Rashid Diab

Rashid Diab (1957) was born in Wad-Medani, a town on the bank of the Blue Nile River in Sudan. From a young age, realising that what he wanted to do and could do best was paint, becoming an artist seemed like the only path in his destiny. He drew from his hometown and travels along the river the colours that the Nile brings with its migratory fauna and diverse flora. It is in these landscapes where Diab first delved into the traditions and culture that compose the heartland of the Sudan. As a child using rudimentary and improvised materials, he knew he had to search further to develop his technique.

He started his studies in 1973 at the College of Fine and Applied Arts in Khartoum. Graduating in 1978 and being awarded a scholarship to Spain to further his formation in fine art. He attended the Complutense University of Madrid and acquired a licenciate in both painting and printmaking. Finally, in 1991 got his PhD on the Traditional and Contemporary of Sudanese Art. For the next 9 years, he would teach at that same university and would have the thesis published by the Arab League. During the late 80’s he started to exhibit internationally, and his works started to be collected by national museums, libraries and private collectors. In 1999, he moved back to Khartoum with his family to further the art scene in Sudan. The same year, he opened Dara Art Gallery along with his then-wife, Dr. Mercedes Carmona, the first professional art gallery of the country, daraartgallery.com. In 2005, he inaugurated the Rashid Diab Arts Centre. A non-profit organisation dedicated to the eradication of cultural illiteracy, as Diab would put it. Courses were held there, especially for kids, international artist residencies, exhibitions of over 200 Sudanese artists, free entry weekly forums that ranged from all types of subjects, from history, poetry and philosophy to current global and local issues. He homaged practically all of Sudanese traditional music at the end of those weekly forums (over 620 in the 17-year span). Unfortunately, due to the war that broke out on April 15th 2023, Rashid Diab had to flee his home, neighbourhood, his life and country, back to Spain, where he keeps working as a painter.