Political cartoonist Khalid Albaih in Copenhagen

Khalid Albaih has been featured in media outlets such as the Guardian, NY Times, the BBC and Al-Jazeera due to his influential cartoons that have been shared by thousands of people throughout social media the past few years.

Albaih’s cartoons convey scathing criticisms of authoritarianism and iniquitousness, but they also express solidarity and hope for a better future. Sketching the ongoing events of the Arab spring in 2011, he quickly became an artist of the revolution. Many cartoons were turned into stencils and reproduced on walls in Beirut and Cairo, and are still used by revolutionary groups in his native Sudan, and by political activists in Yemen, Tunis, Syria.

Facing rebuttals from traditional media and publications, owing to his unconventional style and highly critical content, Albaih turned to the internet and social media to promote his work. His facebook page, Khartoon!, a word-play on cartoon and his hometown in Sudan, Khartoum, has no less than 80 000 followers, and have sparked interest and opportunities around the world.  

Khalid Albaih is now published widely in international publications including The Atlantic, PRI, and NPR, in addition to his published written social and political commentary in publications such as The Guardian and Al Jazeera. His articles typically discuss cartoons and digital media's influence in the Arab world in relation to the world at large: The Arab world has a media censorship problem, but so does the west, When cartoons upset the ‘wrong people’, How WhatsApp is fuelling a sharing revolution in Sudan, Snapchat: The end to being social on social media? 

Albaih's work has been exhibited in group exhibitions including “do it [in Arabic]” (Sharjah, 2016) and “RE:BELLION // RE:LIGION // RE:FORM - Artistic Action in Times of Crisis” (Zwickau, Germany, 2015) as well as solo exhibitions at Virginia Commonwealth University (Doha, Qatar, 2016), 1After360 Gallery (New Delhi, India, 2016), the Arab American National Museum (Dearborn, MI, 2015), McGill University Montreal, 2014), and Edge of Arabia (London, 2013).

From Doha to Copenhagen 

Before arriving in Copenhagen in October 2017, Albaih lived many years in Doha, Qatar, where he worked for the Qatar Museums Authority as Head of Installation and Design. Albaih says that he hopes to be able to publish his work extensively during his residency in Copenhagen, and in so doing diversify his publication-base. He hopes to fully engage the community, including holding exhibitions and teaching, in Copenhagen and beyond, as he sees it as essential to making his art thrive. 

Media links: 

08.11.2017: in Politiken.dk: 
Støtte til ytringsfrihed: København giver husly til arabisk satiriker

08.11.2017 at Københavns Kommune: 
København har modtaget sin fribyforfatter