Assil Diab () is a Sudanese visual artist,

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for publishe ...

and

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

artist, based in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Biography

Early life and education

Assil Diab was born in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

and moved with her parents to

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

as a child. She attended the

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia ...

and in Richmond, Virginia, USA, and graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of

Fine Arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwo ...

in graphic design. She also holds a diploma in

Digital Marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. Its development dur ...

and Advanced

Social Media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...

Marketing.

Career

Since her graduation she has worked as a freelance graphic designer and graffiti artist, designing logos and branding for companies as well as commissioned to paint the walls of restaurants, cafes, shops and businesses. Diab works as a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance ...

graphic designer and

graffiti artist Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

. She has been called the first female graffiti artist in Qatar and in Sudan. Before she moved into freelancing as a graffiti artist, she worked at

Doha Film Institute Doha Film Institute (DFI) is a nonprofit cultural organisation established in 2010 by Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani to support the growth of the Qatari film community and to provide funding and international networking oppor ...

(DFI) and for

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazee ...

Children's Channel. In 2019, she went back to Sudan, where she undertook an artistic project to honour Sudan's protesting citizens, who lost their lives during the

Sudanese revolution The Sudanese Revolution was a major shift of political power in Sudan that started with street protests throughout Sudan on 19 December 2018 and continued with sustained civil disobedience for about eight months, during which the 2019 Suda ...

. For this project, she created

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

s of the victims on walls of their respective family homes. In 2020, she won a dissemination award from

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

and i4policy for a self-initiated street art campaign she did on the coronavirus in Sudan. She has also been a honorary cultural Ambassador to Qatar Museums since 2018. In addition to spray painting on the walls of Sudan and Qatar, Assil's artwork has also been exhibited in Bahrain, Germany, Bangladesh, and the USA. Her work has also been published in books, including Artisans of the Middle East and “Dreesha”.

Exhibitions

* LAS Charity Fashion Show with pop art exhibition by Assil Diab - Grand Regal Hotel (2013) * Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar *

Iwalewahaus Iwalewahaus, University of Bayreuth, is a place for the production and presentation of contemporary art. By doing exhibitions, academic research and teaching, by taking care of the collection and the archive as well as providing residencies for ar ...

Gallery in Bayreuth, Germany (2017) * Red Bull's Artspace in

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

, called ‘Malja’ (2015 and 2016) * Karmakol Festival in Sudan (2017)

References

External links

''Assil Diab - graphic artist'' (YouTube video in Arabic, with English subtitles)

''"Meet The People Of Qatar"'' episode 09 - Assil Diab (YouTube video in English)
*
How Art Helped Propel Sudan’s Revolution
' magazine article about artists active in the Sudanese Revolution {{DEFAULTSORT:Diab, Assil Living people Sudanese artists Virginia Commonwealth University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century women artists Women graffiti artists Sudanese graphic designers Sudanese contemporary artists Women muralists Calligraffiti artists