Somali Museum UK is a virtual and physical container for the stories of Somalia and Somali people based globally and in the UK. It combines an art gallery, library, archive, museum, dance and music studio in one space. This reimagines what a ‘museum’ is and what it can do. Somali Museum: Any-Space-Whatever is the first exhibition of the museum.
It presesents a selection of film, photography, music and sound media . It includes work by artists who have been in conversation with the museum. These include Elmi Original, Rahma Hassan, Ahmed Abokar, Fuad Abdulaziz and Amaal Alhaag with Nadine Stijns of The Anarchist Citizenship. Specially commissioned artworks will be gifted to the museum.
The exhibition engages with museum practices and ethics. These centre around the acquisition of art collections. It explores the role of artefacts in fostering cultural understanding. The exhibition acts as an ‘atelier’ or workshop for Somali Museum UK within and contra Whitechapel Gallery. There is an associated a public programme and series of writings.
Somali Museum UK is led by Numbi Arts. This Somali-originated, globally-focused, Pan-African cross-arts organisation is based in Tower Hamlets. Named after a Somali dance, Numbi is about healing, release, and celebrating the joy of community.
Do catch the last week of the exhibition!