Atem Aleu

Atem Aleu
Delegate for Utah
Resettled from Sudan

Atem T. Aleu, was born in South Sudan and is one of the Lost Boys/Girls of Sudan. In 1983, a civil war, rooted in religious conflicts broke out in Sudan, pitting the government in the north against the south. In 1984, the northern government killed his father. They forced his mother with his younger brother into the river and other people, many of whom could not swim including Atem’s mother, drowned when he was five years old.  

Atem became a refugee at an early age and found safety in the neighboring country of Ethiopia from 1988 to 1991. After another disagreement broke out in Ethiopia, he entered the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya in 1992. In 1994, he thought he would be an artist in order to solve his problem and remember what happened to his family and his country. His paintings are from memory; he draws and paints about what happened in his daily life to help people understand what happened to him. 

He was granted asylum in the United States in March of 2001. Since arriving he has continued to pursue his artistic interests. In 2007, he graduated from Brigham Young University with a BFA. He also continued to pursue his higher education in Conflict Management and Anthology and in 2010, he graduated from Brandeis University with two MAs, one in Cultural Production and another in Coexistence and Conflict Management. Additionally, he has been specifically trained in developing community relations materials including Coexistence & Conflict Resolution, Cultural Production, Dialogue & Mediation Skills, Gender and Development, Monitoring and Evaluation, Case Management, and Leadership.

Even in his development as a professional artist and peacebuilder, Atem refused to forget those he left behind in Kakuma. Fueled by his dedication to the plight of the displaced Sudanese who remain confined in refugee camps, Atem, with the support of the Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement and division of Art & Museums, founded the African Refugee Artist Club (ARAC).  ARAC's mission is to "secure artistic expression as an essential means of survival" by providing materials for artists remaining in Kakuma by "displaying their work state-side in collaboration with civically minded organizations." From 2004 – 2009, he returned to refugee camps in Northern Kenya, Northern Uganda and South Sudan each year to volunteer and teach his “dialogue through art” methodology to displaced refugee young adults. 

Atem now works for the State of Utah at the Department of Workforce Services, Refugee Services Office, as the Refugee Community Programs Supervisor. He also taught for 3 years at Harvard University. Before that, he worked in a variety of companies in different positions, (National Benefits Partner as a Data Entry & Office Assistant, BYU Multicultural Student Service as Students’ Assistant, Blackrock Microsystems as Medical Manufacturing Technician and Boston Scientific as Producer/Builder II. His bicultural background and focus on community collaboration have led him to a number of volunteer opportunities and community leadership roles. 

He is a social career person who loves to work with people on social issues. His work as a peace-builder has given him a unique perspective on the pains and challenges people face on a daily basis. He has a bigger dream to use his artwork for peace-building by opening a center in South Sudan that will encourage members of the country’s 64 different tribes to understand and value each other’s cultures.