Khartoum’s Abandoned Buildings Return to Life through Photographs

“Sudanese Pictorial Photography” is one of many projects aimed at reviving buildings that reflect the old face of Sudan. (Asharq Al--Awsat)
“Sudanese Pictorial Photography” is one of many projects aimed at reviving buildings that reflect the old face of Sudan. (Asharq Al--Awsat)
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Khartoum’s Abandoned Buildings Return to Life through Photographs

“Sudanese Pictorial Photography” is one of many projects aimed at reviving buildings that reflect the old face of Sudan. (Asharq Al--Awsat)
“Sudanese Pictorial Photography” is one of many projects aimed at reviving buildings that reflect the old face of Sudan. (Asharq Al--Awsat)

“Sudanese Pictorial Photography” is one of many projects aimed at reviving buildings that reflect the old face of Sudan and documenting old, historic and abandoned buildings, and reintroducing them to the new generation.

“The initiative is fueled by our love for Sudan. The name was selected to reflect the targeted aim of the initiative, which is highlighting the country’s hidden gems and unknown beauties,” said Engineer Rim Hussein, the brain behind the idea.

Hussein believes that “these buildings have been subject to a silent abandonment, and are almost fading because of the popular and official neglect. So, we had to act and shed light on the history and heritage that a cracked wall in a building or an old banner could hide to keep them remain alive in people’s memory.”

About the work plan, Hussein said she photographs old buildings according to a certain vision that aims at connecting people to these buildings.

“The anecdotes my mother and father used to tell us about their youth, college days, where they worked, and the connection of places with Sudan’s social and political reality, drove a constant attention to details in me, and gave me an active, spatial memory,” she added.

“With time, I noticed the changing feature of our beloved country. Secret keepers, unfortunately, die or leave, so I had the idea of posing in photographs with these old building as background,” Hussein said in describing the beginning of her idea.

“My main motivation was feeling that these buildings or houses aren’t just deaf stones, but living objects that carry the philosophy of life and its aspects in past times and communities.”

She said her entire process started with documenting the post building in Khartoum. “I searched for a long time, and took information from my mom who was an employee at the post authority. The building is made from sandstone and inspired by the past century’s Victorian architecture.”

“Later, we documented some buildings in the Republic Street, in the center of Khartoum, including the Sahara Hotel, the Acropol, and Sudan Club,” she revealed, adding that the search for the last building took over two years to collect information, accessories and garments, assemble the photography team, and acquire permits.

The photography documentation wasn’t limited to old buildings and hotels, but also included some stores that were famous in the 1970s.

About her vision for the future, Hussein said: “I hope this experience would prompt a drive to turn these places and buildings into touristic landmarks given their spatial significance and historic dimensions.”



Air Pollution from Fires Linked to 1.5 Million Deaths a Year

The study was released a week after Ecuador declared a national emergency due to forest fires. Galo Paguay / AFP/File
The study was released a week after Ecuador declared a national emergency due to forest fires. Galo Paguay / AFP/File
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Air Pollution from Fires Linked to 1.5 Million Deaths a Year

The study was released a week after Ecuador declared a national emergency due to forest fires. Galo Paguay / AFP/File
The study was released a week after Ecuador declared a national emergency due to forest fires. Galo Paguay / AFP/File

Air pollution caused by fires is linked to more than 1.5 million deaths a year worldwide, the vast majority occurring in developing countries, a major new study said on Thursday.
This death toll is expected to rise in the coming years as climate change makes wildfires more frequent and intense, according to the study in The Lancet journal.
The international team of researchers looked at existing data on "landscape fires", which include both wildfires that rage through nature and planned fires such as controlled burns on farming land.
Around 450,000 deaths a year from heart disease were linked to fire-related air pollution between 2000 and 2019, the researchers said.
A further 220,000 deaths from respiratory disease were attributed to the smoke and particulates spewed into the air by fire, AFP said.
From all causes around the world, a total of 1.53 million annual deaths were associated with air pollution from landscape fires, according to the study.
More than 90 percent of these deaths were in low and middle-income countries, it added, with nearly 40 percent in sub-Saharan Africa alone.
The countries with the highest death tolls were China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Indonesia, and Nigeria.
A record amount of illegal burning of farm fields in northern India has been partly blamed for noxious smog that has recently been choking the capital New Delhi.
The authors of the Lancet study called for "urgent action" to address the huge death toll from landscape fires.
The disparity between rich and poor nations further highlights "climate injustice", in which those who have contributed the least to global warming suffer from it the most, they added.
Some of the ways people can avoid smoke from fires -- such as moving away from the area, using air purifiers and masks, or staying indoors -- are not available to people in poorer countries, the researchers pointed out.
So they called for more financial and technological support for people in the hardest-hit countries.
The study was released a week after UN climate talks where delegates agreed to a boost in climate funding that developing countries slammed as insufficient.
It also came after Ecuador declared a national emergency over forest fires that have razed more than 10,000 hectares in the country's south.
The world has also been battered by hurricanes, droughts, floods and other extreme weather events during what is expected to be the hottest year in recorded history.