Rashid Diab

Rashid Diab is an award-winning, multi-disciplinary artist and art historian who was born and raised in Wad Medani, a small town in Sudan on the banks of the Blue Nile. Diab’s talent as an artist was evident from a young age when, as a child, he began drawing his surroundings with whatever materials he came across, from the blues of the Nile’s waters and the rich flora to the local bird population. 

Diab studied first at the Khartoum College of Fine Art, graduating in 1978, and then furthered his studies in Spain, after gaining a scholarship to attend the Complutense University of Madrid. Here, he completed an MFA in painting in 1984, an MFA in etching two years later and a PhD in Fine Art in 1991. Diab remained in Madrid for several years and taught at the city’s prestigious San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

Diab’s thesis for his PhD was titled ‘The traditional and contemporary in Sudanese art’, reinforcing the strong cultural links he retained to his homeland, which were evident in his work and outlook.

“Heritage has always meant a great deal to me, I think in large part because Sudan is blessed with such a rich and diverse history and culture,” he told Artscoops in an interview. “The country is home to more than 500 tribes, each with its own music, dance, poetry, colours and artefacts.”

Diab’s oil paintings celebrate the rich cultural heritage of his homeland and the broader geographical region through a mix of African motifs, images and patterns, combined with abstract expressionism and brought to life through a palette of vibrant colours. Recent works include paintings of Sudanese women, silhouetted in colourful, traditional toubes, often in social groups or pairs, set against a plain background. A master in print techniques, Diab also produces etchings, woodcuts, collagraphs and aquatints. 

Rashid Diab’s work has been exhibited internationally for several decades and can be found in several prestigious public and private collections. 

He was forced to leave Sudan in 2023, where he’d lived since 1999, when war broke out there, and recent exhibitions reflect this latest crisis. These include a standout touring collective of works by Sudanese artists, titled ‘Disturbance in the Nile’ (2023). The show, which toured Portugal and Spain, featured artworks flown out of Khartoum in April one day before the conflict began. Another topical exhibition, titled ‘Season of Bitter Migration’, took place at the Barrak Naamani Gallery in Beirut (2023). 

Standout events before the conflict include a high-profile exhibition, titled ‘A Trajectory of Etchings’, spanning the 1980s – 2000, held in 2022 at the Red Hill Art Gallery, Nairobi, Kenya. His work also featured in an online solo exhibition, titled ‘Out of Focus’, presented by Al Markhiya Gallery, Qatar (2020).
Another highlight was a retrospective, held at the Bahrain Museum in Manama in 2019 and a show at the Oneoff Gallery in Nairobi (2015).

Rashid Diab was living in Khartoum before his forced departure in 2023. There, he opened the Dara Art Gallery and, six years later, the Rashid Diab Arts Centre, a non-profit, cultural hub. 

Diab is the recipient of several prizes, including accolades awarded at the biennials in Cairo, Abu-Dhabi and Taipei. He has also received several other honours, including the Cross of the Order of Civil Merit by the then King of Spain Juan Carlos I in 2013.