Sudanese heritage under threat – What can we do?
Sudanese heritage under threat – What can we do?
Two day collaborative atelier CEDEJ Khartoum
Date: Monday December 1st and Wednesday December 3rd, 2025
Time: 11 am – 5 pm (Cairo Time)
Venue: CEDEJ Khartoum (location here. 23 Gamal Al Din Abou Al Mahasen, Qasr El Nil, Cairo)
In collaboration with Safeguarding Sudan’s Living Heritage (SSLH), Dr. Ismaïl el-Fihail (Director of the House of Heritage in Khartoum) , and Leila Musson (International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam -IISH).
Both languages – English and Arabic – will be used during the workshop.
We invite you to a collaborative workshop focused on the practical possibilities for preserving heritage. Over the course of two days, we will work together to explore practical, real-world approaches to preservation. We would like to create a space where we can share ideas, learn from one another, and actively contribute to the development of meaningful solutions.
The idea for this workshop came out of earlier workshops that were organized around archiving, in combination with a sense of urgency around the topic of safeguarding Sudanese heritage in the context of the Sudan war, and amongst the diaspora.
When we speak about archives or heritage, we often think of materials or traces from the past that represent shared cultural objects or histories. We think much less about personal traces or archives—information that reflects individual and intimate experiences. However, that is equally valuable in documenting belonging and community, and that is intrinsically tied to broader histories and events.
Beyond brief theoretical contributions, we want to answer very concrete questions that arise today when it comes to preserving Sudan’s cultural, artistic and intellectual heritage. Here are some of the questions that will be addressed in concrete terms.
– What can we do with our phones?
– What is safe digital storage, what are available resources online?
– What do we need to keep in mind regarding privacy and other considerations?
– What can we do about internet archiving? Or how can we preserve our own stories?
The workshop has mostly a practical angle and will rely on collaborative efforts and input from attendees/participants. So we encourage you to bring any questions or ideas you may have to the table. If you have particular archival documents – digital or physical – or ideas for safeguarding materials you are warmly invited to bring them to the walk-in session on the first
day of the workshop. Additionally, if you have experience in heritage preservation, we would love for you to share your insights and expertise with the group.
Our aim is to share best practices, and by the end of the workshop, we aim to collaboratively produce a concise two-page guide that outlines takeaways and key resources for heritage preservation.
Your participation will help shape the conversation and outcomes, so we hope you can join us!
PROGRAM
Day 1: Sunday 1st of December
11:00 – 12:30 – Presentation by Leila Musson (IISH)
Leila Musson works as an archives specialist at the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam. In her work, she is interested in critical archival theory and community archiving.
Archiving – what can we do with the tools and resources that we have? our phones? safe storage? metadata? resources online, recording stories? Privacy, personal archives? ethical questions around archiving or preserving?
Break 12h30 – 1h30
1:30 – 3:00 – LAB – Practical Walk-In Session
This open, hands-on lab invites you to bring any questions you may have, along with any example of materials— such as digital materials, text messages, or photographs, drawings, or other items you believe should be preserved. Together, we will sit down to explore possible steps for preservation, and discuss important considerations such as ownership of data, and collaboratively identify practical solutions.
During this workshop, participants may choose to share materials—such as notes, ideas, digital files, photographs, or other records—for the purpose of discussion and learning. Providing these materials is entirely voluntary. Any items shared will be used solely within the context of the workshop to support collaborative exploration of preservation methods. We will not store, copy, or redistribute any personal or sensitive information without your explicit permission. Participants are encouraged to share only what they are comfortable discussing in a group setting.
3:00-3:30 Break
3:30-5 pm: Concluding the day with a round-up of questions and input to write a short practical guide that we aim to finalize during the second day.
Day 2: Wednesday 3rd of December
11.00-12.00: Presentation by Mohamed Kamal Awadallah, Anas Medani and Dafaalla Alhajj from Safeguarding Sudan’s Living Heritage (SSLH)
SSHL is a digital platform that documents and shares Sudan’s cultural heritage. They currently host an archive and training materials on several themes such as cities, gender, language and more.
12.15 – 1.15: Presentation by Dr. Ismail Elfihail “Sudan Intangible Cultural Heritage Under Threat: the Way Forward”
Dr. Ismail Elfihail is the director of the House of Heritage in Khartoum and a UNESCO-affiliated facilitator in the field of intangible cultural heritage.
Break 1.15-2.30
2.30 – 4.30. Co-creation of a practical guide
Collaboratively working on a concise practical guide that outlines takeaways and key resources for heritage preservation as an outcome of the two days workshop. The idea is that issues that were discussed and questions that came up during the two days are reflected in the content of the guide.
OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
cedejsudan (25 novembre 2025). Sudanese heritage under threat – What can we do? Researching Sudan - A perspective on contemporary Sudan. Consulté le 14 février 2026 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/157lr
