Discover Somali Culture: Somali Museum's Vibrant Summer Festival on Lake Street This Sunday!
by Angel Adaeze
This Father’s Day, join a cultural celebration, as the Somali Museum and Cultural Center hosts its first ever Summer Festival! This event is more than just a festival; it's a powerful affirmation of Somali heritage, a testament to the community's deep roots in Minnesota, and a dynamic showcase of art, tradition, and togetherness that invites everyone to experience the richness of Somali culture. The event is free and for all ages!
image via Somali Museum website
This Summer Festival, a culmination of the museum's ongoing dedication to preserving and sharing Somali identity, will blend diverse art stations from traditional calligraphy and painting inspired by ancient cave drawings to finger weaving led by revered elders, literary readings by Somali authors and captivating live performances and workshops by dancers and singers. It's a visible and joyous expression of "pride of place," highlighting how a community, once displaced, has firmly established itself as an indispensable part of Minnesota's vibrant cultural landscape, particularly along Lake Street.
image via Somali Museum website
Here, Maryan Yusuf, the Somali Museum’s Director of Programs, discusses pride of place, community of the Lake Street community, and the experience of being a part of The Great Northern Festival Incubator Cohort:
Angel Adaeze: This is the first large scale festival for the museum, can you walk me through the festival origin story, what was the initial inspiration behind it?
Maryan Yusuf: Absolutely, the museum itself has been on Lake Street (we were at Jigo Mall, which is a few blocks from where we are now at Midtown) for a little bit under 10 years. While we did do a lot of programming outside of the museum space itself, we didn't do a lot of programming on Lake Street itself. So when we heard that Lake Street Lift was giving grants to be able to do large scale events here on Lake Street, it just made the most amount of sense.
Thankfully we already do performances in separate places, so it's just kind of puzzling it together. I know that my team is hardworking and dedicated.
AA: At the heart of the festival is the museum, as you mentioned this is programming that you already do, what is the mission behind the museum, and now, the festival?
MY: The Somali Museum's mission overall is to educate and to provide visibility of Somali heritage, culture, artifacts. We're the Somali Museum and Cultural Center, so on the cultural side of things, we platform Somali artists, both upcoming and established.
This festival is kind of a testimony of that. We have our elders there who are teaching and handing down generational knowledge and technical skills as well. We have many performers. We have our volunteers, our community. It's about togetherness. At the end of the day, visibility on Lake Street for people who are Somali or even non Somali.
I think that one of the best things that we can do as a cultural center is to continue to show up to places and to continue to take up space so that others who are also minorities can as well.
AA: It’s been so nice to see how strong the community is specifically on East Lake Street and the reciprocity between organization and community. When you think of the folks that are participating in the festival, like the artists and the elders, how was that process like getting them a part of it? Was it an instant? How is that community built?
MY: Since the start of me being here, if I speak to that much of the relationship, for example, with our elders who do Somali finger meetings, they've been with the museum since the very beginning. The artists [are artists] that we've worked with before. It's a community. We maintain our connections with artists consistently. In that same breath, there are other artists and then vendors that we haven't worked with yet. So I think it's just always being willing to expand our community and always being welcoming. I think as long as we're open to it, I feel like we'll always grow.
AA: This festival balances honoring the cultural and historical roots of both the Somali people and also the physical landscape of being on Lake Street. What does "pride of place" mean to you personally, and how does that manifest in how this festival is curated or celebrated?
MY: Yeah, it's really interesting. We actually have a sign up at the museum that says “ask us ‘Why Minnesota?’” 'cause a lot of people are like, how did you end up from Sub-Saharan Africa to the coldest, Sub-Zero place? A lot of times I say, yes it is [laughs]. My body fights it regularly!
I think one of the most important things that I can say about “pride of place” is that a lot of my youth was spent feeling displaced. Both like on purpose from like my family, not in a malicious way, but we were displaced as refugees 'cause of the war. So my grandmother, my mother did not anticipate that they'd be living the rest of their lives in this foreign place. To them, it was until the war ends, it's until things go back to normal and then that “until” turns into 30 years and then it's like, oh, this is now our home. A lot of people who first fled here in the 1990s didn't, as refugees at least, (I know there're Somalis who came here in different ways) it really didn't feel like a place that we would call home. So there was a lot of resistance to calling it home and then it became a little Mogadishu.
It happened in the same way that it would happen back home. 'Cause we are nomadic and a nation of poets, oral history is very important to us and oration is a part of our tradition. It's word of mouth [and it] spreads quickly. So the reason there's the most Somalis in the United States, and in Minnesota, is because we speak to each other and we build community, and we tell each other, this place is safe. You can find community here. And we just kind of all flooded.
I think that this festival is really a spot in time where I can say, “We are here and we're an immovable part of this fabric”. Somalis in Minneapolis, and on Lake Street in particular, is now such an integrated fact that celebrating our presence is almost mandatory. We contribute to this community, we love this community and we fight for this community.
AA: Being a part of the Festival Producer Incubator Cohort means growing alongside other festival producers at various stages of putting on a festival. This is a first for the Somali Museum, what have you learned from this experience and how has it shaped this festival curation?
MY: I feel blessed to be able to be alongside people who are creating, um, all of the festivals are cultural festivals. They are festivals that are rooted in identity and celebration of others and I'm very grateful to be in a space where those types of people are creating. I'm thankful for my mentors that helped get this event to where it is now.
Though, it felt like a speed race. It's a wonderful opportunity designed to boost individuals who are producing events. I think that the bureaucracy of it all puts a lot of constraints.
AA: So when it’s all said and done (and you get to exhale once the festival is over), when people leave the festival, what do you hope stays with them?
MY: To me a successful event is when the people have come and they've learned something new or they've experienced something new, or they've left with an openness to explore something new. If they come and they part participate in some way, whether that means that they eat from the Somali vendor that has free food, or they walk around and they look at the art. I feel like that in and of itself is a success. I would love for everyone to leave with feeling like they can be a part of Somali festivals without even being Somali. And I hope that the Somalis leave feeling that they are represented on Lake Street and in Minneapolis.
The Somali Museum and Cultural Center’s Summer Festival runs from 2PM to 8 PM on Sunday, June 15th at Midtown Exchange. By 6PM, the art stations will close and the stage will light up with performances by Somali dancers and singers, culminating in a joyous celebration. Visit the Somali Museum’s website to learn more.
For more info about the Festival Producer Incubator Cohort at large, visit here.
The Great Northern Festival Incubator Program is made possible by funding from DEED and the City of Minneapolis.
Lake Street Lift projects were made possible by funding from DEED and the City of Minneapolis.
