Somali Artists Take Issue With Nation's First-Ever Venice Biennale Pavilion

"As Somalia's first-ever national pavilion debuts at the 61st Venice Biennale, a coalition of local cultural organizations says that artists based in the country "were not meaningfully consulted, included, or recognised in a process that should have belonged to the nation more broadly.""

"Last month, the Somalia Arts Foundation (SAF), the country's self-coined first contemporary art institution, issued a statement denouncing the absence of Somalia-based artists from the pavilion's artist lineup, which included only artists living in diaspora. In a separate missive, the Somali queer collective Warbixinta Cidda decried the appointment of Italian graphic designer Fabio Scrivanti as the pavilion's co-curator, citing Italy's colonization of the region beginning in the 19th century."

""That [curatorial] dynamic is particularly difficult to separate from the historical relationship between Somalia and Italy, given Italy's role as a former colonial power in Somalia," SAF Founder and Executive Director Sagal Ali told Hyperallergic in an email. "For many Somalis, questions of representation, authorship, and who gets to speak for Somali culture are therefore not neutral questions; They carry historical weight.""

"Marketing materials for the inaugural pavilion, titled SADDEXLEEY, contain only the names of three Somali artists who do not live in the country - Somali-Swedish painter Ayan Farfah, Somali-Danish poet and filmmaker Asmaa Jama, and Somali-British poet Warsan Shire. Named after a Somali triadic poetry form, the national exhibition contends with oral tradition, displacement, and memory, according to promot"

Somalia’s first national pavilion opened at the 61st Venice Biennale and drew criticism from local cultural organizations. A coalition said Somalia-based artists were not meaningfully consulted, included, or recognized in the selection process. The Somalia Arts Foundation denounced the absence of artists living in Somalia, noting the pavilion’s lineup included only artists living in diaspora. A separate Somali queer collective criticized the appointment of Italian graphic designer Fabio Scrivanti as co-curator, citing Italy’s colonization of the region in the 19th century. Marketing materials listed only three Somali artists who do not live in Somalia. The pavilion’s title, SADDEXLEEY, references a Somali triadic poetry form and centers themes of oral tradition, displacement, and memory.

Read at Hyperallergic