AMSTERDAM.- Framer Framed presents The Anarchist Citizenship: People Made of Stories, an exhibition examining how storytelling, visual culture, architecture and social life (re)shape citizenship in Somaliland, the Somali region and its diaspora.

The Anarchist Citizenship is an ongoing research-based project initiated in 2016 by curator Amal Alhaag and artist Nadine Stijns and developed in collaboration with Somali artists such as Mustafa Saeed, along with various other artists, thinkers, architects, and activists. On show at Framer Framed until January 26, 2025, this iteration of The Anarchist Citizenship features work by Somali (diasporic) artists navigating the waters of cultural production, histories, war traumas, (diasporic) lifeworlds and possible futures.

How can we avoid, refuse, or obscure the colonial gaze and create images challenging the status quo? Especially when so much of the visual culture produced on (the Horn of) Africa continues to enact and reproduce ideas of desire, sympathy, extraction to resemble the terror, power and violences exercised upon communities and their capacity for Self-determination? What does it take to create stories that highlight the multiplicity of identities and experiences that sustain cultures in times of ongoing crises?

These sets of questions animate The Anarchist Citizenship: People Made of Stories. The exhibition is informed by both local and diasporic visual culture and offers an alternative approach to understanding, broadcasting to/with/from as well as engaging with the world. By placing the agency of the people of Somali(land) at the centre of the narrative, it attempts to challenge the Eurocentric, (neo)colonial and imperialist hierarchies of who gets to document, write, and think about whom.

The Anarchist Citizenship: People Made of Stories is a holding space for visual, sonic, and poetic stories taking the form of installations, film screenings, poetry programmes, photography, archives, workshops, textiles and dialogic spaces. The presented works reflect the collective efforts of those who participate in its creation, weaving together stories, histories, and language to create visual narratives that celebrate the complexities of citizenship in this region. Together with collaborators and contributors Kinsi Abdulleh, Rashid Ali, Abdullah Barre, Salman Dirir, Sumia Juxun, Elmi Original, Mustafa Saeed and The Somali Museum UK, The Anarchist Citizenship explores the complexities and joys of Somali social life, memory work and the ways communities create alternative ways of being together as survival strategies.

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

On spatial design

The spatial design takes on a crucial role, serving as an intermediary between the different artistic positions and mirroring the provocative visual language, vibrant cosmos, aesthetic sensibilities and storytelling that define contemporary Somaliland – zooming into specifically its capital city, Hargeisa.

The spatial design is by architect and reseacher Rashid Ali and is inspired by the Somali architectural concept of the Buul or Aqal Somali, which translates to home/house in English. The Buul, traditionally built and designed by women, is crafted from natural grass, tree branches and recycled materials. It represents home and togetherness, with the spatial design reflecting the infrastructure of Hargesia. The use of recycled materials mirrors local adaptations to the climate and resource scarcity.