This week a group of mostly southern singers who live in the diaspora gathered in Minneapolis and issued in the airwaves an appeal for peace in Somalia. Many of these singers expressed deep sadness about their separation from their homeland and urged their compatriots to stop fighting each other so that there will be a peaceful environment to which they can return. Of course, as admirable as their call for peace is, their problem in Somalia is bigger than just having a peaceful environment there, for the plain fact is that south central Somalia where most of them hail from, is under the control of radical Islamists who have banned even the ringing of bells in schools let alone singing and dancing. Now contrast this with the situation of artists in Somaliland who not only live in peace in their own country but who also enjoy the freedom to compose their artistic works and put it out to the public. To drive home this contrast, we shall cite just one event that took place in Hargeysa’s Mansoor Hotel which brought together more than 500 guests and 10 of the 51 poets who originally participated in the Deelley series of poems. “Among them were two of the most celebrated Somali poets Mr. Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame (Hadraawi) and Mohamed Hashi Dhamac (Gaariye) both of whom delivered keynote speeches at the event. Also present were Mohamed Mohamud Yasin (Dheeg), Hassan H. Abdilaahi (Ganay) Mohamed Ali Jama (Masmas), Mohamed Aadan (Dacar), Muse Ali (Faruur), Abdi Aadan Qays, Mohamed Jaamac Gaahnuug, who, upon entering the launching hall, were welcomed with a long boisterous applause,” wrote an observer who was present at the event ( http://www.apd somaliland.org/news/20090409deeleybooklaunch.htm ).

Now this does not mean that all’s well and dandy with artists and the arts in Somaliland. On the contrary, there are serious problems facing Somaliland’s artists, and lately, some artists have taken the government to task for not doing anything about their plight. The artists’ complaints are numerous ranging from unemployment, to the absence of proper equipment and all the way to the lack of facilities where they could rehearse and produce their works. These are all legitimate complaints and the new government should address them. The government should not approach this problem as if it were doing a favor to the artists, but should approach it from the vantage point that Somaliland’s arts and culture are national treasures and, therefore, it is imperative that those national assets should be assisted and protected. Somaliland’s artists, however, should not focus all their energy solely on persuading the government. While pressuring the government, they should at the same time, and even more importantly, appeal for support from the public, especially the business community. They may even be able to raise all the money they need if they arranged for Somaliland’s cultural icons to hold a few musical concerts and poetry readings. Singers, poets and artists know that the public is more likely to listen to them than to any other social group but that is not enough. They would also have to come up with a credible plan. If they do so, they may be pleasantly surprised at the response they get. In order to get help, artists, like everyone else, will first have to show that they are willing to help themselves.

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