Unitl may 18, 2025

Truth Bears No Scandal

لـواضِح مو فـاضِح  

Ahmed Umar

Museo Universitario del Chopo presents the first solo museum exhibition by the artist Ahmed Umar (Sudan, 1988), which brings together works produced between 2018 and 2024. Working in photography, video, performance, ceramics, and installation, Umar's creative practice highlights questions regarding identity, religion, love, belonging, spirituality, and cultural values. Having moved to Norway from Sudan as a political refugee in 2008, the artist draws on personal experiences to convey narratives about suppression, alienation, liberation, and owning one's own history. The show offers a reflection of diverse representations of the queer spectrum and how to create languages to speak what otherwise would remain hidden.

The exhibition comprises three recent projects. Talitin, تَـالِـتِن The Third (2023-2024) is a video installation that addresses the Sudanese bridal dance, a highly choreographed performance tailored for the bride where she dances to show her health, fertility, wealth, and beauty. The dance is exclusively for females and is guarded from males after they show signs of puberty.  As a way to reclaim their queer identity in a restrictive context, Umar learned the dance to present their own version that offers a moment of collective beauty and liberation.

Carrying the Face of Ugliness (2018)شَايل وَش القَـباحَـة is a series of portraits and interviews addressing the process of violence against the LGBT+ community in Sudan. The title came from a Sudanese saying typically used to describe someone who confronts an issue and takes the blame for it. In the images, Umar appears with other Sudanese LGBT+ people who borrow the artist's face. The project also reflects how the growing visibility of Umar as a gay person in Sudan has meant for him to experience constant harassment and violence.

Truth Bears No Scandal (2024) الـواضِح مو فـاضِح  is a video installation that sheds light on Sudanese songs with hidden backstories—songs written by poets for their same-sex lovers. After identifying 19 songs rumored to embody queer love, the artist selected three from different musical genres to perform. The visual representation of each song is inspired by the singers and the eras in which they were famous, blending elements of Sudanese culture and drag.

 

Miguel A. López (curator)