Overview
- Somalia’s first national pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, titled SADDEXLEEY, opened with sustained pushback from Somali arts groups that say the process sidelined artists and organizations based in the country.
- The exhibition lists three diaspora participants — Ayan Farah, Asmaa Jama, and Warsan Shire — with Mohamed Mire as co-curator and Italian project manager Fabio Scrivanti as co-curator, and Abdirahman Yusuf Mohamud as commissioner.
- The Somali Arts Foundation said the pavilion lacked meaningful consultation with in-country practitioners, while an anonymous coalition letter cited the same concerns and alleged pressure tactics against local critics.
- Organizers said the pavilion collaborates with Somalia-based artists and cited Mogadishu painter 4C, and they referenced events in Venice and locally, though they did not provide detailed programming in response to press queries.
- Warbixinta Cidda and allied groups demanded Scrivanti’s removal because of Italy’s colonial history in Somalia, and Somali-American poet Ladan Osman said she would not visit the pavilion, reflecting a Biennale season marked by protests and boycotts.