OUR SKILLS

Inspired by our Somali heritage and adapted to modern trends, we make a variety of high quality handmade home décor items and accessories. Our product range includes: plaited straw floor mats, coiled baskets, tie dye scarves, wooden salad spoons and bedding etc. Most of our skillsets were passed down to us by our mothers, aunts or neighbours and today we teach each other skills to help expand and improve the products we make.

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Our traditional skillset includes: tie dye, crochet, plaited basketry, coiled basketry, yarn weaving, woodwork and handwoven textiles. We also have learnt to make a wide range of items specifically for the market in Dadaab – using our creativity to adapt to the camp’s needs: handwoven jerry can fridges, palm straw brooms, handwoven yarn fans, prayer mats etc.

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SOMALI HERITAGE

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With our handmade products, NYOTA FARSAMO hopes to share the artisanal heritage, history and culture of Somalia. Times of conflict usually are moments when countries lose a large part of their cultural property and heritage.

Some of the skillsets featured in NYOTA FARSAMO’s handmade objects are inherent to Somali culture. These include: tie dye, plaited basketry, coiled basketry and woodwork designs. The NYOTA FARSAMO collective seeks to integrate its Somali heritage with contemporary design aesthetics to create coveted artisanal products that are both traditional and cool.

As a primarily Islamic culture, Somali products do not represent any form of living beings (human, animal or plant) as this goes against religious beliefs.