April 1 – June 3, 2026
Elsadig Janka, with his photographic series The Intermingled, documents the Sudanese revolution, providing a deeply personal and historical record of the protests on the streets of Khartoum. Through multiple exposure techniques, Janka layers images of urban spaces, activism, and daily life to evoke the entanglement of political resistance and everyday survival. The series is rooted in a pivotal moment in the Sudanese Revolution, particularly April 6, 2019, when hundreds of thousands of protesters converged in Khartoum to begin a mass sit-in at the military headquarters, an extraordinary, sustained act of resistance that ultimately led to the ousting of President Omar al-Bashir after nearly three decades in power. The sit-in continued from 6 April until the early hours of 3 June, when it was violently dispersed from all sides. That day became known as the Khartoum massacre. Hundreds of protesters were killed, many were raped, and others lost their lives in tragic ways, including reports of bodies being thrown into the Nile. The scale and atmosphere of the sit-in came to embody an unprecedented moment of unity and possibility.
Emerging from Janka’s direct participation in rallies, the work is grounded in a lived, street-level perspective. The Intermingled serves not only as a tribute to the struggle for democratic transformation, but also as a memorial to the solidarity that defined that period. Presented over the period of 6 April to 3 June to coincide with the anniversary of the sit-in, the exhibition offers a timely moment for reflection. In light of Sudan’s ongoing war, the series takes on added poignancy- functioning both as an elegy for a fractured revolution and as a testament to the possibilities once collectively imagined. It is shown now not only as a reflection on Sudan’s recent history, but also as an invitation to consider the enduring dynamics of collective action, resilience, and hope across contexts of conflict more broadly.
الالتحام
هنا التحمنا بقاتلنا، اصطادت قلوبنا رصاصة مدفوعة القيمة من بنوك العالم الخسيسة القاتلة، هنا انتصرنا على خوفنا وخرائنا وعلى فوارقنا، هنا التقت زغرودة الثائرة مع صوت الدوشكا الطربة بقتل طفل همست الحرية لتوها في أذنه الشرهة لبصيص أمل عاري من الصحة، هنا التقت دماء الشهداء بمعزوفة ساكسفون جندي من سلاح الموسيقى نجت روحه من بيعة العار الدسمة، هنا التقينا صغار، كبار، مدراء، وفقراء هنا كنا نجابه الابتسامات، و القتلة المأجورين، هنا كنا في انتظار المدفعية عطبرة*، هنا الخوف، الفرح، التعب، الإخلاص، المحبة، وأنفاس الحرية التي لم نتذوقها، هنا قتل الشباب والشابات ولم تقتل أحلامهم، هنا امتزجنا سماءً و أرضًا في لوحة عجزت خيالات الآلهة القديمة عن تصورها.
!!! هنا
- تُعَدّ هذه الوحدة الأقوى في الجيش السوداني. انتظرها الثوار طويلاً لكي تدعم الثورة وتقوم بحماية المدنيين من القتل، لكن دون جدوى، وفي النهاية تحولت إلى مادة للسخرية.
The Intermingled
Here we joined our killer, our hearts hunted a paid bullet. Here we conquered our fear, and differences. Here a Zgrudah (ululation) from a revolutionist mixed with the cheerful machine gun that killed a child, that freedom whispered in his eager ears a false hope. Here the bloods of martyrs intermingled with a saxophonist soldier whose soul escaped the shame. Here we met with littles, elders, bosses and the poor. Here we encountered smiles and assassins. Here we waited for Atbara artillery*. Here the fear, joy, tiredness, devotion, love and freedom. Here they killed youths but they couldn’t kill their dreams. Here we brought earth and heaven together in a portrait that even the ancient gods can not imagine.
Here!!!
*This unit is considered the most powerful in the Sudanese army. Revolutionaries waited a long time for it to support the revolution and protect civilians from being killed, but to no avail, and in the end it became a subject of mockery.