Khalid Albaih

Khalid Albaih or Khalid Wad Albaih (Arabic: خالد ود البيه‎; born 22 April 1980) is a Sudanese political cartoonist, civil rights activist and freelance journalist, who grew up as member of the Sudanese diaspora in Doha, Qatar. He has published his social and political caricatures and articles mainly in Arab and international online media, and his graphic art has also been publicly exhibited internationally.[1]

Khalid Albaih
خالد ود البيه
Born (1980-04-22) April 22, 1980
Bucharest, Romania
NationalitySudan
Known forPolitical cartoons, Graphic arts, Human Rights Activism
AwardsFellow at the Oak Institute for the Study of International Human Rights, Colby Center for the Arts and Humanities and other awards
WebsiteKhartoon! by KhalidAlbaih

Life and artistic career

The son of a former Sudanese diplomat, Albaih grew up outside of his home country. Apart from his freelance work as political cartoonist and activist, he was employed as Head of Installation and Design by the Qatar Museum Authority.[1] Since 2017, he has been living in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he has been invited by the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN) programme as a city artist.[2]

Albaih publishes his written or graphic social and political commentary in newspapers or magazines like Al Jazeera, The Guardian or The Atlantic, and his cartoons on his social media pages under the name “Khartoon!,” a word play on cartoon and Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.

In September 2016, when he was a human rights fellow at Colby College in Maine, United States, Albaih created a cartoon of American football player and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick, kneeling with his Afro hairstyle in the shape of a black fist, that quickly went viral. With this widely shared cartoon, Albaih wanted to evoke the historic images of other African-American athletes who took a firm position on civil liberties.[3] Also in 2016, Albaih and ten other visual artists from the Middle East took a road trip across parts of the United States, exploring and commenting on US civil rights and relations with the citizens of other countries.[4]

In 2019, and in cooperation with the German Cultural Centre in Khartoum, Albaih co-edited an illustrated book, called Sudan Retold. This art book presents artistic renderings of the history of Sudan by 30 different young Sudanese artists, including graphic stories about the country's colonial history, cartoons about its diverse languages or changing ideals of feminine beauty in Sudan.[5][6]

Albaih's cartoons have been publicly exhibited in group and individual exhibitions in Gulf countries, Europe, or the United States. In 2019, he was awarded the Freedom Artists Residency by Artists at Risk Connection (ARC)[7] in New York City.[8][9][10]

Activism for civil rights and freelance journalism

As activist for universal civil rights, Albaih not only comments on political events in his home country Sudan, but also has published cartoons and given talks about other current events, like the popular uprisings known as the Arab Spring or the fate of refugees of the Syrian Civil War, exemplified in his cartoon on the death of Alan Kurdi.[11]

On Al Jazeera online from Qatar[12] Albaih made a personal statement about the continuing dangers of a counter-revolution against the Sudanese revolution of 2018/19, as he wrote "that replacing old dictators with younger ones will not solve the region's problems."[13]

In the British newspaper The Guardian, he declared: "Coming from Sudan, a country that is both located in Africa and part of the Middle East, I carry the baggage of one of the most “complicated” areas in the world. That’s according to the western narrative – as if the West were not one of the main complicating factors in the region.[14]

Stressing the importance of Sudanese citizens living abroad for political changes at home, he was quoted in Harper's Bazaar Arabia: "This is a very important time for the Sudanese diaspora to stand up for those fighting for freedom and hope back home. Now is the time for the international community to amplify the voices of those fighting for their freedom on the ground.”[15]

Another of Albaih's aims is supporting social networks for artists living in countries with restrictions of artistic expression and lacking public recognition. With this aim in mind, he participated in the independently organized arts festival in the Sudanese village of Karmakol, the birth place of the prominent Sudanese writer Tayeb Salih in December 2017.[16] Another of his projects for networking is FADAA, a non-for-profit online platform, that aims to offer meaningful connections between art patrons and artists.[17]

Major exhibitions and awards

References
  1. Kushkush, Isma’il (2013-06-07). "Cartoonist's Pen Leaves Mark Across Arab World". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  2. "Khalid Albaih". ICORN international cities of refuge network. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  3. Dakin Andone. "The story behind the viral Colin Kaepernick cartoon". CNN. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  4. Gormley, Jess; Silverstone, Tom; Culturunners, and; theguardian.com (2016-07-11). "Sudanese artist on US road trip: 'The story of civil rights is unfinished' – video". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  5. Savvy Contemporary. "Sudan Retold". S A V V Y Contemporary. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  6. Albaih, Khalid and Fuhrmann, Larissa-Diana (eds.) (Nov 2019). "Sudan Retold". story.goethe.de. Retrieved 2020-09-22.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  7. "ARC – Artists at Risk Connection". artistsatriskconnection.org. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  8. "Sudanese political cartoonist Khalid Albaih is the first recipient of the Freedom artist's residency". www.theartnewspaper.com. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  9. "Pop Up Show by Sudanese Cartoonist Khalid Albaih — ARC". artistsatriskconnection.org. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  10. "How Sudanese Cartoonist Khalid AlBaih Wants To Change The World Through Art". Harper's BAZAAR Arabia. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  11. Albaih, Khalid (2016-11-11). "Troubled Democracy - @KhalidAlbaih". Creative Time Summit DC. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  12. "Khalid Albaih". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  13. Albaih, Khalid. "No, it's not over for the Sudanese revolution". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
  14. "Jamal Khashoggi's borrowed white privilege made his murder count | Khalid Albaih". the Guardian. 2018-11-26. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
  15. Rebecca Anne, Proctor (2019-10-14). "How Sudanese Cartoonist Khalid AlBaih Wants To Change The World Through Art". Harper's BAZAAR Arabia. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  16. "A Sudanese Village Arts Festival Looks Back to the Future · Global Voices". Global Voices. 2018-02-27. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  17. "Fadaa". getfadaa.com. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  18. "Soros Arts Fellowship". www.opensocietyfoundations.org. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
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