A Somali Cultural Reawakening in Abu-Dabi

[ADNAAN]

A Cultural Reawakening and Memories of a Dream that Refuses to Die

Bashir Goth

June3, 2005

 

Ever since the collapse of Somalia 's central government 14 years ago, Somali culture like the Somali people have gone under a great upheaval. With artistes seeking shelter like most Somalis in neighboring countries, Europe and North America and with most of the countryside people, the custodians of the country's folklore and culture, emptying their natural habitats due to the disappearance of their traditional pastoral lifestyles, again due to war, long droughts, swelling populations and dwindling livestock herds, I resigned myself to despair and helplessness as I watched the Somali culture tottering towards oblivion.

 

 

Gripped by this feeling, I went to the African Day party, organized for the second time in Abu Dhabi by the African diplomatic missions led by the South African Embassy. I was looking forward to a night of African spirit, African drum and outlandish African fashion styles. I expected to see few Somali faces to represent just the name of a country that ceased to exist as a nation. The nearest dream I had of experiencing Somali culture during the party, however, was the mere possibility of seeing Somali women dressed in their traditional garb.

 

Wearied by years of war and with their eyes red-sore by crying over the loved ones they had lost, the property and the stable lives they have given up as well as the folks, the friends, the identity and the whole country that they left behind, it seemed a bit anachronistic to expect Somalis to spare any time to ponder the fate of the nation's culture.

 

Even many of the legendary Somali singers and musicians have either died or are getting old and neglected in foreign lands. Those who remained in the country have been forced by conditions back home to retreat to their tribal enclaves for shelter and sustenance after having lived most of their productive lives as revered singers, musicians and composers free from tribal constraints. They have accepted to live in oblivion after they had been the unifiers of the people through their music, their lyrics, their plays and their dance.

 

The only consolation for those like me who knew the greatness of their culture and lived through it is the occasional listening of the old music, the casual remembrance of folklore dances in weddings and the fleeting moments of nostalgia evoked by reminiscing the old days with friends in coffee-shops.

 

But even in the midst of tragedies, miracles do sometimes happen, fate takes a turn and life emerges roaring and kicking from the body of a dying giant. This is exactly what happened and in the most unexpected of places, the middle of the Arabian Desert . Just like an oasis that emerges on the horizon as one fears death from thirst. It was in Abu Dhabi and exactly in the majestic and beautiful Thuraya Hall of the Rotana Beach Hotel that Somali culture appeared born again as robust, as creative and as beautiful as it could ever be

 

 

After the first performance of a Tanzanian band, the Somali speaking audience attending the African Day party, held in Abu Dhabi by the African Diplomatic Corps on May 25, 2005 to mark the 42nd anniversary of the creation of the Organization of African Union, now replaced by the African Union, were beginning to resign themselves to another night of African entertainment without a Somali contribution. It was at this moment of resignation that the master of ceremonies announced that the second performance of the African Night entertainment was from Somalia . After a few minutes of waiting during which the renowned Somali musician Salem Saeed Salem adjusted the piano to the notes of Somali music, came a threesome of the legendary Somali National Folkore Band led by the renowned Sheikh Abukar Sheekal and included two talented stars, Faya Caddow and Fadumo Sheikh Hilowle , commonly known as Faadumina . They were supported by five other ladies bearing the fabled beauty of Somali women.The band members were all dressed in traditional Somali garb, with Faya Caddow clad in a blue just-below the waist blouse ( kurtad ) and ancle -length white skirt, the famous uniform of the Somali folklore dancers, and Faadumino and others adorned with traditional Subayciyad Guntino and antique jewellery . Sheikh Abukar was also dressed in traditional white Gunti and blue shirt.

 

They set the tone with the cool, sophisticated and aristocratic Saylici dance of which despite their commendable attempt they somehow missed to capture the rhythm, the measured steps and the nuances of the well-known Awdalite dance. The famous saylici music and lines were, however, enough to conjure up memories of a lost glory. The dancers' lusterless performance of Saylici was soon forgotten and forgiven when they switched to the glamorous and enchanting Kabeebay dance of Banadir . Being professional folk dancers from Mogadishu , the band members enthralled the audience with their breathtaking twists and turns, gliding movements, rump-shaking and stimulating body moves as well as their ecstatic and intimate communion with the music. Sheikh Abukar Sheekal's marvelous theatrics and dramatic telltale gestures left the audience spellbound. It was as if in every move they made the dancers had intended to tell a story of a great culture, a great country and a great people that once existed in the Horn of Africa. A country that was called Somalia .

 

Lost with body and soul into the rhythm of movements and music and the melancholic voice of Salem Saeed singing Xamar Caddeey Xundhurtaydaa Ku Duugan coming from the background, the Somali folk dancers conveyed their message of hope, of love and of undying zeal for life with artistic flare and resourcefulness. With their defiant African smile and a magical spark in their eyes, they made it known to the audience and in fact the whole world that the African soul, the African culture, the African spirit, the African love for music and life is reluctant to die. The continued applauding with which the Somali women audience had rewarded the band was a testimony of the degree of pride and melancholy the dancers had evoked.

 

Right there at the African night and to the excitement of the Somali speaking crowd in the audience, I saw a proud culture that refuses to die thanks to the devotion and defiance of a few individuals who with unrepentant determination brave every ridicule and curse for being the custodians of what many of today's Somalis see as un-Islamic and unethical culture. Their liveliness and skill also defied the harsh living conditions they endured among a thankless Somali community and uncaring foreign land.

 

 

 

(spot Hibo cause she is sitting s/where in there )

 

With the drum beat and the concluding lines of Xamar Caddeey Xundhurtaydaa Ku Duugan , stirring up old memories of a culture and a country I once had, my eyes welled up and a lump formed in my throat for bygone days and a tradition lost. It is at a moment like this when patriotism hits and one sees people from every corner of the Somali speaking regions in the Horn of Africa united by the same culture and same identity that one realizes how flimsy and skin-deep are the walls of division that separate the Somali people.

 

It is at a moment like this that the fantasy of irredentism strikes and one wonders whether our fathers who fought for the dream of uniting all Somalis in the Horn under one flag didn't indeed fight for the right cause after all. It is at a moment like this that even a Somalilander like me could dream of a greater Somalia - just a dream and one that refuses to die as long as one reaches out to history for enlightenment and culture for identity.

 

Bashir Goth

 

Abu Dhabi , UAE

 

e-mail : bsogoth@yahoo.com

[Final_Say]

that is beautiful;

[Haddad]

Is this the Bashir Goth?

[ADNAAN]

^^Yes hadad, thats the one. You must have read his articles regarding the somali woman; his articles are some what controversial.

[Xafsa]

I see hibo....Nice shoes!

[nuune]

[Tuujiye]

waraa indha toosh..ma is badaleysid yaah..lol..nuune weekiyo...waraa cali baaba, niikis waalan aa meeshaas ka dhacooye xaaji macoo yaa waaye? chekmate?..lol...

 

Wareer Badanaa!!

[nuune]

abbaa tuujiska maxaa waaye waxaa akhrineesid, hadda maa ka soo baxdey waraaba dadow hoggiis, waaba naxee, shiix waraa shuute waaxid

[Salma]

Too bad I missed that event, it took place in a very near place.

 

Bashir Goth ,interesting!!

[RendezVous]

Originally posted by The Rendezvous:

quote:Originally posted by Hibo:

vice-Ambassador..... ( I don't know wat they call him, ....

....the worst part was.. the tooth picks... common people... U either cover ur mouth when u r picking ur molars or u just don't open ur lips......

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: ....

BIG THING FIRST...

 

web page

 

The Somali diaspora is bigger than all the saylici and the awdal stories..na' mean :)but still same.

 

Unite and am sorry!!!!

[-Serenity-]

I always thought the Seylici was a popular dance known all over Somalia but apparantly not. Most of my friends dont have a clue. Its a beautiful dance nonetheless. Love seein it at every aroos or women gathering I go to.

 

[lol]

Adnaan: Am in there walaaaaaaaaaaahi... and Nuune almost spotted me ... By the way I know all the gurls....they r just regular civilians asked to perform ...they r not artists... I helped in dressing them up........can't believe it.. where did u find this pics??

 

Where is the one we took all Somalis together.... as a whole group...

 

Nuune: The gurl u spotted is the one with the attitude problem at the desert section

[lol]

Xafsa %#@& stop selling me out gabareeey :mad:

[Xafsa]

^^^^

[Abdulladiif Al-Fiqih]

^^^Xafsa, taasi Hibodaan aqaaney ma aha.....I'm trying hard to spot her but no luck!