(Re-)Claiming Nuba

An annual racing ceremony was held in the region of Kau Nyaro. It was a competition between girls who raced against each other. In the afternoon, the girls went from Kau village to Traida village and spent the night there. In the morning, flowers or leaves of a particular plant were collected at the watering place of the village Traida and laid down in a row. In the local Kau language, the plant is called kindi. The girls lined up behind the flowers and leaves. The kujur (comparable to a shaman) in charge then gave the signal to start, and each girl took a plant and began to run. The girls ran all the way to Kau, a distance of several kilometers. When they arrived in Kau village, they ran to the kujur’s house and the one who arrived first was the winner. There was also a second and third place. In the house of the kujur, the girls then performed some rituals. They were given good food, such as milk, to eat. Various ceremonies and rituals were held in connection with the race. The race is no longer practiced, but there are local attempts to revive it.

In Arabic, this racing ceremony is called “sibr aj-Jarri”. In Kau language it is called “kra” (racing). Abdelrahim Torah, who hails from the village of Kau and took part in the workshops in Kampala, recounted the annual racing ceremony of the girls of Kau village. During the research in Kau Nyaro region, several inhabitants commented on the pictures and also identified people in the pictures. Towhid Tabasa, who participated in the research in the Kau Nyaro region, mentioned that there was also a men’s race that took place in the village of Nyaro. Girls accompanied the race with ceremonies and welcomed the male racers. This image series shows various events during racing ceremonies.

VH

There are five ways to hunt leopards:

1- Firearm: It is used in case of an accident, or if the tiger is sleeping, or if he is walking in the forest.

2- Kajjama or foot trap: They are installed on roads or places where leopards drink water, and they are always installed in the path of the leopard because it has a specific path to enter the water source. Then he is captured and killed with a rifle.

3- Al-Tukul It is a grave that is dug near where the leopard sleeps, where he sleeps on his stomach. Al-Tukul is a hole that is covered with wood. It is dug early and then after sunset, the hunter comes with 3 people. The hunter enters the hole, and they cover the hole with wood, dirt, and straw, leaving a small opening through which the rifle hose emerges. The hunter’s assistants then burn straw over the hole so that the leopard cannot smell the hunter or the gunpowder. After that, the hunters hide in places a little far away and wait for the leopard’s presence. When the leopard returns to its sleeping place, the hunter brings the nozzle of the gun to the surface through the hole, and then the leopard comes, curious to know what this thing is. Then the hunter feels the leopard’s movement around the hose and shoots. The bullet may hit and kill him, or the injury may be light. If the leopard’s injury was light, the leopard does not move from its place, lurking and eavesdropping to find out the source of its injury, and it does not take a long time for it to start digging the hole where the hunter is. Here comes the role of the rest of the hidden hunters, and they rush to save their friend and kill the leopard.

4- A rifle attached to string and bait: Meat is tied to the gun’s hose and the trigger is tied with a string. When the leopard tries to take the meat, it automatically fires… This method rarely works because the leopard smells human scent and does not eat meat unless it is extremely hungry.

5- Kunjara or snare trap: It is a soft green stick from the “Khashkhash” tree that is shaped into a hook. A hole is dug in the leopard’s path to a medium depth, then the stick is fixed in the ground, hooked and bent in the shape of an arc. Bending requires a lot of effort from the hunters, then a rope is tied to the end of the bow and a small stick is tied to the other end of the rope and placed in the hole near the bow and covered with straw. When the leopard passes over the hole and touches the rope; Due to the force of tension on the stick, it gets pulled upward and thrown to the ground, and the process continues every time the leopard falls in the same spot until it is physically exhausted and unable to move. Then the hunters come and finish him off with a rifle.

About Leopards:
Leopards’ skin is very expensive, that’s why they are hunted. The value of a leopard skin is estimated at 40 million SDG (Sudanese pound), and the price of one shoe ranges between 300-350 million SDG. In the mountains, it is hunted for its skin and meat, as its meat is white and chunky. The high price of skin made hunters compete for hunting and money. But now it has become undesirable unless the leopard harms livestock and pastures. The leopard is one of the animals that is never absent from water sources because it depends on water to digest the meat it eats, which causes it to be extremely thirsty.

Marna Mountain & Marna Well:
There are strange things in Mount Marna, as water flows from the top of the mountain to the well. Any electronic device does not work inside the well and malfunctions. Impure women (during menstruation) and impure men (without impurity washing ritual) are prohibited from entering the well. At the top of the mountain, there are many falcons flying at the summit guarding a tree called the Elixir Tree, as it is believed that the leaves and branches of this tree turn into gold when cut. So people try to reach it, but the birds there prevent them.

After hunting the leopard

Skin:
The leopard’s skin is skinned very carefully from head to tail without damaging the skin. After skinning, the skin is sold to Arab tribes. The meat is eaten in the village, and the remaining has many uses amongst the Nuba people.
 
Whiskers:
Some “A’urooq” or witchcraft tools are added to it and amulets and talismans are made from it. The person who wears this amulet gains awe and a majestic and frightening presence from the people around him. Meaning that anyone who sees this person wearing this amulet is afraid of him as he is afraid of a leopard. Therefore, the leopard’s amulets are popular amongst leaders, tribe leaders, and warriors.
 
Fangs:
It is kept in homes after mixing it with certain witchcraft tools and alchemy. It is hung in the house for the purpose of preservation and protection from thieves, traitors, and envious people.
 
Rules of hunting leopards: 
There are certain conditions and rules for hunting leopards: If the leopard is looking at you in the eye, do not shoot it because it will attack you even after you hit it.

AT and KP

The digitised holdings, which were created as part of the cataloguing and research project, formed the basis for joint reviews and the exchange of visual material on selected topics. During the cataloguing process, the files were enriched with formal metadata and keywords wherever possible. This information includes the time and place of the photograph, the names of those depicted (if known) and reconstructed thematic backgrounds. However, navigating the resulting extensive and complex folder structure is a bit cumbersome. Furthermore, due to their quantity and size, processing the files further is quite time-consuming.

Another challenge is the need for multilingualism — Arabic, English, and German in this case, as well as local languages in the future — and the related issues of transcription rules and translations. Western-influenced classification systems allow little scope for cataloguing other epistemological approaches. An attempt has been made to address this by using a simple, flexible, open-source programme to annotate research data. Nevertheless, it is important to continue evaluating the above aspects of digitisation and cataloguing on an ongoing basis, jointly designing workflows and considering various usage scenarios.

The archive also contains audiovisual documentation of the collaborative research process and events. Filmmakers Hajooj Kuka and Wael Gazoly documented the entire process. During their trips to the Nuba Mountains, the researchers also recorded the interviews and group discussions they conducted as videos, photos and audio recordings on their phones.

This multi-layered digital archive was handed over in its entirety to the Pan-Nuba Council. In December 2024, we met in Kampala for a final workshop to set up the data and programs and discuss the next steps. Together, all of this data forms a large and complex resource for further in-depth research on the African continent. Currently, it is only accessible on site in the Ugandan exile of those involved, primarily for people with a research or family interest. Despite the technical and data structuring challenges involved, this comprehensive digital handover enables self-determined on-site research.

KP

Construction of the Nuba Centre for Culture, Heritage and Arts is planned in the city of Kadugli, which is the capital of the state of South Kordofan in Sudan. The project has been set up by the Pan Nuba Council (PNC) with the support of Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) as part of the process for restituting Leni Riefenstahl’s works to Kau Nyaro and Masakin, which are situated in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains.

The centre has twofold aims: on the one hand to promote Nuba culture and on the other to provide a setting for showcasing material culture and housing the Nuba digital archive. The latter will contain work by Leni Riefenstahl that has been restituted. The archive will later be expanded to include further images from the more distant and recent past by various photographers, journalists and filmmakers.

The centre aims to assist researchers and scholars by providing them with the educational and research data and resources they need in order to learn about Nuba culture, heritage, history and arts. This will, in turn, facilitate the route to more research work in various disciplines (archaeology, anthropology, alternative medicine, herbal drugs, architecture, community organisation and governance). The centre will play a significant role in preserving local Nuba languages, culture and heritage by protecting significant artefacts, artworks and traditional practices. Maintaining and showcasing these treasures will enable future generations to appreciate and learn from their cultural legacy.

The centre has the potential to become a hub for community interaction, providing opportunities for Nuba people to come together, share their experiences and engage with each other through workshops, exhibitions, performances, discussions and collaborative projects. The sum of these activities will foster a sense of belonging and strengthen community bonds on the way to Nuba unity.
The structure will take the form of circular huts, a shape which has been inspired by traditional construction methods and Nuba homes. This shape helps the building to withstand the harsh weather conditions while also adding value to the project with respect to the lives of the Nuba and making them feel that the centre is part of them.

Two drafts for the construction have been drawn up by the architectural engineer Hamdan Rudwan and assistant architectural engineer Mohamed Awad. The centre will initially include the following components:

1 The main museum, divided into three areas:
1a An area dedicated to digital photography and computers which includes desks and cabinets
1b Display space for physical exhibitions and other activities
1c A dedicated seating area for visitors
2 The library
3 An office integrated into the main building
4 An open-air theatre, which utilises the existing wall of the main building
 
There are plans to expand the centre in the future by adding the following:

5 Guesthouse
6 Restaurant
7 Services units
8 Conference hall
9 Guardhouse
10 Solar system
11 Water supply and drainage system
 
The war in Sudan and the difficulties in obtaining transportation and reaching Kadugli are delaying the start of construction, which is planned as soon as security conditions improve.

ST