The Colorful Art of Nubia in Egypt

The Nubia region of Egypt is possibly the most unique part of the country. This is because the Nubians are a completely different culture than the Egyptians and the Bedouins of the Sinai.

The Nubian culture originated in ancient Africa. It dates back to at least 2,500 B.C. Today, Nubia is a region which runs along the Nile River from southern Egypt to central Sudan. No one seems to know how many Nubians live in Egypt today. Estimates range from 100,000 to five million. I’m not an expert on Nubia or Nubians, but one thing I can tell you about this culture is that they create some very colorful and unique paintings.

While in the region I stayed in Gharb Soheil, a quiet little Nubian village just south of Aswan. In this village, Nubian art lines the little dirt road. This is not unusual for Nubia. In this culture, artists use the exterior walls of homes as their paint canvases. Walking up and down the dirt road in this village was sort of like simultaneously strolling through an outdoor art gallery.

The Nubians like to paint scenes of the people of their culture engaged in various activities. You may seeling men sailing in feluccas or women pouring water from a jugs. Other scenes depict children jumping rope or even just parents and their children standing and holding hands. Most of the art is in bold, bright colors. Sometimes, though, you’ll see a painting that is more sedate, in pastels and earth tones.

The painting I chose for this photo story is more complex than most of the others I saw in Nubia, with more people and more activity. You may wonder what each of the four men in the foreground of this painting are holding. It is an instrument popular in this region called a bendir.  Also in this painting, to the right of the four men, are two Egyptian recycling bins. That’s one thing I like about this painting – the ancient and the modern side by side.

Egypt is country that is filled with vivid color everywhere you go, and its Nubian region is perhaps the most colorful of all.