PRESS RELEASE (For immediate release)
Oxford House in partnership with a range of community organisations is pleased to present the Somali Week Festival as a part of Black History Month. The Festival will take place at Oxford House from 20th to 28th October 2007.
Attracting over 2,000 people, the festival offers the best of Somali culture from old and new through an eclectic mix of events including, poetry, contemporary drama, music and dance, as well as a youth conference and a symposium on Somali language.
The programme of events for the week promises to deliver engaging and entertaining performances by, among other artists, Aways Qamiis and UK-based Somali songstress Faduma Qasim, displaying her incredible vocals which evoke the tunes of her native Reer Hamar music.
Somalis have been described as a nation of poets, preserving the nation’s history and politics through an oral tradition stretching back centuries. It is not surprising then that this year’s real treat is to hear legendary poets, like Ganey, Hadraawi and Gaarriye, visiting from Somaliland and throughout the Diaspora, recite from their work.
In recent years, the Somali community in the UK has been negatively portrayed in the media and this has highlighted a need to provide a forum to allow for a creative and challenging exchange of ideas on the multifaceted issues facing Somali people within their own communities in the UK and in their home territories. The Family Matters Youth & Drama conference hopes to go some way in addressing these issues.
One thing is for sure, whatever you take from this festival it won’t just be one voice or one sound.
For more info contact Ayan Mahamoud on 020 7749 1140 or
[email protected] or visit the website on
www.oxfordhouse.org.uk
Oxford House
Derbyshire Street
London E2 6HG
