It's not always about chasing deadlines, is it?

This evening I interviewed an artist from Darfur about his evocative paintings. As there are not many gallery spaces in Khartoum, his 16 pieces hung on the light green walls of the apartment of his German friend who has been living in Khartoum for the past two years. She works in the humanitarian sector.

We had coffee and ginger biscuits while sitting on the couch in the apartment’s lounge. It felt amazing. This is the creative solutions that artists come up with in a world like Sudan. The pieces are well-lit and we talked for hours. The German curator (let’s call her that to keep things arty) spent three years as a journalist reporting from Palestine. She was refreshingly untainted and not filled with anger, hate or cynicism. Anyone else would probably have died of an overdose of some illegal substance after three years in Gaza.

I’m looking forward to three more exhibition openings in the space of less than one week. Things are slowly happening in Khartoum. Artists are responding and finding outlets regardless of the constraints, of which there are many. Staring at you from every corner. So I am looking forward to the creative work and also the way that other artists are exhibiting. Some find space in cultural centres and others at embassies.

I told my hosts that I was looking forward to the other exhibitions.

“It would add colour to my story,” I said with this huge smile, plotting the order of the paragraphs and sources quoted.

Then the journalist did that sensible voice of reason thing that we so often miss. She reminded me that there is more to life than chasing deadlines. Damn it, she made so much sense and immediately snapped me out of that chase-the-news moment.

“It’s not always about the story,” she smiled, knowing that she’d hit a nerve. Then chuckled when I was sort of speechless.

“Of course it’s also about seeing the art and meeting more people. I’ve only been in Sudan for six months,” I replied to the wake-up call.

Yep, dear friends … life is more than just The Deadline …