Abdalsalam Alhaj is a Sudanese artist and immersive media producer. His artistic practice explores themes of memory, power, and identity through experimental media, working across photography, film, sound art, and virtual reality (VR).

His work, rooted in lived experience and archival research, explores how time and social context shape the ways we interact and express ourselves today, weaving together individual and collective memories.

Abdalsalam is the founder of Rift Digital Lab, a creative Lab producing AR/VR experiences, audiobooks, podcasts, and immersive digital cultural productions that contribute to an emerging, inclusive digital culture across East Africa.

Solo Exhibition:
2021 — Old Wishes, Khartoum & Omdurman, Sudan

Selected Group Exhibitions:
2025 — Decaying Bank: Reproducing Khartoum Visually, The Muse Multi Studios, Cairo, Egypt
2024 — Fragments of Home, The People's Forum, NYC, USA
2022 — Al Malaz, Next Level, Goethe-Institut Sudan, Omdurman, Sudan

Films:
2025 — Azure | VR Film, Produced by Rift Digital Lab (Sudan)
2021 — Night Shift (Work-in-Progress) | VR Film, Produced by Rift Digital Lab (Sudan) & Electric South (South Africa)

Immersive Media Productions, VR Experiences, and Curations:
2023 — Sudan Creative Minds, VR Experience Design, UNDP Sudan
2022 — Aswat, Audio Installation, UNICEF Sudan
2022 — International Youth Day, VR Installation, Omdurman Cultural Center
2021 — Change Makers, VR Experience Design, Contraband & USAID
2021 — IMAGINE Art-Tech Festival, VR Installation, Goethe-Institut Sudan & Institut Français Sudan
2020 — Rivers of the World, VR Experience Design, British Council Sudan
2020 — Acts of Resistance: An Anthology, VR Experience Design, Sudan Moves
2019 — Sudan Women Protest Exhibition, SIHA Network, Khartoum, Sudan

Residencies, Fellowships, and Scholarships:
2025 — Artist Scholar, Museum of Photography, Berlin, Germany
2024 — Residency, Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB), Accra & Kumasi, Ghana
2024 — Fellowship, TheMuseumLab 2024, DAAD, Berlin, Germany
2024 — Guest Scholar, ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany
2022 — Decaying Bank: Reproducing Khartoum Visually, The Muse Multi Studios, Khartoum, Sudan
2022 — Creators Hub Xchange Program, Black Rhino VR, Nairobi, Kenya
2019 — New Dimensions AR/VR Lab, Electric South, Cape Town, South Africa
2016 — CCP Fellowship | ifa | Deutsche Welle (DW), Bonn, Germany

Grants and Awards:
2024 — Action for Hope Foundation, Cultural Rights Grant, Beirut, Lebanon
2021 — Production Fund, Goethe-Institut Sudan, Khartoum, Sudan
2021 — EverydayNile Photojournalism Stories, InfoNile, Kampala, Uganda
2020 — Venice Production Bridge, 77th Venice International Film Festival, Venice, Italy
2018 — Visual Arts Grant, AFAC, Beirut, Lebanon

Photo © Dia Khalil