House of Weaving Songs

Step inside a Somali home in our roof garden and experience a multisensory tribute to Somali heritage in the face of climate collapse.

dhaqan collective invites you to enter The House of Weaving Songs, a domed steel structure based on an Aqal, a Somali nomadic home found in the arid landscapes of Somalia.

Embark on a sensory journey as 360-degree audio surrounds you, transporting you to the heart of Somali nomadic life through the musicality of Somali women’s weaving songs.

Wander through nomadic tapestries adorned with tales of tradition and resilience, each thread weaving a story of heritage and belonging.

The Aqal contains the wishes and the dreams of those who made it, and it becomes a repository for our own hopes and dreams, a space for conversations and dialogue about our climate anxieties.

dhaqan collective is a Somali feminist art collective led by Ayan Cilmi and Fozia Ismail. Their practice seeks to find ways of building imaginative futures that support Somali people in the UK and in East Africa to resist threats over our cultural heritage. Cilmi and Ismail are Spike Island Studio holders and Pervasive Media Studio residents in Bristol.

The House of Weaving Songs was developed as part of Playable Cities, an arts and creative technology programme funded through My World at Bristol University and Watershed.

This is part of a weekend curated with Counterpoints Arts

This summer, we’re collaborating with a range of London-based collectives and organisations to curate the Riverside Terrace stage in response to the theme of our season, You Belong Here, enabling these collaborators to welcome different audiences and recognise how they want and choose to belong here at the Southbank Centre.