Elshafei Dafalla Mohamed الشافعي دفع اللهPhoto Source: Cotuit Arts Center
A Sudanese-American visual artist used his art for human rights and to fight torture.
For two weeks in last Feb the Cotuit Center for the Arts (cape Code, MA) hosted different art activities for Mr. Elshafei. He led a workshop that merg art and human rights organized by the arts center and the Barnstable County Human Rights Commission. "They met to bring attention through art to human rights atrocities" said the Cape Code Times
"Sudanese-American artist Elshafei Dafalla Mohamed, currently an artist-in-residence at the arts center, led the project. A sculptor, painter, photographer and installation artist, Mohamed's work has honored journalists killed and tortured around the globe.
Wednesday night, four torches surrounded a blank canvas for the group to work on. Mohamed spray-painted a scene from his hometown in Sudan on the canvas, then urged the crowd to express themselves. " continued the newspaper its first page cover story. "You don't have to be an artist," he said.
Susan Belekewicz, a development consultant at the arts center, took her turn, spray-painting blue hearts.
"It's kind of a sad heart because of all the torture that exists," Belekewicz said.
As the night progressed, a litany of images, including sunrises and rooftops, filled the canvas."
