«Тахиййат»: Сборник статей в честь Н. Н. Дьякова

Wadi Halfa: Bride of the Nile m 31 n Wardi’s singing and musical compositions have received the highest praise. He sang and composed not only in the Nubian language, but also in Arabic. He performed before a great variety of ethnic and linguistic groups across Africa 1 . It can be argued that a much fuller biographical account of Mohamed Wardi needs to be made available, especially in English, Russian and Chi- nese, not only to understand the phenomenon of Wardi himself, but to un- derstand how he could flourish in the modern Sudan. He was a Communist for about 30 years. He then shifted his allegiance to the Sudan People’s Lib- eration Movement which he served for about 20 years until his death. He constantly protested against any attempts of the state to impose restrictions upon artists. He cancelled his exile abroad, returned to Sudan and continued to express his opinions. He was responsible for a musical celebration of the pagan kings and queens of the ancient Sudan. This was done on a vast scale in Khartoum at a time when general policy prescribed strict religious ob- servance. He continued to perform his songs and music for an enthusiastic public even though music was still considered taboo in some localities of the country. He remained a strong advocate of human rights until his death in Khartoum. 1 Performance before displaced persons in Addis Ababa: www.youtube.com/watch?v= WkegFEEwjjM, accessed 14 May 2013. Al-Balabil at the First Nubian Culture and Tourism Festival inWadi Halfa ( Courtesy of DAL Group)