Kayd Somali Arts and Culture, in collaboration with partners is proud to present Somali Week Festival (SWF) 2015. This year’s festival will run from Friday 23 October to Sunday 1 November at Oxford House, Derbyshire Street, London, E2 6HG and various other venues.

Somali Week Festival is an integral part of Black History Month and offers the best of Somali arts and culture, both old and new. The festival offers a mix of events including poetry, literature, panel discussions, documentary film screenings and music.  Through these different artistic forms, Somali Week Festival has explored a variety of themes in past years and has become a widely recognised and anticipated annual event in the UK.

Theme of the Year: Space 

This year’s festival is centred on the theme of ‘space’. It’s about experimenting with innovative and emerging spaces for Somali arts. It’s an opportunity to reflect on the spaces we have inhabited and carved out for the arts over the years, and the spaces that are being eroded or are currently under threat, while looking forward to developing, expanding and enriching new spaces. Festival participants will be invited to explore what it means to inhabit, create, move between and beyond different artistic spaces, be they physical or psychological, public or private.

This festival is an opportunity for artists to continue to explore alternative creative outlets for their work while also looking at ways of reviving traditional spaces that are vastly disappearing. Furthermore, the festival will be a space to investigate creative forms of collaboration amongst artists of different ages and levels of experience; it will provide a platform to share practices and to discuss, interact, and work together. This year, we are delighted to welcome international guests – artists, writers, scholars, journalists and activists; Maxamed Abdi Said ‘Maxamed BK’, Daud Ali ‘Masahaf’, Sahra Ilays, Anab Guleid, Mataano, Ladan Osman, Mohamed Adow, Ugaaso Boocow, Professor Cawo Abdi,  Dr. Sada Mirre,  Ibrahim Hersi Hurre ‘Dayrwaa’, Abdidhuh Yusuf, Abdirahman  Farah ‘Guri Barwaaqo’, Abdilqaadir Abdi ‘Shube’,  Dr Rasheed Farrah, Safia Aidid, Dr Siham Rayale, Rashiid Maxamed Shabeelle, Farah Gaamuute, Said Salah Ahmed, and Abdi M Dahir. These guests will be sharing a platform and collaborating with UK artists and guests; Prince Abdi, Nadifa Mohamed, Aar Maanta, Mahamed Mahamoud Haykel, Abdirahman Mohammed Abtidoon, Autumn Sharif, Nimco Degan, Ridwan Osman, Firdos Ali, Elmi Ali,  Amaal Said, Hibaaq Osman, Zainab Dahir, Nimco Yaasin, Kaltuun Bacado, Macalow, Mohamud Omar ‘Walaalaha Sweden’, Said Hussein, Dr Martin Orwin, Maryan Mursal, Asha Luul Mohamed, Laila Osman, Laila Duale, Rashid Sheikh Abdillahi, Dr.Idil Osman, Mohammed Abdullahi Artan, Farxiya Fiska, Lul Hassan Kulmiye, Farah Ahmed Hassan, Sheikh Mohamoud Sheikh Dalmar, Yasmiin Ibrahim, Yasmein Abdalla, and many more.

 For the first time, Somali Week Festival will migrate around various venues. We will launch the week at our usual venue at Oxford House and hold events at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Institute of Education and Centre North. In addition, two of the festival days will run in partnership with the Black South West Network and local Somali organisations in Bristol.

If you would like further information about Somali Week Festival, book tickets or a stall, or volunteer, please email info@kayd.org. For the latest news and updates, follow us on Twitter @somaliweekfes.