the Soul* or *Gods
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in Action*. The red drawings. Should we also look at them?
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**Boozer:** Yes, let's do that! I have them here. I really like this one
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(figure 9).
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**~~Figure 9. “Migration of the Soul” (Khalid Shatta, 2019).~~**
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**Shatta:** Yes, this one is nice.
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**Boozer:** Would you like to tell us a bit about it?
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**Shatta:** This one is part of *Migration of the Soul*. The point is
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not the physical migration but the mental migration. And also, the way
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how we feel disconnected from our own existence. For me it is also more
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like how we are engaging in time together. But also, time changes and
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many things can disappear with time, through time. For example, for us
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as humans -- I'm just thinking, I don't know if I'm right or not -- but
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we are the last creatures who live on this earth. When we arrived here,
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we found everything for us, whether through evolution or whatever. We
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find the trees, we find the world, we find everything. And from there we
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build the human civilization. And we had the first migration and it's a
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lot of knowledge that came from this small family of human beings. And
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then came the first ancient peoples the first ancient civilizations. And
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now we are here in, say 2000. For me, to be in 2000, wow, just imagine
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that we are the product of many little, little things.
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**Boozer:** Many small past actions and events?
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**Shatta:** Yes. And when we look at this perspective, just wow. It's
|
||
not about how long am I going to live, but how did I become a product of
|
||
all of human evolution.
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** Coming to this body, to this place, during this period.
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** Yes, with these clothes, with this knowledge. You know? So,
|
||
if you can see, there are Wifi signs. So, for us, as modern peoples,
|
||
sometimes when we go to temples, or to mosques, or to church, we get
|
||
shocked by what those people in ancient times created. The beauty. But
|
||
for us even we have our own civilization. You are in New York City; I am
|
||
in Oslo. We speak through our laptops.
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** That is its own wonder.
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** Yes. You see it is also evolution and our time. And if we
|
||
brought someone from ancient times here, he would be -- wow -- he's
|
||
going to worship us!
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** Yes, the technology we command is incredible.
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** Yes. You see, he's going to worship us. It's normal! And
|
||
that's why I feel sometimes, it's like humans we have really smart and
|
||
beautiful minds to create things. But when we link our soul with belief,
|
||
we lost our power somehow. Also, there are the trees in the picture,
|
||
human trees. It's like a forest. So, for me, it's about we and them.
|
||
It's about our history and about our present.
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** The deep history running into the present.
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** Yes, and sometimes we forget that. That's what inspires me
|
||
too. The forgetting.
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** I love this one (figure 10).
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
**~~Figure 10. “Gods in Action (1)” (Khalid Shatta, 2021).~~**
|
||
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** It is from a series called *Gods in Action*. So, *Gods in
|
||
Action* was inspired by a specific ocean. Solomon Islands and those
|
||
people. The way they portray their gods is a very scary way. And even
|
||
when they welcome someone, it is scary. For me, I find it very
|
||
interesting how people live by the ocean. The way they are creating
|
||
their gods. For me, if you live near the ocean you need to have a god
|
||
that can scare the huge waves of the water. I don't know. I'm just
|
||
trying to think through it. So, I call it *God's in Action* because
|
||
let's imagine how God moves things. Many of us have the image of God,
|
||
but where is the action?
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** He looks like a very active God here.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
**~~Figure 11. “Gods in Action (2)” (Khalid Shatta, 2021).~~**
|
||
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** Yes, he's moving! This one is the Nile (figure 11). In
|
||
Africa in general we like to organize by family and by sticking
|
||
together. Sometimes I feel, in Sudan in general, we have connections
|
||
with nature in a spiritual way. Because we are always symbolizing
|
||
things. People portray themselves like the snake, the lion, whatever.
|
||
Maybe the point is to study the movement of these animals and to portray
|
||
themselves as like these creatures. And also, the fish. The fish is my
|
||
favorite sign. I enjoy using it in my art. And in Sudan, in the Nuba
|
||
Mountains, they draw alligators, elephants, and fish in the caves.
|
||
Because, as we said before, there is a lot of knowledge that we
|
||
inherited through our ancestors. It came through the blood. It needs our
|
||
body to relax to receive that knowledge again.
|
||
|
||
So, I feel like maybe if the wars end in Sudan it's possible to bring
|
||
back again a lot of things, a lot of knowledge that we didn't understand
|
||
as of now. This knowledge needs caring from the government to move
|
||
forward. But, for me, I'm just saving my questions so sometimes my art
|
||
is just a question for the future of how to use it in Sudan. Because
|
||
sometimes I feel Sudan is just an empty place. We have to build it from
|
||
scratch. And I use art sometimes as the missing home. Because here I
|
||
live really good. I enjoy life. But sometimes I get this feeling of
|
||
"ahhh, I came from Sudan." I remember. And I feel sad and I feel like,
|
||
wow, I have to do that in Sudan. Because I feel what we are missing.
|
||
What we are missing in Sudan, we are missing the foundation. This is an
|
||
illustration showing question (figure 12). I love the human expression.
|
||
The eyes. I paint a lot of eyes.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
**~~Figure 12. “Gods in Action (3)” (Khalid Shatta, 2023).~~**
|
||
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** This one has so many eyes and faces. It looks like there are
|
||
many perspectives on the question.
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** Yeah.
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** Thank you so much for going through these with me.
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** You're welcome. There are also many new ones.
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** How has living abroad shaped your perspective of homelife in
|
||
Sudan?
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** I think living in Norway, it's a balance of understanding
|
||
myself, understanding my country, understanding Norway. Because, in a
|
||
way, sometimes I feel I am missing something in Sudan. But me being here
|
||
it makes it easier to observe. I become more like a watcher. I can see
|
||
my tree, my journey in Sudan. I can see how I landed here. And there are
|
||
many things in Sudan that I couldn't understand because of many things.
|
||
Because of the basic needs, because of the war, because of the family.
|
||
Every time I understand something that I used to struggle to understand.
|
||
But also understanding that side of trauma and the struggle with the new
|
||
world to settle in a new place. In a way it gives me rest to understand
|
||
Sudan. But also, some years ago it all clashed together and I lost
|
||
myself. You understand?
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** Yes.
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** Deep trauma, depression, stress, and anxiety and on top of
|
||
that what's going on. Boom. It was really -- wow. And now I'm just
|
||
saying it's a good experience. *Yanni*,[^1] I love the journey! Because
|
||
also Norway, it's a place that makes me able to understand myself right
|
||
now. And also, in my art journey because I made all those arts here. To
|
||
make art is not an easy thing if you live in fear.
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** You need mental space in order to create.
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** Yes. For me, because of the space I manage to paint and to
|
||
get inspired. Norway is good for my artistic journey. Also, it is really
|
||
a good starting to know people to understand another part of the world
|
||
and also to understand how we are different and how even our problems
|
||
are totally different. And how our sadness could be the same volume and
|
||
the same meaning as the pain of the war. People here die of depression.
|
||
They die of suicide. They die with a lot of things -- with the drugs or
|
||
whatever. The people in Sudan, they die of starving, with the war, or
|
||
with the gangs. But at the end of the day, they are both lost in
|
||
themselves. They are dying. They do not exist anymore. So, I mean all
|
||
suffering is a war in itself. Also, it's a good understanding for me.
|
||
Because I can understand. Because many people if they live in a poor
|
||
situation, they think life is like that. They think they are the only
|
||
people who are suffering. But then you go out and there are other
|
||
people.
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** You can get a broader perspective.
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** Yes. I am happy to experience that. Not only to live and to
|
||
listen, but I am part of this system too. There are things you can't
|
||
learn through reading. You have to live it. This is what I can say.
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** What impact do you hope your art has on others?
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** Because I paint from my soul, I believe in that. I don't
|
||
know. I believe in my feelings. There are some things, even for me I do
|
||
not understand, but I can see it in the way I love my art and the way
|
||
other people love my art.
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** You just want for them to enjoy it and get what they want
|
||
from it. Is that right?
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** No, it's not only like that. I really love my art. For me, I
|
||
need it, I feel the beauty of it. And when people see that too, I see it
|
||
more and I appreciate that. Wow. It means a lot to me. I attract someone
|
||
through my art.
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** That it's having an impact, someone's finding meaning in it,
|
||
and making a connection with you? That it helps you see your art in a
|
||
new way?
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** Yes. And that's beautiful. Wow. What I'm trying to say is,
|
||
yeah, I appreciate that. Art, it comes from the soul. It is the language
|
||
of the heart, so when people like my art it makes me feel I am honest
|
||
when I am painting and when I am drawing. And also, it connects me. For
|
||
instance, my art is like research. When I start a painting, I start to
|
||
search. I like to go deep, and deep, and deep. And even it connects me,
|
||
especially the project I'm working on now which is about history, about
|
||
humans, about Sudan, Nubia, about many things. But also, wow, it's a
|
||
sign of how those people find me and my art. Why me? That's why I'm
|
||
saying I believe in this art.
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** How do you see art contributing to a feeling of home among
|
||
the people who have been displaced due to the current war? Does art have
|
||
a place in giving people a feeling of home?
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** I know we have war in Sudan. But I can't speak for any
|
||
artist, but in a way, it needs time to observe. You can always paint.
|
||
You know this painting? This is the first painting I made just about
|
||
Sudan (figure 13) after I went to Cairo after one year. I campaigned
|
||
about war, I campaigned about war, but I didn't feel it. You see? But
|
||
me, in Cairo, I couldn't ignore it. That's why I made this painting.
|
||
Because of what is going on in Sudan. It makes me have to try to
|
||
understand the whole things, how we came to this war, just to attack. To
|
||
attack what is going on. Because for me, what comes out, it is part of
|
||
the solution. You see now, this is part of the solution. And it is part
|
||
of the problem. It's a lot of things. It's the politics. Its many
|
||
things. But at the same time, art is the witness of the time. From
|
||
person to person, it is different. But I don't feel I can speak about
|
||
this question in Sudan, but still I paint. I paint. I painted this
|
||
painting because this is how I see the pain of war. But also, in a way,
|
||
I guess I need to be careful also to use the art in a good way. Because
|
||
now we are in a war, I am worried about Sudan...but I am not there yet.
|
||
I prefer just to let it come naturally. This painting is about Sudan.
|
||
And maybe critiquing the homescape because for people this is how they
|
||
are feeling.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
**~~Figure 13. “15th April Panic – Battle of Khartoum 2023” (Khalid Shatta, 2024).~~**
|
||
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** Their disconnect and the swarm of thoughts about war no
|
||
matter where they are.
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** Yes.
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** Are there any new mediums or projects you'd like to explore?
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** Yeah, actually, last month, I was in Portugal. I went for a
|
||
community called "Sacred Activism." I think now I'm looking to get in
|
||
more communities. So, I need just to spend a lot of time with many
|
||
indigenous communities. Because, one day I want to do this in Sudan. I
|
||
felt this was something I really needed. I feel very connected with
|
||
that. To be with a community. To be more spiritual with people. Tamira,
|
||
it is a place in Portugal. The founder is German. Now they are just
|
||
creating space. Most of the people are from Israel, the United States,
|
||
Germany, from Portugal, from Brazil. They create space just to grieve,
|
||
to express themselves in art and rituals and love and sexuality and
|
||
power. It's a lot of things. So, this is what I'm exploring.
|
||
|
||
**Boozer:** You're always exploring.
|
||
|
||
**Shatta:** Yes.
|
||
|
||
[^1]: *Yanni* is a filler used in spoken Arabic equivalent to "like" or
|
||
"you know" in English.
|