Personal perspective is what sets the difference between humans and how they see things.
Elhassan, through his perspective, is approaching the political scene through the lens of the streets and combines that with his observations of how people consume and digest information and news; whether passed through or portrayed in traditional and digital media, and in return examines how they react to this information.
Vision board / Mindset is an installation of different mediums that tackle the general status of the country and reflects on the collective Sudanese mindset with a focus on today’s political scene. It touches on how we imagine/see ourselves, our situation, hopes, future, and our contradictions.
Through the documentation and usage of newspapers from July and August 2021, Elhassan brings to light his take on the situation and how the public interacts with it. He also views it as an attempt to display how society engages in daily life along with stripping the mind and putting it up on the board.
Through these newspapers, the installation tackles how the public is led by empty promises that are nothing but headlines while a real vision for the future is not clear or mostly does not exist in reality. It is pigmented with black or white or both, illustrating our inability to see reality for what it is, whether we view it as simple or complex.
“We tend to colour reality and harsh facts with our emotions, delusions and mix things together when they should not be mixed” Elhassan.
He also uses x-ray images and light boxes to illustrate the mindset of society and shed light on what is hidden but also the driving force behind our thoughts and actions. Additionally, the exhibition consists of audio installation and articles that are derived from interviews with intellectuals, academics, politicians, young people, young activists and organisations. It includes painting and mixed media to highlight the materials we consume on a daily basis and reflects on how it alters our reality and how we perceive things.
Written by: Reem Aljeally, Solo Exhibition at Rift Digital Lab, Khartoum, Sudan
Photos by Khalid Alarabi
October 2022
