Abul Oyay Deng Ajak is an artist, a painter, and curator. She was born in Ethiopia in 1986 but later moved to South Sudan because of war. When she left Ethiopia it was to stay with her paternal family in Malakal, South Sudan. This is where she got to spend a lot of time with her paternal grandmother who had a big influence on her. She experienced a motherly nurturing which she lost a sense of when she was separated from her mother in Ethiopia.
Image courtesy of Crown the Woman
Growing up, her father travelled a lot and always brought her art supplies, encouraging her to paint. He also insisted that she chose a career path in business which led to her studying international business. She later attended university in London, England and the accessibility of art supplies fueled her passion to work harder on her talent in the arts.
The themes in her work usually revolve around women. Ajak is a curator of women’s art and she came to this career path because of the influence women have had on her. Due to the history of the war in South Sudan, Ajak remembers being surrounded and raised by women while men were on the battlefield. She remembers seeing her father only a limited amount of times as a child. Curating other female artists is a subject close to her heart and she is looking forward to doing this for more artists in time and with the necessary resources available.
With South Sudan being the world’s youngest nation, it is important for Ajak to play a part in the arts and rewrite the state of affairs in the country where she can. It is also important to rewrite what women are capable of in a country where women’s roles were previously so clearly defined and limited. The country’s independence serves as a new dawn for women in arts giving women a platform to explore their talents.
Image courtesy of the East African
Her first exhibition took place in Juba after South Sudan declared independence in 2011. She has exhibited in Nairobi, Kenya, where she recently finalised her degree in peace and conflict studies. Ajak has also held exhibitions in the UK and Uganda.
Ajak also works as Director of Museums, Culture and National Heritage in the Office of the Vice President where she’s involved in the culture, history, and collecting of artefacts. The artist feels that this job inspires a similar thing in her as painting does. She is also able to relate to the woman vice president who shows her the possibilities of what happens when women are represented in such spaces.
