| 17 Mar 2022 | 17:00 - 19:00 | Online | |
- Description
Description
An event organised by the In War’s Wake: Mobility, Belonging, and Becoming in the Aftermath of Urban Conflict research network.
Speakers and exhibition
- Yusuf Shegow (Somali Architecture)
- Abira Hussein (PhD Student, UCL)
Abstract
The final event of Lent Term will be a collaborative exhibition and roundtable featuring artists-academics from the Somali diaspora, reflecting on the politics of urban conflict and archival preservation through digital technology. Building on a successful exhibition at the London Design Bienniale entitled ‘What Remains,’ we bring the creators of the Somali Architecture project to Cambridge to overview their key insights about digital restoration, nostalgia and meaning-making after war, and the relationship between space and urban conflict. We think reflectively through the creation and preservation of the archive after urban war, and the construction of mnemonic landscapes in digital and diasporic spaces.
About the speakers
Yusuf Shegow, Somali Architecture – Somali Architecture started as a platform to share images of pre-war Somalia and evolved into a research project involving the recreation of historic buildings into 3D form. After its inception in 2015, SA has grown globally; united by the same passion for architecture in Somalia.
It is now clear that the development of sustainable cities necessitates careful planning. The only way to pursue conscious and coherent design in Somalia is to raise awareness of Somali architectural heritage, In doing so, we will be able to harness our country’s history and culture as part of its unique strengths and as the basis of development.
Abira Hussein (PhD Student, UCL) curator of digital and virtual reality exhibitions of Somali cultural artifacts and images from before the Somali civil war. She is an Associate Producer at All Change Arts, an Independent Researcher and Curator specialising in Somali heritage, digital archives, migration, and health. In recent years she has worked with the British Museum, British Library, London Metropolitan Archives, Refugee Council Archive and Somali Week Festival, to deliver a number of projects and workshops engaging with the Somali Community. In 2017 she created the VR experience ‘Coming Home’ – in partnership with the British Museum and funded by Brighton Digital Festival and shown at Sussex Humanities Lab.
