Photo Exhibition “Practices of Daily Life as Living Heritage in Sudan” at the Tobacco and Salt Museum
A photo exhibition entitled “Practices of Daily Life as Living Heritage in Sudan” ran from October 5 to November 17 at the Tobacco and Salt Museum (Sumida Ward, Tokyo). The exhibition was co-organized by the Tobacco and Salt Museum and the KAKENHI project “Heritage studies for realization of cultural diversity and peacebuilding in post-conflict countries” (Principal Investigator: Mr. ISHIMURA Tomo, Director of the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage), supported by the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Sudan in Japan.
The exhibition featured twelve photographs, including those provided by Mr. IMANAKA Ko (Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC) Sudan Office), Mr. KANAMORI Kensuke (Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies (ASAFAS), Kyoto University), Mr. HORI Jun (journalist, Representative of 8bitNews) and Prof. Mohamed Adams Sulaiman (Sudan University of Science and Technology), as well as photographs from the collections of the British Museum, Tokyo National Museum, and the Embassy of the Republic of Sudan in Tokyo. Among them, the photographs provided by Prof. Mohamed Adams Sulaiman are particularly valuable, capturing the daily life of Sudan in the midst of armed conflict. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to him.
A gallery talk was held on October 26, during which Mr. ISHIMURA provided information on the exhibited works, and Mr. KUMAGAI Kentaro (cyanotype blueprint artist) (note 1) gave a talk on the relationship between gum arabic and Sudan, since gum arabic is an essential ingredient for blueprints.
A related symposium was held on November 10. The first half was a panel discussion, where Mr. AOKI Zen (Tobacco and Salt Museum), Mr. KANAMORI, Mr. HORI, Ms. SEKIHIRO Naoyo (Kyoto City Archaeological Research Institute), and Mr. SHIMIZU Nobuhiro (Hokkai Gakuen University) gave talks on site, Mr. IMANAKA and Mr. SAKANE Koji (Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan, former Chief Representative of JICA Sudan Office) gave a talk online, Mr. Ali Mohamed Ahmed Osman Mohamed (Chargé d’affaires, Embassy of the Republic of Sudan in Japan) gave a video message, and Mr. ISHIMURA acted as a moderator. In addition, a young Sudanese man living in Japan contributed with a comment for the panel discussion.
In the second half of the event, there was a performance by a Sudanese dance group led by REIKA, including Reika, Miyuki, Yoko, Reiko Miho, Akiko, and Yoko (stage names). During the final song, the audience also joined in dancing the Sudanese dances. The event was a great success, with eighty participants.
A book written by the panelists of this symposium, “Aspiring to Sudan’s Future – eyewitnesses of revolution, coup and conflicts” (edited by SEKIHIRO Naoyo and ISHIMURA Tomo, published by Akashi Shoten, 2024) was available at the museum shop during the exhibition.
Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Julie Anderson (British Museum), Mr. Mohammed Nasreldein (University of Tübingen), and Mr. Ali Mohamed Ahmed Osman Mohamed for their cooperation in making this exhibit possible.
Note 1: Cyanotype blueprinting is a photographic method invented in the 19th century that produces a monochrome, blue-colored print. The prints were often used to copy mechanical and architectural drawings. Although they are rarely used for practical purposes today, they are often considered as artworks for their unique expression.