Correction Appended

Ibrahim Mohammed El-Salahi, artist-in-residence at the Cornell Institute of Comparative Modernities, related the tale of the horrors he experienced living in jail as a political prisoner with a disarming smile — one that did not match the mood of his tale. El-Salahi spoke as part of his sharing titled “Project Memoir” at the Toboggan Lodge yesterday.

El-Salahi is a world-renowned painter and pioneer in African modern art. His paintings adorn the walls of famous galleries around the world.

Apart from his accomplishments as an artist, El-Salahi is also known for his contributions to Sudan, his native country. El-Salahi has served as the assistant cultural attaché at the Sudan Embassy in London and undersecretary for the Sudan Ministry of Culture and Information.

In addition to being an artist, El-Salahi is a writer, yet he humbly characterized himself as a “picture-maker.” Beginning at the age of 21, El-Salahi kept a series of personal diaries in which he jotted down his thoughts, day-to-day experiences and observations of his neighbors. However, the tone and musings of his writings took an abrupt turn after his incarceration in the 1970s during his term of office at the Sudan Ministry of Culture and Information. Head scratcher: Ibrahim Mohammed El-Salahi speaks to students about his experiences in prison and the writing of his memoirs at Toboggan Lodge yesterday.

After El-Salahi was released from jail, he began writing down vivid accounts of his sufferings in prison in earnest. “I went home and started writing straight away so as not to forget,” El-Salahi said. “I used to believe that you can work for your people, your country, your heritage. But working under a tyrant, you have to always be mindful of whom you are really working for.”

El-Salahi’s memoir was meant to be serve as a warning to those who shared his belief in the rewards of contributing to one’s country through public service. “I hope that the memoir could be of help for somebody so that those who were as naïve as me will not be blinded by the similar misbelief of them working for their people,” El-Salahi said.

At the talk, El-Salahi read rich in details of his time in prison. “Each cell of those 20 cells was supposed to house three political prisoners,” El-Salahi read from his memoir, “but no one dared enter any of them owing to the overpowering stench within, the dampness, and the stagnant greenish water that covered the muddy ground.”

Writing about his experience in prison eased El-Salahi’s pain of those memories. “Writing down and reading my work out loud lessens the effect [that these memories] have upon me,” El-Salahi said.

Prita Meier, history of art, visiting fellow at the Society for the Humanities, said of the talk: “It was definitely very inspirational to hear El-Salahi speaks of the hardships that he has overcome.”

Other former political prisoners like El-Salahi have undertaken a similar task of revealing the oppressions they have suffered. Prof. Salah Hassan, Africana studies and history of art and visual studies, who has worked closely with El-Salahi on his memoir, alluded to the flood of prison memoirs written by former political prisoners in Sudan in the last two decades.

“The intellectual and political contributions of these memoirs and testimonials are immense,” Hassan said, “precisely for their effect to expand public debate about the need for specific types of reparations through which the Sudanese state and its people may be empowered to confront the demons of the past and alleviate present practices as embodied in prevalent human rights abuses, torture, incarceration and illegal political detention of pro-democracy activist.”

This articles incorrectly quoted Ibrahim El-Salahi as saying that tanks were dug up from below his house, when in fact this was incorrect. Mr. El-Salahi was instead joking about the possibility of there being such tanks. Additionally, the article quotes El-Salahi as saying that his time in jail led him to be aloof from others, when in fact he meant that his time in jail reinforced the value of other human beings.