Amna Elhassan

Khartoum, Sudan

Amna Elhassan is a Sudanese visual artist and architect whose work explores the physical, emotional, and spiritual transformations experienced by women navigating uncertainty, displacement, and social change. Drawing inspiration from the women of her community in Khartoum, her practice reflects on resilience, belonging, and the search for spaces where life can continue despite disruption.

The outbreak of war in Sudan in April 2023 profoundly altered Amna's own life. Forced to leave Khartoum with her family, she joined millions of Sudanese displaced by the conflict. Yet even while in transit, moving between Khartoum, Wadi Halfa, Cairo, and eventually Saudi Arabia, she continued to create.

For Amna, art is a way of carrying hope across borders and preserving an inner sense of continuity amid profound uncertainty.

"The main feature of the work is the presence of this figure, freely in the world of dreams. I want to remain resilient and hopeful despite all the chaos and amid all these transformations. The work is about the relentless pursuit of a brighter horizon."

Amna Elhassan

I Can Fly, Oasis

I Can Fly, Oasis emerged directly from Amna's journey of displacement.

Forced to leave Khartoum with her family, she joined millions of Sudanese displaced by the conflict. Without access to her studio, paints, brushes, or canvas, she began sketching the work while in transit through Cairo. The painting was later completed in Saudi Arabia, where she temporarily settled.

The work portrays a female figure reaching forward, suspended between movement and arrival, vulnerability and determination. She appears to inhabit a dreamlike world where imagination offers temporary shelter from chaos.

The vibrant reds, oranges, and golds evoke both danger and vitality. The body stretches toward an unseen horizon, suggesting an ongoing journey rather than a final destination.

The oasis of the title is not simply a geographical destination. It represents the persistent human desire for refuge, belonging, and possibility. Through the act of imagining another reality, the figure creates a space where hope remains alive.

Themes in Amna’s work

Seeking Safe Space
The search for refuge becomes both a physical journey and an inner condition.

Women in Motion
Displacement is experienced not only as loss but as a continuous process of adaptation and becoming.

Dreaming Through Uncertainty
Imagination creates openings toward futures that remain possible despite conflict.

Hope as Practice
Hope emerges not as passive optimism, but as a deliberate act of perseverance.

Khartoum: A City of Resistance and Survival

Situated at the confluence of the Blue Nile and White Nile, Khartoum has long been a centre of political power, intellectual life, and civic activism in Sudan. Throughout its history, women have played leading roles in anti-colonial movements, democratic struggles, neighbourhood support networks, and campaigns for social justice.

The city became internationally recognised during Sudan's 2018–2019 revolution, when women known as Kandakas – invoking the legacy of ancient Nubian queens – emerged as visible leaders of a nationwide movement for democratic change. Artists, poets, musicians, and community organisers transformed public spaces into sites of collective imagination and resistance.

Since the outbreak of war in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, Khartoum has experienced widespread destruction, displacement, and humanitarian crisis. Millions have been forced to flee their homes, while women have once again become central to community survival through mutual aid networks, emergency support systems, and grassroots care initiatives.

A City in Conflict

The current war has transformed Khartoum from a vibrant cultural and political centre into one of the principal battlegrounds of Sudan's humanitarian crisis.

Large parts of the city have experienced bombardment, infrastructure collapse, food shortages, and mass displacement. Women and girls have been disproportionately affected through forced migration, economic hardship, and gender-based violence. Yet alongside these realities, extensive networks of mutual aid, community solidarity, and civilian care continue to sustain daily life.

As in previous moments of crisis throughout Sudan's history, women continue to act as caregivers, organisers, activists, and custodians of collective memory.