Tuesday, October 22, 2013
A new museum showcasing Somali art and culture is now open in the Twin Cities.
The Somali Artifact and Cultural Museum opened Saturday
and features paintings of nomadic life and photos of Somalia's capital
Mogadishu along with traditional rugs, ancient writing tablets and lots
of items made from animal skins.
Twin Cities businessman and restaurant owner Osman Ali
started says the idea of bringing the artifacts to Minneapolis came out
of his desire to teach younger Somalis the story of nomadic life in
Somalia.
"I came with this idea to create a new base for these
people living out of their country to let them study their culture," Ali
said.
He collected many of the items on five trips to Somalia, starting in 2009 when he returned to visit his ailing father.
A national gallery once existed in Mogadishu. But years
of war led to its destruction. The new Twin Cities museum aims to fill
the void.
The grand opening Saturday drew a mix on Somalis and
non-Somalis who made their way through the museums's five rooms, each
with its own theme.
Abdi
Mohamud, 25, recently studied photographs on the museum's walls and
said he asked the gallery director if the images are truly of Somalia.
"And he kept saying, 'These things, they were there.
But now they are not there'" Mohamud recalled. "These beautiful places
are destroyed places. It's anarchy. The people living there have a
horrible life. It is something I can't imagine how it happened."
Born in Somalia, Mohamud and his family fled the country's civil war when he was 9.
"I was born in Somalia, but I did not see all these
beautiful things that I see right now," Mohamud said. "These are things
that I've never seen in my life. It's like something I want to relate to
my identity, where I come from and what kind of people I belong to. I
never knew one day I could see a Somali museum here in Minneapolis."