Truth Bears No Scandal by Ahmed Umar selected for Inter:Active

With his roots in Sudanese culture, artist Ahmed Umar explores his musical heritage in the video installation and presentation of three well-known Sudanese songs. These are songs rumored to be written about same-sex love. In his video installation, Ahmed Umar presents the songs as he believes they should – unapologetically queer.

• Video installation | 12 min 
• Director: Ahmed Umar 
• Co-director: Ahmad Ismail 
• Production: Ahmed Umar 
• Co-producer: Ahmed Abuzeid 
• Financing: Arts and Culture Norway, Toronto Biennal of Arts

More about Truth Bears No Scandal الـوَاضِـح مُو فَـاضِح 

The roots of this work lie in a deep fascination with the unspoken stories within Sudanese musical heritage, whispers of same-sex love, shared like secrets but never acknowledged. 

As a child at home, I sat with the men, absorbing their coded conversations as they reminisced about the Sudanese classical genre of Haqeebat AlFan. They hinted about poets with "questionable reputations," songs with "darker histories." Wrapped in humor and slurs, these whispers struck a nerve. As I awakened to both my queerness and the coded realities of these songs, the seeds of this project were planted. 

Years later, I asked my Facebook followers: What Sudanese songs were written about same-sex love? Responses poured in, with certain songs repeatedly mentioned. This became my starting point. 

To deepen my research, I connected with Sudanese voices across the diaspora and interviewed older queer Sudanese refugees in Cairo—survivors of a war that claimed lives and destroyed institutions, including our National TV and Radio archive. 

I eventually focused on three songs, each carrying a distinct story and genre: 

• "سَـالَم النَّاس" He Greeted Everyone – A sorrowful lament by Mohammed Ahmed Awad, where the poet aches as his beloved greets everyone except him. A Popular genre piece, it features folk instruments and rhythmic clapping. 
• "الحَالِم سَـبانَا" (The Dreamer Captivated Us) – Written by Mohamed Awad Al-Kareem Al-Qurshi and sung by Osman Alshafee, the poet of this Haqeebat AlFan song likens the beloved’s beauty to the Prophet Joseph’s, who in some Islamic traditions is claimed to possess half of the human beauty. Passed between singers, some were rumored to be queer. 
• "نَعـومَة" (Naoma) – A traditional song of hidden grief, a woman’s lament for a dear girlfriend forced into marriage and taken away from her to a distant village. 

Through this project, I seek to reclaim the veiled histories within the Sudanese musical heritage. Documenting stories of same sex love, longing, and resilience, telling them as, I believe, they were meant to be: unapologetically queer. 

The Inter:Active exhibition

The Inter:Active exhibition takes place at Kunsthal Charlottenborg between March 19-30, 2025. This year, CPH:DOX has invited 12 international artists or collectives to present their work as part of their joint exhibition Untamed: Humanity Rewilded.