Daily Nation writer launches photobook at the Italian Institute

Rasna Warah, writer for the Daily Nation presents tonight

‘A pictorial tribute to Africa’s most wounded city’.

‘Mogadishu or Xamar (pronounced Hamar) as the locals call it, was once one of the prettiest, most alluring and most cosmopolitan cities in Africa, with a long history that dates back to Arab and Persian trader settlements.

It was a traditional centre for Islam and an important hub for trade along the Indian Ocean coastline. However, since the beginning of the civil war in the early 1990s, Somalia’s capital city has gained the reputation of being the most dangerous and violent city in the world.

Mogadishu Then and Now begun as a photographic exhibition that went on display in Nairobi, in June.It documented Mogadishu before and during the on-going civil war. It’s intent is to attempt to redeem the city’s damaged reputation and restore its lost glory in the public imagination and in the Somali people’s collective memory. The exhibition proved to be a great success, being attended by French Ambassador Etienne de Poncins, Somali Prime Minister, Mr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, and the mayor of Mogadishu, Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Noor.

The successful exhibition is tonight being presented as a photobook ; ‘Mogadishu Then and Now: A pictorial tribute to Africa’s most wounded city’.

Mogadishu literally means ‘The Seat of the Shah’ a testament to a beautiful and cosmopolitan city that now seems something of a distant memory. The book showcases Mogadishu in all its splendour prior to the civil war and contrasts this with the devastation and destruction that has characterised the city for more than two decades.

The exhibition and book came to fruition through the collective initiative of: Mohamud Dirios (former director of the Somali National Museums in Mogadishu, founder and executive director of the Somali Cultural and Research Center in Columbus, Ohio, USA.) Ismail Osman (telecommunications engineer, activist and journalist) and Rasna Warah (writer for the Daily Nation, photojournalist, and published author.)

The book is being launched at the Italian Institute of Culture (Grenadier Tower – 5th floor, Woodvale Grove, opposite Jacaranda Hotel, Westlands) with a talk, slide show and brief reading from one of the contributing authors Rasna Warah. The free-entrance event begins at 6:30 pm and coincides with the closing of the exhibition ‘Gates’ also showing at the institute.