Open access peer-reviewed chapter
Abstract
This chapter describes the impact of the ongoing armed conflict in Sudan on cultural heritage, underlining the relevance of the SudanInnovation project carried out by the Institute of Heritage Science—National Research Council of Italy in collaboration with Comboni College of Science and Technology, a Sudanese institution of higher education. The project opens new perspectives and calls for the protection of cultural heritage, positioning it as medium for reconciliation and the development of a new shared national identity.
Keywords
- cultural heritage
- digital tools
- civil war
- cultural identity
- Sudan
1. Introduction
Al-Ahlia University in Omdurman once housed an extraordinary library filled with unique books, manuscripts, and historical documents of great value. However, since May 2023, that library no longer exists [1].
In June 2023, the library of the Mohamed Omer Bashir Study Center was consumed by fire, destroying one of the most important repositories of Sudanese history and culture. The fire did not appear to be an accidental incident or a collateral consequence of the exchange of fire between two armies in the streets of Omdurman.
Since April 15, 2023, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been engaged in conflict. Prior to the outbreak of violence, both armies has been negotiating a model of integration along with some civilian platforms, aiming for a transition toward a democratic civilian rule. However, hostilities erupted that day, unleashing a wave of destruction that forced the displacement of more than 14 million people (11 million internally displaced persons and 3.1 million refugees) [2].
The RSF claimed to be fighting against the old Islamist regime that resisted this transition, positioning itself as the defender of marginalized cultural groups from the country’s peripheries. However, the evolution of the conflict revealed that these claims were not the RSF’s priority, as it does not seem sensible to bring about democratic civilian rule through pillage, looting, killings, torture, “sexual and gender-based violence, rape, sexual slavery, abduction, and recruitment and use of children in hostilities” [3].
2. Targeting cultural heritage
The preceding citation comes from the report prepared by the Human Rights Council on the findings of the investigations conducted by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan. The report examines violations of international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and related crimes committed in Sudan in the context of the conflict that erupted in mid-April 2023.
The same report denounces that “the RSF and its allied militias engaged in a pattern of destruction of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, including through intentionally directing attacks against specially protected objects,” as well as the looting and destruction of cultural property [3].
On August 22, 2024, the RSF shelled the El Fasher University Library and the Peace Studies Center in North Darfur with heavy artillery [4].
The targeted destruction of historical archives, university libraries, study centers, cultural centers, and museums [5], as well as institutions connected to the history and culture of the country, has been extensive. In contrast, libraries related to technological and technical fields seem to have been spared. This suggests an intentional effort to undermine the pillars of the traditional cultural identity of the country [6] to replace it with a new one [7].
Similarly, the RSF has reportedly carried out operations to replace inhabitants in areas of Khartoum State with individuals brought from the western regions of Sudan and even from Chad, predominantly belonging to the Rizeigat tribe [8].
The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the Republic of Sudan has reported that 104 government and private higher education and research centers have been affected by the war and have been either totally or partially damaged or looted [9].
3. SudanInnovation and the war in Sudan
On September 2, 2024, the
This museum was the location of one of the graduation projects described in this book. The reported events highlight the necessity of the SudanInnovation project, not just for Sudan but potentially for other neighboring countries that may be facing similar violent experiences. In other contexts, threats to cultural heritage may come from natural disasters, the consequences of climatic change, rapid urbanization, mining activities, irresponsible tourism, and other factors.
The SudanInnovation project demonstrated that the transfer of knowledge from a European research institution specializing in cultural heritage to students and faculty of another institution in a developing country, one with a rich cultural heritage but few resources to protect and transform it for sustainable development, can be effective and yield meaningful results.
Among the factors that made this transfer successful, the project identified the following:
English proficiency among trainers and trainees, despite English not being their first language. This aligns with previous studies [11, 12].
Digital skills among trainees, which facilitated online learning and the application of acquired knowledge. Beneficiaries who are experts in technology-related fields are better equipped for training where technology serves as the primary teaching medium. This also confirms previous experiences [13].
Immediate application of learning—The timing of training sessions just before students chose their graduations project themes was crucial, ensuring they could directly apply newly acquired skills.
Adaptability to online education—Only a few universities managed to successfully shift to online learning after the onset of the war [14]. Comboni College of Science and Technology (CCST) was among them. Some factors that may explain this flexibility include the college’s small size, the low average age of its teaching staff, previous online education initiatives such as the “Innovation in society: Training paths and human capital enhancement in Sudan (INSO)” project [12], and its ongoing faculty development.
However, the project also showed some limitations. Computer Science students had minimal exposure to the humanities. While they demonstrated technical proficiency in developing applications, they required support from specialists to enhance the presentation of their work and refine the textual content they produced.
4. Perspectives
4.1 Coordination and integration initiatives
As mentioned in Chapter 1, the SudanInnovation project coincided with other initiatives funded by European institutions that were launched a few months after the conclusion of our project. These included “Sudan Memory” [15], a project led by King’s College in partnership with the National Records Office (NRO) of Sudan and the Sudanese Association for Archiving Knowledge (SUDAAK); and “Turath” [16], an initiative led by the French Institute in Sudan in collaboration with the French Archeological Unit for Sudanese Antiquities (Section Française de la Direction des Antiquités du Soudan, SFDAS), the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM), and Alsoug.com. The “Turath” project was funded by the delegation of the European Union in Sudan, while “Sudan Memory” was funded by the British Council Cultural Protection Fund and the Aliph Foundation.
The simultaneity of these projects highlights a pivotal moment for Sudan, an opportunity to accelerate the digitization of its cultural heritage and its transformation into an engine of sustainable development while also laying the groundwork for tourism infrastructure.
This potential called for an integrated approach that involved local institutions like the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM) and the Ministry for Antiquities, Tourism, and Wild Life; international institutions with a presence in Sudan, such as UNESCO and European cultural centers; local universities like CCST, as well as others located near key archeological sites such as Dongola and Meroe; local tourism and digital companies, including Al-soug; and local start-up incubators, which could facilitate the transformation of cultural heritage into a sustainable development resource.
Among the tools used by these start-up incubators to solve problems and foster innovation are hackathons. A hackathon is a design sprint-like event where computer programmers, software developers, and other professionals collaborate intensively on software projects. The goal of a hackathon is to create functional software or hardware by the end of the event.
Hackathons bring together young innovators from diverse academic backgrounds, including business administration, marketing, tourism, history, and archeology, within integrated teams. This structure allows them to solve concrete problems without the rigid framework of an academic course.
4.2 Mixed competencies master’s degree programs
Another channel to boost the digital transformation of cultural heritage in Sudan is the creation of a master’s degree program that integrates digital tools and cultural heritage. Currently, no such program exists in Sudan.
The challenge lies in designing a curriculum that accommodates students from both humanities disciplines (archeology, history, etc.) with a foundation in digital skills, and students from technological backgrounds (e.g., computer science, information technology, engineering, etc.). The teaching staff could include European experts via online instruction, but the plan should prioritize training future local lecturers to eventually replace online instructors.
4.3 Monitoring tools
The destruction of cultural heritage in Sudan could be mitigated through the reconstruction of artifacts using existing 3D virtual models. In addition, the Sudanese experience underscores the need to develop monitoring applications that, with the support of satellite imagery and digital tracking, could support the surveillance of local cultural heritage in collaboration with national and international authorities.
4.4 Cultural heritage, reconciliation, and cultural identity
The ongoing conflict in Sudan is not unprecedented. The country has endured two long civil wars between the north and the south (1955–1972 and 1983–2005) as well as armed conflicts in Darfur (2003–2020), South Kordofan, and Blue Nile State. These conflicts are an expression of severe tensions between the central authority, which imposes a national identity, and the peripheral communities, many of whom identify with non-Arab cultural identities [17].
Surely, the Sudan that will emerge from the war will differ from its past. It will be a “new Sudan,” a term associated with the political vision of the founder of the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM), John Garang. He warned that “it is often forgotten that the Sudan is not just north and south. The Sudan is also west, east, and center, no matter what definitions you wish to attach to these labels… All patriots must appreciate the reality that we are a new breed of Sudanese; we will not accept being fossilized into sub-citizens in the ‘Regions’” [18]. His vision of a new Sudan emphasizes the integration of cultural diversity and the separation of religion and state, prioritizing citizenship over religious identity.
Garang’s efforts crystalized in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed on January 9, 2005, between Omar Al-Bashir, Sudan’s ruler from 1989 to 2019, and John Garang himself. The agreement paved the way for a referendum, which led to South Sudan’s secession in 2011.
The CPA recognized cultural heritage as a key element for reconciliation and peace, an idea also present in the Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972 that ended the First Sudanese Civil War. President Ja’far Nimeyri at the time spoke of Sudan as an “Afro-Arab entity” [19]. This expression aimed to integrate Sudanese diversity and was in line with the thought of South Sudanese thinker Francis Deng, who stated:
The CPA proposed a vision that aimed to create a sense of common ownership while challenging the negative effects of instrumentalizing identity through the promotion of cultural heritage policies [21], which included “strengthening intercultural and inter-religious dialogue and developing protection of the national heritage” [22].
The CPA followed the principle of a single state with two systems, one for the south and another for the north. Within this framework, the Joint Assessment Mission for Sudan detailed cultural heritage initiatives that could help shape a new national identity inclusive of all Sudanese citizens. For Northern Sudan, the report recommended the development of:
In line with the CPA’s principles, the NCAM developed a plan in 2005 to establish a network of museums across Sudan, leading to the opening of several museums outside Khartoum State. Many of these museums were planned in state capitals affected by violent conflict, such as Nyala, Al-Janeina, Damazin, Fashoda, Kassala, and Jonglei. These institutions were envisioned as instruments of political reconciliation, granting official recognition and visibility to cultural minorities. In fact, the map of the planned location of these museums showed their distribution along two thematic axes: “one axis is devoted to the development in the Northern capitals (Jebel Barkal-Karima, Dongola, Kerma, Wadi Halfa), the second axis concerns the Southern capitals (Juba, Jonglei, Fashoda) and the ‘marginal’ regions (Nyala, El-Damazin, Kassala)” [21].
Unfortunately, the plan unintentionally reinforced cultural divisions. The report observed: “On the one hand, the Northern Nile valley is devoted to archaeologists; on the other hand, Southern Soudan and regions such as Darfour are relevant for anthropologists, [so that] the concept of heritage is applied in the peripheries, but is not yet, qualifying any object or artefact” [21].
The development of a truly inclusive Sudanese cultural heritage should not limit or reduce itself to a mere documentation of multiculturalism through exhibitions of costumes, musical instruments, handicrafts, and traditions. Furthermore, heritage cannot be weaponized as a tool for local communities to resist Sudanization or to assert superiority in “sudanity” over others. Instead, Sudan’s multicultural reality should be the platform for intercultural dialog that produces a dynamic and shared concept of identity instead of justification for divisions and comparisons of “sudanity.”
The way to make heritage a source of integrative identity building is through intercultural exchange. This process begins with discovering Sudan’s multicultural nature, then promoting mutual exchange of life and work to shape a global vision of citizenship that builds on what is shared in common rather than erasing individual identity [23].
This means that schools should be places of “initiation to the dialogue of life among young people of different religions and social backgrounds” [23] where cultural heritage is a formative experience, like clay being molded and shaped. According to the intercultural perspective, this clay should remain moldable, allowing for transformation.
The above is supported by [23] and also reflected in the European Faro Convention, which focuses on the importance of participation by citizenship and the values attributed by citizens to forms of cultural heritage, introducing the concept of Heritage Community. The CNR-ISPC Working Group on Heritage Communities supports communities in identifying cooperative solutions for sustainable development based on holistic strategies for protection and enhancement of cultural heritage. This support also extends to educational projects, such as SudanInnovation, which aims to help communities at war or at risk of conflict strengthen their sense of belonging and their cultural identity [24, 25].
This intercultural approach goes beyond the concepts of relativism and assimilation. It is
In addition to intercultural engagement, academic curricula should reflect Sudan’s cultural diversity, integrating local languages into basic education.
In this evolving educational model, digital tools can facilitate access for all children, allowing them to explore the richness of “the other” so that a new “we” may be molded.
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