Continuities & Change: Social, Political & Economic Dynamics in Somalia since 1991, Apr. 19 2013 @ BIEA

On 19 April, the Nairobi Forum will host the launch of a special Somalia edition of the Journal of Eastern African Studies. Speakers will include Markus Hoehne of the Max Planck Institute, Jutta Bakonyi of the University of Durham, and Jason Mosley, editor of the JEAS.

The seminar will take place at the British Institute in Eastern Africa from 1-4 pm.
Contact: forum@riftvalley.net or check the RVI website for updates.

Screening & Performance: The Desert Flower, Mar. 12 2013 @ Alliance

The Desert Flower by Sherry Horman (2009) – 120 Min
Tells the true story of a super model Waris Dirie, who escaped a childhood nightmare in Somalia and become a global supermodel.

Performance
Namatsi is a spoken word artist who fuses her poetry with Song. She will represent a selection of poetry/songs from her first album entitled ‘Nirvana’, a delicious array of spoken word and melodious tunes… real food for the soul, taking the audience away from the daily hustle of life.

[Update] Kwani? LitFest 2012: Stories of the Horn of Africa, Dec. 9-16 2012 @ Various Venues

Festival Dates: December 9 -16, 2012
Events Line Up: Public Lectures, Writers in conversation, Readings, Performances, Art Exhibitions, Film Screenings
Venues: various venues – Kifaru Gardens, Kwani? Garden, National Museum, University of Nairobi, Goethe Institut, Kuona Trust, Habesha, Kibera, KICC Helipad, Eastleigh, South B [map below]

Update: All the events scheduled to take place at University of Nairobi have been moved to the National Museum

Entry to most of the events is Free

Download litfest_programme

Focus: Stories of the Horn of Africa with participating Countries – Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, Sudan & Kenya

Some of the writers confirmed for the festival are: Hadraawi – Somalia, Warsan Shire – Somalia, Sayadin Hersi – Somalia, Awes Osman – Somalia, Said Juma Hussein – Somalia, Chehem Watta – Djibouti, Meaza Worku – Ethiopia, Jamal Mahjoub – Sudan, Alemseged Tesfai – Eritrea, Nawal El Saadawi – Egypt, Kojo Laing – Ghana, Helon Habila – Nigeria, Deqa Abshir – Somalia/Kenya, Fawaz El Said – Sudan, Yassir Ali – Sudan, Altayeb Daw Elbeit – Sudan, Ermais Ekube – Ethiopia

A Snap Shot of the Programme
Date: December 9, 2012
Venue: Kifaru Gardens
Time: 2-10 pm
Music by: Waayaha Cusub and Kato& Band
DJ Set by: DJ Zelalem
Entry: Free
Date: December 10, 2012
Venue: Goethe-Institut Nairobi, Monrovia Street
Time: 2.30 – 8 pm
Entry: Free
Date: December 11, 2012
Venue: University of Nairobi National Museum
Time: 2– 7 pm
Entry: Free
Date: December 12, 2012
Venue: Louis Leakey Auditorium, National Museum
Time: 2.30-8 pm
Entry: Free
Date: December 13, 2012
Venues: Hotel Intercontinental, Taifa Hall (University of Nairobi) & Louis Leakey Auditorium, National Museum
Time: 2.30– 7.30 pm
Entry: Free
Date: December 14, 2012
Venues: Louis Leakey Auditorium (National Museum) & Kuona Trust
Free Entry
Date: December 15, 2012
Venues: Louis Leakey Auditorium (National Museum) & KICC Helipad
Entry: Free (National Museum)
Entry: Ksh 1,000 (KICC Helipad)

About
The Kwani? Literary Festival is organised by Kwani Trust on a biennial basis where the literary leaders of Kenya, enriched with visiting writers from around the world, turn their attention to one salient subject and explore it through the lenses of the continent’s past, present and emerging literatures. In 2012, the Litfest will focus on several geopolitical trends and shifts in Kenya’s immediate north to host literary conversations with the Horn of Africa.
It thus aims to act as a platform where the story of the Horn of Africa can be told, to an extent, not taking the political crisis narrative as the only story that exists.
Additionally, the pan-African exchange programme of Goethe-Institut Moving Africa will bring a further eight African writers to Nairobi.

For the exact programme please visit the 2012 Kwani? Litfest website: http://litfest.kwani.org
More information on Moving Africa: http://www.blog.goethe.de/moving-africa/

Book Launch: Mogadishu then and now by Rasna Warah, Nov. 22 2012 @ Italian Institute of Culture

Book Launch, Talk & Slide Show: Mogadishu Then & Now, Nov. 22 2012 @ Italian Institute of Culture

Date: November 22, 2012
Venue: Italian Institute of Culture
Time: 6.30 pm
Entry: Free

Book Launch of Mogadishu Then & Now by Rasna Warah, Mohamud Diros & Ismail Osman
Presentation by Rasna Warah

The launch coincides with the closing of the exhibition Gates by Deqa Abshir

Book Launch: Peace & Milk-Scenes of Northern Somalia, Jun. 12 2012 @ Goethe Institut

Date: June 12, 2012
Venue: Goethe Institut Auditorium
Time: 6pm
Entry: Free

Somalia is not well known or understood. The images that come from there are one-sided and mostly filled with gloom, violence and suffering.

Fatima Jibrell, a Somali environmentalist, and James Lindsay, a retired diplomat, have both been working closely with the rural communities of Northern Somalia to conserve the environment and improve the standards of living of the rural populations there. But more importantly, they have been able to project to the outside world an image of Northern Somalia as a place of great diversity and serenity. They have published a photographic documentation entitledPeace and Milk: Scenes from Northern Somalia.

Peace and Milk reveals the beauty and variety of the Somali landscape and the communities of Northern Somalia. Informative captions tell the stories behind the photographs and provide an insight into how ordinary Somalis live.

The book launch will be in the form of a moderated panel discussion with the authors and a Q & A session with the audience.

For more information check the Goethe Institut website

Photo exhibition: Mogadishu then and now, Jun. 5-25 2012 @ Alliance

For the last two decades, Somalia’s capital city Mogadishu has been portrayed as a war-torn no-go zone devoid of any history or culture. However, the city has a long history that dates back to the 10th century when Arab and Persian traders began settling there. Historical documents indicate that the city was a traditional centre for Islam and an important hub for trade with communities along the Indian Ocean coastline for centuries. From the early part of the 20th century till the late 1980s, Mogadishu was known as one of the prettiest and most cosmopolitan cities in Africa.

Mogadishu, or Xamar, as it is known locally, literally means “The Seat of the Shah” (from the Arabic Maq’adul Shah). When the famous Moroccan traveler Ibn Batuta arrived in Mogadishu in 1331, he described it as “an exceedingly large city” where prosperous merchants sold the finest cloth, silver and gold jewellery. In 1871, Mogadishu came under control of the Omani Sultan of Zanzibar, and twenty years later, was leased to Italy, when it became the headquarters of Italian Somaliland until independence in 1960.

Development of Mogadishu to a modern metropolitan city continued under successive post-independence governments until the advent of the civil war in 1991, which saw various clans and factions fighting for control of the city. For the next two decades, bloody battles were fought on Mogadishu’s wide boulevards and in its historical quarters. Wars destroy cities, and Mogadishu is no exception. Everywhere, there are shells of once magnificent buildings that used to house government offices, museums, cinemas, hotels, mosques, cathedrals and libraries.

Mogadishu Then and Now is a photo exhibition that showcases Somalia’s capital city in all its splendour prior to the civil war in 1991 and contrasts this with some of the devastation and destruction that can be seen in the city today. The main aim of the exhibition is to allow present and future generations of Somalis to learn about their rich heritage so that they can work towards restoring and preserving it. It is hoped that the exhibition will also inform future urban planning and design initiatives, especially now that the international community is renewing and strengthening its efforts to restore peace and stability in Somalia.

Mogadishu Then and Now was conceived by Ms. Rasna Warah, a Kenyan writer and photojournalist, who teamed up with Mohammud Diriye, the former curator of the Mogadishu Museum, and Ismail Osman, a US-based activist and telecommunications engineer, who helped organize and curate the exhibition. It was first shown in Istanbul during the Conference on Somalia organized by the Turkish Government from 31 May to 1 June 2012. Most of the photos in the exhibition are from the collection of Mr. Diriye, who has carefully and meticulously preserved them for years, while others are from Ms. Warah’s visit to Mogadishu in November 2011. The exhibition will culminate in a book that will be published in English, Somali and Turkish.

The Mogadishu Then and Now exhibition will be held at the Alliance Française in Nairobi from 4th to 24th June 2012. It is dedicated to Mogadishu’s children and youth, who have never known lasting peace, and is sponsored by Yildiz Holding, a group of companies based in Turkey.

For further information, contact:
Rasna Warah
E-mail: rasna.warah@gmail.com; Cell: (254) (0) 700 278166 or (0) 733 960269