Stark paintings - some in brilliant colors and others in subdued tones - convey the horror of torture in the ghost houses in Khartoum and the agony of enslavement and dispossession in the Nuba mountains and southern Sudan. Originally exhibited in Cairo in 2000, these fifty-three art works express the pain suffered by Sudanese from all walks of life and all religious backgrounds during the period since the military coup d'état in June 1989.
The eight Sudanese artists accompany their paintings and sculptures with descriptions of their personal experiences before and after the coup. Several were detained and they all suffered from the restrictions imposed by the regime on the teaching and expression of visual arts. They left Sudan at various times, for Egypt and then other countries. They view their contributions to the exhibit in Cairo and to this volume as a way to expose the violations of human rights in Sudan and also to promote peace and justice in their country, retrieve the rights of minority peoples, and restore artists' freedom to express their creativity and realize their innate talents.