In this school, which has been transformed into a refuge, live about a hundred musicians. Like many citizens, these artists fled the conflict that has been raging in Sudan for three years and found shelter here in Port Sudan.
"It's fortunate that all these artists found themselves in the same place. I think it would have been very difficult if they had been scattered in different camps. It would have been very hard ," says Sudanese filmmaker Mohamed Ali Ibrahim. "Our gathering here has given rise to many collective artistic works. Many musicians have collaborated with poets, as well as playwrights who have benefited from the expertise of music specialists and photographers. This has helped to bring people together ," he adds.
In this haven, sharing is the motto. Actors, screenwriters, painters, and directors alike share everything: food, money, and even coffee between rehearsals. Gradually, word spread about the formation of this impromptu artists' community, and people began flocking to the school hoping to collaborate with these renowned artists.
Here, there are dreams, and the outer courtyard is full of dreams, energies, and experiences. I'm sure anyone here could write a book about their stay here ," explains Assem Abdel Aziz, a Sudanese musician and composer.
The El-Rabat center is a world away from the countless other reception centers in Port Sudan, the army's wartime capital, where epidemics and relentless hunger threaten tens of thousands of people. But like everyone else, these artists arrived in Port Sudan, the army's wartime capital on the Red Sea, exhausted, traumatized, and destitute.
"When I arrived, there weren't even any fans to relieve us from the stifling heat. People were sleeping on mats on the bare ground, without access to water," Hossam al-Din al-Taher, director of the musical troupe, told AFP.
The conflict in Sudan has forced more than nine million people to seek refuge within the country.
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