Sudanese artist crosses time, space and borders

A painting by Rashid Diab at the ongoing exhibition “Time Lapse via Color, Shape and Form.” Provided by the Sudanese Embassy

Sudanese artist crosses time, space and borders
The first exhibition by a Sudanese artist ever to be held in Korea opened yesterday in downtown Seoul.

Rashid Diab, who was born in 1957 and raised in Wad Medani on the banks of the Blue Nile in Sudan, is displaying 21 paintings at Gallery Nuri in the Korea Foundation Cultural Center.

The exhibition is called “Time Lapse via Color, Shape and Form” and runs until Saturday.

“I’m honored to be here as the first Sudanese artist who has been invited to Korea,” said Diab, who has held more than 70 solo exhibitions around the world since the 1970s.

Rashid Diab

His works are now included in permanent collections of several major museums in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

“I hope there will be more artistic exchanges between Sudan and Korea, both of which have rich cultures,” he added.

The exhibition is a preliminary event for the 2nd Arab Cultural Festival, which will be hosted by the Korea-Arab Society next month, according to the Sudanese Embassy in Seoul.

The artist said he mainly focuses on expressing his relationship with space and time and nostalgia for a universal world.

“I believe that through the concept of time lapse via color, shape and form, it is possible to create a real and intimate relationship with distances and places without barriers and borders,” he said.

“The lapse in time takes me through fractions of seconds and centuries. It really doesn’t matter if it is in the past, present or future. What is important is how I can achieve the color, shape and form to express this fraction of time.”

Diab studied at the school of fine and applied arts in Khartoum, Sudan and went to Madrid, Spain on a scholarship.

There, he completed several graduate degrees in painting and earned a Ph.D. in Fine Arts.

“As for my artwork, my Sudanese heritage has always been an inspiration while I developed my [painting] techniques during my study in Spain,” Diab said in a brief interview before the ceremony yesterday.

The artist is apparently not only interested in artwork, but also in bringing up younger artists to promote and develop Sudanese arts throughout the world. In 2006, he established the Rashidiab Arts Centre in Khartoum.

Among the guests who attended yesterday’s opening event were a number of foreign ambassadors in Seoul, including those of Bangladesh, Iran, Morocco, Oman and Tunisia.

Alan Timblick, the head of Seoul Global Center of Seoul Metropolitan Government - one of the major sponsors for this event - was also in attendance.

“I hope that the exhibition of Dr. Rashid Diab will be a good opportunity for the Korean public to experience Sudanese culture and arts where African and Arab cultures coexist and for both our countries to better understand each other,” said the Sudanese Ambassador to Seoul Mohamed Salah Eldin Abbas.

By Park Sun-young [spark0320@joongang.co.kr]