Framer Framed

25 Jan –
26 Jan 2025

Finissage Weekender – The Anarchist Citizenship: People Made of Stories

On Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 January 2025, Framer Framed concludes the exhibition The Anarchist Citizenship: People Made of Stories with a weekend of talks, performances, music and celebrations.

Saturday, 25 January 2025
Cakeland Architecture: From Aqaal Somali, African Modernism to Anarchist Design
Hargeisa’s architecture remixes and layers modernist, futurist, neoclassical, Middle-Eastern, Swahili, and many other architectural/design styles to resemble what architect Rashiid Ali calls ‘architectural wedding cakes’.

Cakeland Architecture: From Aqaal Somali, African Modernism to Anarchist Design delves into the intricate relationship between Somali architecture and its encounters with modernism, colonialism, the Indian Ocean, and how it is shaped by Indigenous design practices such as the Aqaal Somali. Historically central to the Somali lifeworld is the architectural concept of the Buul or Aqaal Somali, which symbolises home and community. Crafted from natural and recycled materials, this design embodies resourcefulness, sustainability, and local ingenuity, offering insights into how spatial practices adapt to climate, culture, and resource scarcity.

The evening unpacks how architecture becomes a language of identity, resilience, and dreams, reflecting the aspirations and challenges of its designers. To what extent is it possible to imagine a future within an African paradigm, without reproducing capitalist modes of production and property?

The conversation features The Anarchist Citizenship exhibition designer and architect Rashid Ali and curator and architect Setareh Noorani, with a poetic intervention by Bilan the Poet.

Programme

18:00 | Doors open
19:00 | Conversation Rashiid Ali and Setareh Noorani, with an intervention by Bilan the Poet
22:00 | Doors closed

Sign up for Cakeland Architecture here.

Sunday, 26 January 2025
Mending a Crack in the Sky
A day-long celebration of the storytelling, visual culture, architecture and social life that (re)shape citizenship in Somaliland, the Somali region and its diaspora. Artist Salman Dirir will offer a performance as part of his work Ruun, and sound artist and producer Elmi Original presents a special listening session bringing together his research on Qaarami music.

Bring your hooyo, family and friends, and make sure to come in your favourite diraac/abaya/baati to celebrate Somali fashion and textile traditions!

Programme

12:00 | Doors open
14:00 | Opening photo booth: Haye, Haye, Re-Fashioning a Photo Studio
15:00 | Henna workshop
15:30 | Performance by Salman Dirir
17:00 | Conversation and poetic performance
18:00 | Listening session by Elmi Original
20:00 | Doors closed

Sign up for Mending a Crack in the Sky here.

About

The Anarchist Citizenship is an ongoing research-based project that reflects on contemporary visual and oral culture in Somaliland. It was initiated in 2016 by curator Amal Alhaag and artist Nadine Stijns and developed in collaboration with Somali artists such as Mustafa Saeed, along with other thinkers, architects and activists. Over the years, The Anarchist Citizenship has taken on different forms. It is a space for collaboration with/between local and diasporic artists, filmmakers, architects, and designers to explore how Somali(landers) define citizenship and shape identity through visual culture.

Contributors
Mustafa Saeed
Kinsi Abdulleh
Rashid Ali
Abdullah Barre
Salman Dirir
Sumia Juxun
Elmi Original
The Somali Museum, UK

Admission is free.

Do you also think art should be free and accessible? Please consider supporting us with a donation when registering or by becoming a Framer Framed Friend.

This event may be photographed and filmed. Kindly let us know in advance if you prefer not to have your picture taken.

Framer Framed is supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science; Amsterdam Fund for the Arts; Municipality of Amsterdam; and VriendenLoterij Fonds.