Artist Statement

Home is where the heart is--or so they say. However, my permanent address is in Brooklyn, but I feel my heart lies in elsewhere. I have lived my life thus far with a challenge in self-belonging. In America, I'm a product of immigration. In Sudan, I'm a product of migration. My daily struggle has been to finding a place of true belonging.  For the past three weeks, I lived in Khartoum, Sudan. It hasn't been the firs time I traveled there--in fact I've gone ever summer since 1996, however every time I feel like a visitor. As hard as I try to immerse myself, I'm always viewed as an outsider, the visiting one. Family members who've known me for year are still astonished by my ability to speak Arabic. Sudan, like most African nations, has been stereotyped in negatives ways and labeled “third world.” Truthfully speaking, it is nothing like New York City; the magnificent and vibrant city that we all call home. Instead it is a serene and peaceful escape. Through my media, I hope to show anyone that has never travelled to a developing country, that although life it not what it is like here, “third world” is still a good world. Through this blog I hope to be able to give a positive voice to a country that history has already shaped to be presented otherwise. Sudan and its people have inspired me in many ways. They taught me the virtue of minimalism and a life outside of technology. They enriched my understanding for what I need rather than what I want, as well as strengthened my appreciation for what I already have. Through my eyes, this is my Sudan.