Painting allows me to hold space for stories that are often silenced—faces lost in protest, the quiet dignity of survival, the ongoing fight for justice.

THE ARTIST

BIOGRAPHY

A woman with dark hair wearing a yellow top standing in a room with a light-colored wall, a chandelier, and a patterned curtain. She is leaning on a wooden chair with her right arm resting on its back.

Dahlia’s work carries the imprint of a generation raised amid curfews, sudden unrest, and moments of collective upheaval, from the assassination of John Garang to the 2019 revolution that brought an end to Bashir's thirty-year rule and finally breakout of war in Khartoum in 2023.

Born in Port Sudan on the Red Sea and grew up in Khartoum, where dust, unfinished construction, and an undercurrent of political tension influenced her visual language. She graduated from business school before turning to painting as a way of working through memory and personal experience — a practice that has grown into a wider inquiry into identity, power, and resistance within Sudanese society.

Pop art-style image with four quadrants featuring a graffiti-style billboard that says 'THE HOME' in different color filters: yellow, blue, green, and red.

In the years that followed, Sudan's art scene briefly flourished, and murals and street art gave visual form to the revolution's call for "Freedom, Peace and Justice."

Human figures fused with architecture appear throughout her paintings, evoking shelter as a source of comfort, safety, and belonging. It is an idea she returns to with particular weight, having witnessed how completely it can unravel: since the war broke out in Sudan in April 2023, millions have been displaced, including the artist herself.

Her work also confronts the violence that preceded and followed this rupture — including the June 2019 massacre and the ongoing conflict between the RSF and the Sudanese army — taking up displacement, gendered violence, and survival as recurring themes in her paintings.

THE ART

ARTIST STATEMENT

Oil paint is central to my practice — its forgiving nature, the richness of its color, and the timeless quality it brings to a surface. Working on premium linen canvas, in earthy tones of raw umber, burnt sienna, and yellow ochre, I paint with a palette knife, building up texture in layers that mirror the roughness of unfinished concrete and exposed rebar. Figures are often integrated into scenes of incomplete construction, a visual language that reflects Khartoum's dusty atmosphere and its quietly apocalyptic undertone — a city perpetually caught between building and ruin.

As a self-taught artist, my practice has been shaped through independent exploration, experimentation, and sustained curiosity. Without a formal artistic pathway, mentorship came from a range of sources — artists, curators, and writers — each offering distinct perspectives rather than a single prescribed method. This openness allowed the work to evolve organically, informed by dialogue, observation, and critical exchange. Over time, these varied influences have strengthened discipline, sharpened voice, and grounded the practice in both autonomy and continual learning.

A woman in a yellow shirt is sitting at an easel, painting a landscape scene with a cityscape. She is holding a paintbrush, and various painting supplies, including tubes of paint and containers, are on the table in front of her. A large window with curtains reveals a view of buildings and trees outside.

EXHIBITIONS

2025

  • Detour at the Italy Pavilion EXPO Osaka - Osaka, Japan 

  • Black Art Fair at Nia Art Center - Toronto, Canada 

2024

  • Detour at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana - Milan, Italy 

  • The Other Art Fair by Saatchi Art at the Barker Hangar - Los Angeles, USA

  • Houston Art Fair at Matthew Reeves Gallery - Texas, USA 

2023

  • Detour at Saatchi Art Gallery - London, UK

  • Ici Le Soudan at the Institut Français d’Egypte - Cairo, Egypt 

  • Sudan Heritage at Lamasat Art Gallery - Cairo, Egypt

2022

  • Pink Flame at the Village Market - Nairobi, Kenya 

2021

  • Solo Exhibition A Place named Embrace , Savanna Innovation Lab - Khartoum, Sudan 

  • Fragrance of Sudan at Karim Francis Gallery - Cairo, Egypt 

2020

  • Art in Isolation at the Middle East Art Institute - Washington DC, USA

  • L’effet Papillon  at the French Cultural Institute - Khartoum, Sudan

  • Sudan Contemporary Art Khartoum International Community School - Sudan

2019

  • Blanc et Noir at the French Cultural Institute - Khartoum, Sudan 

  • Group Exhibition Conversations at the French Cultural Center - Khartoum, Sudan

2018 

  • Group Exhibition Women in Art at Al-Gunied Cultural Center - Khartoum, Sudan

PREVIOUS EXHIBITIONS

ART FAIRS

PRESS AND MEDIA

  • Painting a canvas of revolution and resilience in Sudan

    In the dusty streets of Khartoum, amid unfinished buildings and a tumultuous political climate, Dahlia Baasher found her voice in the earthy tones of her homeland.

  • Another War for Art

    On the morning Sudan’s rival military forces began fighting

  • SLIMI - Art Edit

    How would you define the word cinematic through your artistic lens?
    The way a painting captures a moment, as if it were a glimpse of a scene that extends beyond the frame, or creates an atmosphere where each figure and detail feels charged with story and emotion. 

  • A Place Named Embrace

    Human nature is of a complex simplicity that is tied to emotions and the need for others. 

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