By Sylvia Chebet
Bakri Moaz's 21-day escape from Sudan to Kenya last July — a perilous journey on foot from the crucible of war, and then by bus and plane – is the stuff of epic survivor movies.
For months before taking the do-or-die decision to sneak out of the country, the 30-year-old Sudanese artist had lived through the worst of war.
He saw ground battles, artillery fire and explosions from up close every day. Death lurked in the shadows. He knew the next moment could be anybody's last.
As life flickered like a candle in the wind, Bakri found comfort in his craft, sketching vignettes of the raging war to tell a story through the silent stoicism of his imagery.
Bakri's home was near a Sudanese military camp, which made it safe or dangerous for him, depending on the nature of the fighting.
While the military could ward off ground attacks, it couldn't shield the neighbourhood from aerial bombardments by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Several homes were destroyed in the indiscriminate shelling.
In his little sketchbook, Bakri documented the war like only an artist can – with vertical, horizontal and elliptical strokes that created grim faces, stark landscapes and lonely figures taking flight.
"I would carry my notebook everywhere. I felt compelled to freeze impressions of the fighting and the destruction it had wrought on us," Bakri tells TRT Afrika of his Sketches of War, a body of work that has since made it to an international exhibition in Germany.
The great escape
More than three months after arriving in Kenya, Bakri looks back at how he survived with a fair bit of disbelief.
"I had to make several stops between states and military checkpoints in Sudan before crossing the border to Ethiopia on foot. Once in Ethiopia, I applied for an online visa to Kenya and boarded a flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi," he recounts.
By the time Bakri reached his destination, tiredness had taken its toll. But while fatigue overcame his body, his mind seemed to be finally at rest.
Gone was the constant drone of warplanes buzzing in his head and the sounds of gunfire and bombings day and night in his native Al 'Aylafun, east of the Nile.
Relieved as he is to be away from the horrors of war, Bakri fears for the safety of his mother and siblings, all of whom fled Al 'Aylafun three months after him when violence came to their doorstep.
"I don't know where they are now since they are still moving. Hopefully, they are safe. I am still waiting for a call to tell me they are safe," says Bakri.
Little canvas
During his escape, Bakri continued to sketch across the pages of the only sketchbook in his collection that he could salvage from Sudan. "It's not just about the sketches.
I would write on it, too — my thoughts, projects, about everything. There are also phone numbers on it," he tells TRT Afrika.
"I think me and my small notebook, we connected. I miss it now that it is part of the exhibition. Hopefully, they will take care of it until they send it back to me, Insha’Allah."
Bakri believes that few outside Sudan realise how much the war has damaged the country.
He is glad that the images he sketched while navigating the uncertainties of life in a conflict zone would give people elsewhere an insight into the torment of the Sudanese people.
"I have always believed that when you do something honestly, it won't go unnoticed," he says.
"So, when two curators asked me to show my notebook to the world at a week-long international art exhibition in Germany from October 4, I felt vindicated."
Although Bakri couldn't attend the exhibition due to visa constraints, the thought of his sketches reaching out to an international audience leaves him feeling satisfied and vulnerable at the same time.
Debunking propaganda
Beyond portraying the realities of his native land, which has been plagued by violence since April 15, Bakri says his art offers an opportunity for the world to remove misconceptions about the conflict.
Bakri points out that the warring sides have been using social media to gain support at home and abroad. "You cannot say this one is good or this one is bad. Both are culpable in the context of what's happening," he adds.
Bakri has the same question for both sides. "I would like to ask them, 'Why?' Nobody will win this. Stop it."
Before he left Sudan, Bakri had a solo exhibition called "Behind the Wheel", a theme couched in the universe being a circle.
"Sometimes, bad situations come, but they will not stay. Nothing lasts forever. So, Insha’Allah, the good part is coming. Hopefully, we could go back and make Sudan a better place," he tells TRT Afrika, hoping that the war could mark a turning point for the North African country.
Born an artist
Bakri's initiation into art started early, driven by his mother's belief in his talent for drawing and painting.
"When visiting friends, my mother would invariably ask me to make some drawings or paintings to take as gifts for them," Bakri says, also fondly recounting how his mother placed on him the responsibility of ensuring "every empty wall in the house had a painting".
His current single-room "Zen" studio in Nairobi is not as well-appointed as the one in Khartoum, where he would routinely host exhibitions and musical performances.
He soldiers on nevertheless. With a drum top as his desk, Bakri continues to sketch and paint the war in myriad tones, capturing the situation in Sudan as it unfolds.
It's a painful exercise in some ways, mirroring love and longing for a ravaged country.
