Somali art

Carving, known in Somali as qoris, is a much respected profession in Somalia both in historic and modern times. Many wealthy urbanites in the medieval period regularly employed the finest wood and marble carvers in Somalia to work on their interiors and houses. The carvings on the mihrabs and pillars of ancient Somali mosques are some of the oldest on the continent. Artistic carving was considered the province of men similar to how the Somali textile industry was mainly a women's business. Amongst the nomads, carving, especially woodwork, was widespread and could be found on the most basic objects such as spoons, combs and bowls, but it also included more complex structures such as the portable nomadic house, the aqal. In the last several decades, traditional carving of windows, doors and furniture has taken a backseat to the introduction of workshops employing electrical machinery which deliver the same results in a far shorter time period.[2]

The textile culture of Somalia is an ancient one, and the Somali textile center in Mogadishu was, from at least the 13th century to the late 19th century, considered to be one of the main textile hubs in the Indian Ocean. It competed with those of the Indians and later the Americans in domestic and foreign markets such as Egypt and Syria.[3]

The goldsmiths and blacksmiths of the urban cities, though often shunned by the dominant nomadic culture for their occupation, fashioned the city-dwellers' traditional display of wealth and power through ornaments such as jewelry in the case of women, or the intricately designed Somali dagger (toraay) in the case of men.

Almnara Tower in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Somali architecture is a rich and diverse tradition of engineering and designing multiple different construction types such as stone cities, castles, citadels, fortresses, mosques, temples, aqueducts, lighthouses, towers and tombs during the ancient, medieval and early modern periods in Somalia, as well as the fusion of Somalo-Islamic architecture with Occidental designs in contemporary times.

In ancient Somalia, pyramidical structures known in Somali as taalo were a popular burial style, with hundreds of these drystone monuments scattered around the country today. Houses were built of dressed stone similar to the ones in Ancient Egypt,[4] and there are examples of courtyards and large stone walls such as the Wargaade Wall enclosing settlements.

The adoption of Islam in the early medieval era of Somalia's history brought Islamic architectural influences from Arabia and Persia, which stimulated a shift from drystone and other related materials in construction to coral stone, sundried bricks, and the widespread use of limestone in Somali architecture. Many of the new architectural designs such as mosques were built on the ruins of older structures, a practice that would continue over and over again throughout the following centuries.[5]

Visual Art is not new to the Somali communities. Visual art namely paintings focus on rural landscapes, and colorful paintings of the cultural life. Some of the known visual artists display their skills through their presence on Somali web sites. Visual Art is emerging as a new chapter in the history of Somali culture. When we talk about art, our attention is immediately drawn into performing art. Indeed, for some people, visual art is interpreted as anti religion, since it involves a corporal creation of a human being. There are very few Somali Visual Artists. They are under represented in the world of Modern African Art. Some of the known Somali Visual artists had created their own web sites such as www.osmanart.net/ This webpage is run by a Somali Physician Artist and writer - Mohamed Buwe Osman. There are many Somali visual artists like the well known to most of the Somals Mr. Amin Amir and Abdul Arts. There are as well visual with college degree in Art like Mr. Ali Kulmiye Halane and Mr. Aziz.