Aspiring to Sudan's Future - eyewitnesses of revolution, coup and conflicts
The book and the header image are designed by Ibrahim Sayed
Official Facebook https://www.facebook.com/IbrahimSayed.OfficalArtPage
This book represents the authors' yearnings about the future of Sudan beyond their area of expertise, having stayed or been involved in the region from the Sudanese revolution in 2019 to the military conflict in April 2023, sharing time and space with the Sudanese people. As such, it is not a specialized book on a specific field or an immediate reaction article. Having said that, as witnesses to the turbulent history of Sudan's revolution, coup, and military conflict, the authors, as foreigners at the time, want to convey to future generations what they witnessed, felt, and talked about with Sudanese people. This book is an attempt to capture the vivid experiences and sensations of the time of the upheaval in a single volume. In recent years, the Internet sharing of various information has become convenient and instantaneous. However, we cannot ignore the effectiveness of sharing not only such highly immediate information, but also information that will be available 10 to 20 years from now.
One of the objectives of this book is to show how multifaceted assistance is needed in Sudan until the end of the conflict and beyond, but another objective is to deepen mutual understanding among the Japanese who provide such assistance. The mysterious sense of solidarity that emerges through the common term of Sudan, even though the people involved have different specialties and areas of activity, indicates a kind of its regional characteristic. Moreover, this mystic unity generates a unique sense of urgency, which leads almost all concerned with Sudan to break their preconceived notions about Sudan and to spread the goodness of Sudan. They do so without being encouraged to do so by anyone, and they find themselves doing so. There is also no small chain of events in which other people involved in Sudan are watching over others in such a state, comparing it to their own experiences.
Part I: Meaning of History and Culture
Chapter 1: Sudan’s “Past” Leading to the Present and the Future
Naoyo Sekihiro has been involved mainly in the protection and utilization of cultural heritage since 2007, visiting Sudan almost every year. In this chapter, using the example of the protests by cultural heritage managers during the Sudanese revolution and the UNESCO booklet written by a Sudanese researcher who is also the director of NCAM (National Corporation of Antiquities and Museums), Sekihiro explains that cultural property is an essential element for the recovery and establishment of Sudanese identity, and for the development of mutual understanding and bird's eye view skills necessary to realize democracy in a multi-ethnic country. She also explained that cultural heritage is an essential element in restoring and establishing Sudan's identity and in fostering the mutual understanding and bird's eye view necessary to realize democracy in a multi-ethnic country. The archaeological and historical basis for the UNESCO booklet's narrative is based on research conducted by foreign research, NCAM, and universities in Sudan, which has built trust with local communities. Relationships have also been established with the various regional communities. The historical and contemporary significance of Sudanese cultural heritages has never been lost, whether under conflict or designated as a state sponsor of terrorism, and those in charge of protecting them must be also protected now that the country is in conflict.
Sekihiro, Naoyo (Archaeological Director at Kyoto City Archaeological Research Institute)
Chapter 2: Ethnic Diversity
Tomo Ishimura has chosen Sudan as the subject of his research on cultural heritage protection and peacebuilding in post-conflict countries. Drawing on his many years of experience in international cooperation for cultural heritage protection in the Asia-Pacific region, including Afghanistan and Cambodia, this chapter is an attempt to utilize the cultural heritage of Sudan, a multi-ethnic country, for its future. Although this chapter only describes the major ethnic groups, the author says that the concept of “D&I” (diversity and inclusion), is helpful in order to create dialogue and peacebuilding in this diversity. If this “D&I” is applied to nation-building, Sudan can use its multi-ethnicity as a strength.
Ishimura, Tomo
(Director of Intangible Cultural Heritage dept. at Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties)
Part II: The Civil Revolution and its afterwards
Chapter 3: Sudanese Identity, Democratization and Development Processes
Koji Sakane writes about his residence in Sudan from February 2021 to April 2023. He describes Sudan as a place that has historically inherited a culture tolerant of other ethnic groups, and writes that he himself wanted to live in the country for a long time. Sakane describes the modern history of Sudan from its independence from the British-Egyptian joint regime to the birth of the Bashir regime, the Bashir regime, the transition to democracy, the coup of 2021, and the outbreak of military conflict to the present, and how Sudan, the most breadbasket and resource-rich country in Africa, is now facing a coup and military conflict, He outlined how Sudan, one of Africa's most breadbasket and resource-rich countries, has been at the mercy of coup d'etat and military regimes. The fact that Sakane himself is an eyewitness of the history of Sudan from the transition to democracy to the military conflict makes his narrative even more realistic. It is hard to disagree with Sakane's assertion that Sudan's future and development requires the reestablishment of a society that embraces its diverse population and allows all people to enjoy the benefits of development, in order to create a prosperous society that is inclusive of Sudan's original diverse population.
Sakane, Koji
(Director of Global Peacebuilding Association of Japan, JICA Aid Coordination Advisor to Timor-Leste, former Chief Representative of JICA Sudan Office)
Chapter 4: Democracy and Sudanese Civilians
Hori Jun wrote about his visit in December 2019. It was for the Japan International Volunteer Center's Kadogli project and for interviews in the capital Khartoum. Both before and during his visit, he received regular calls from the Japanese Embassy to confirm his safety. Hori said that his impressions of Sudan had changed for the better as a result of his interactions with fellow passengers on the bus ride and interviews with villagers, and he was convinced that the country was about to move from chaos and confusion to development and creation. In Khartoum, he was filled with emotion when an intelligent and motivated teenage girl replied, “We could not be even responsible for building this country”. Jun Hori was the first journalist to provide Japan with concrete information on the ground, interviewing Sakane and Imanaka by phone and Zoom during the military clashes. It was the only report by a journalist who actually saw Sudan during the revolutionary period. It is no exaggeration to say that this report saved the Japanese press from being at the mercy of the RSF's propaganda campaign.
Hori, Jun
(Representative of 8bit news, presenter of Live Junction broadcasting (Tokyo MX))
Part III: Living the Moment, Creating the Future
Chapter 4: Messages from Sudanese Citizens Discover from the Murals
As the representative of the Sudan office of the Japan International Volunteer Center, Ko Imanaka was stationed in Sudan from the revolutionary period to the immediate aftermath of the military conflict. This chapter focuses on his experiences during his stay and the wall art created by citizens who gained freedom of expression with the fall of the Bashir regime. During the revolution, he witnessed Sudanese people burning tires and chanting in front of their homes, and later witnessed the rapid growth of wall art with various protest messages. The main themes of the artwork were: advocacy for “freedom, peace, and justice,” the importance of education, demands for diversity and the elimination of discrimination, and portraits of martyrs. The color palette of the art was also highlighted, with some examples intentionally employing the blue, yellow, and green of the national flag used after independence in 1956, and others focusing on Sudan's history and heritage. Imanaka is also a Yemen enthusiast, which makes his narrative on Sudan's international relations with neighboring countries, the political background of the art, even more illuminating. He wrote that the artists who continued to convey messages that could not be put into words during the revolution are now in a difficult situation, and that Imanaka himself spends his days worrying about the fate of missing artists with whom he had befriended.
Imanaka, Ko (Representative of JVC Sudan Office)
Chapter 6: The “December Revolution” and “Queens of Nubia.”
Kensuke Kanamori stayed in Sudan as a JOCV volunteer for two years from 2013, and after his term of service ended, he returned many times as a researcher to study the altruistic behavior of the Sudanese people, and through more than 10 years of interaction with the Sudanese people, he has come to know both the good and bad sides, and has himself become a Sudanese himself. He stayed in Sudan from September 2022 to March 2023, just before the military conflict, where his research focused on the success and symbolization of women, known as Kandake, since the revolution. During his stay in Khartoum, Kanamori felt “emotional” in Sudan, which he describes as both good and troublesome, and that human relations in Sudan are complicated and bizarre, but in any case, he cannot help but feel a kind of attachment to the narrative itself. The interviews conducted in the field paint a realistic picture of the citizens during the Sudanese Revolution, and will continue to tell the story of the citizens who defended peaceful protests to the death.
Kanamori, Kensuke
(Doctoral student at Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies Kyoto University)
Chapter 7: Cultural Heritage Reconstruction and Peacebuilding in a Post-Conflict Country
Tomo Ishimura was just preparing to invite the director and deputy director of the Sudanese National Ethnographic Museum to Japan when the military conflict broke out in April 2023. The purpose was to conduct research cooperation mediation between the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, to which he belongs, and the museum, and to conduct research exchange on the living heritage of Sudan. As mentioned earlier, this research was originally planned to promote the reconstruction of Sudan, a post-conflict and multi-ethnic country. It is challenging to note that the project was instantly declared IN CONFLICT and the research project itself was almost cancelled, but they chose to continue it. The protection of cultural heritage under armed conflict is a theme of high international importance, although there are few precedents in Japan, and we have much to learn from the Sudanese researcher's response. Through new collaborations with the British Museum and a long-established British cultural heritage consultant, we are now exploring post-conflict reconstruction and cultural heritage protection, with the conviction that cultural heritage has the power to build peace.
The six authors, who have different backgrounds and areas of activity, are trying to continue working with the local people with a sense of solidarity and frustration, even though their approaches are different. Of course, the authors of this book are not special. There must be people around the world, not just in Japan, who feel similarly and are concerned about the current situation in Sudan. I would like each and every one of them to carefully express their feelings if allowed so that Sudan will not be forgotten. I would like to add that this tendency among the people involved in Sudan is not proportional to their travel history or length of stay in the country. This means that Sudan is a place that attracts people deeply and does not let them go, even if they visit only once and for a short period of time.
This attraction to Sudan will surely not diminish: as of March 2024, the conflict has not yet ended, and we must be prepared for prolonged and large-scale assistance in a variety of fields. But we will return to our respective sites in the hope that this attraction of Sudan will continue to protect the Sudanese people and those engaged in aid and reconstruction.