DARFUR/DARFUR

DARFUR/DARFUR was Art Works Projects’ first exhibit and is a traveling exhibit of digitally-projected changing images that provide visual education about the richly multi-cultural region while exposing the horrors of the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

In February 2003 the Darfur Conflict began when the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) launched an insurrection to protest the Sudanese government’s disregard for the western Darfur region and its non-Arab population. The government of Sudan responded by allowing free rein to Arab militias known as the Janjawid (guns on horseback) who began attacking villages, killing, raping and abducting people, destroying homes and other property, including water sources and looting livestock, this violence has continued for almost two decades. 

The Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, was ousted by the military in 2019 and a power-sharing agreement was reached between civil society leaders, protest leaders, and the military. However, in October 2021, the military seized control of the country’s transitional government in a coup. The military dissolves civilian rule, arrests political leaders, and declares a state of emergency. The coup also reignited civilian resistance, as protesters returned to the streets in cities and towns across Sudan to denounce the military takeover. The most recent numbers from the UN estimate that there are 3.71 million internally displaced people (IDPs) and 926,000 refugees in Sudan, the majority (67 per cent) are from South Sudan. Most displaced people are in Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile, which have been epicenters of conflict over the past 18 years.

In January 2011, The Republic of South Sudan was established as an independent country after an almost unanimous vote. In 2013, civil war broke out in South Sudan and in just the first week of fighting, more than 1,000 people were killed and another 100,000 were displaced. By 2015, when a peace agreement was reached, this number had grown to tens of thousands killed and more than 1.6 million people displaced. Despite this agreement, the conflict continued until 2020, when a national unity government was formed. Today, violence, food shortages, and climate change have caused a humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, with the UN estimating that 7.7 million people will not have enough to eat this year.

Darfur’s legacy of conflict includes decades of government scorched-earth tactics, pushing millions of people out of their villages, burning large swathes of land, and killing hundreds of thousands of civilians. Therefore, the people of Sudan and South Sudan are in dire need of assistance which can be achieved if more people are made aware of this ongoing crisis. Launched in Fall 2007, the exhibit was initially intended to travel to 24 cities over 24 months. Surpassing this goal, and in less than 2 years after its opening, DARFUR/DARFUR was shown at 35 events in 32 cities in 14 countries.