Nairobi, July 23 -- During the opening of his exhibition, Indigo Hypoxia, at the Goethe-Institut in Nairobi, Sudanese artist Sannad Shreef spent the entire evening with his face covered. Even as visitors wandered through the gallery and he completed a live painting, he never revealed himself.

It was not performance art. For months during Sudan's civil war in 2023, Shreef had lived in near isolation, spending most of his days locked inside his studio, emerging only to search for food and art supplies as fighting engulfed his hometown.

Interaction with other humans was minimal as a full blown war tore his beloved city apart. Painting became less an artistic pursuit than a way to survive.

Yet, unlike many Sudanese artists whose recent wor...