CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-available" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>Somali art - Wikipedia</title> <script>(function(){var className="client-js vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-available";var cookie=document.cookie.match(/(?:^|; )enwikimwclientpreferences=([^;]+)/);if(cookie){cookie[1].split('%2C').forEach(function(pref){className=className.replace(new RegExp('(^| )'+pref.replace(/-clientpref-\w+$|[^\w-]+/g,'')+'-clientpref-\\w+( |$)'),'$1'+pref+'$2');});}document.documentElement.className=className;}());RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":false,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy", "wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"5c14abcb-86c3-4f4a-b78c-30b75260d834","wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Somali_art","wgTitle":"Somali art","wgCurRevisionId":1239408660,"wgRevisionId":1239408660,"wgArticleId":24553002,"wgIsArticle":true,"wgIsRedirect":false,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Articles with short description","Short description is different from Wikidata","Region topic template using suffix","Culture of Somalia","Art by country"],"wgPageViewLanguage":"en","wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Somali_art","wgRelevantArticleId":24553002,"wgIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgNoticeProject":"wikipedia","wgCiteReferencePreviewsActive":false, "wgFlaggedRevsParams":{"tags":{"status":{"levels":1}}},"wgMediaViewerOnClick":true,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":true,"wgPopupsFlags":0,"wgVisualEditor":{"pageLanguageCode":"en","pageLanguageDir":"ltr","pageVariantFallbacks":"en"},"wgMFDisplayWikibaseDescriptions":{"search":true,"watchlist":true,"tagline":false,"nearby":true},"wgWMESchemaEditAttemptStepOversample":false,"wgWMEPageLength":6000,"wgRelatedArticlesCompat":[],"wgCentralAuthMobileDomain":false,"wgEditSubmitButtonLabelPublish":true,"wgULSPosition":"interlanguage","wgULSisCompactLinksEnabled":false,"wgVector2022LanguageInHeader":true,"wgULSisLanguageSelectorEmpty":false,"wgWikibaseItemId":"Q7559180","wgCheckUserClientHintsHeadersJsApi":["brands","architecture","bitness","fullVersionList","mobile","model","platform","platformVersion"],"GEHomepageSuggestedEditsEnableTopics":true,"wgGETopicsMatchModeEnabled":false,"wgGEStructuredTaskRejectionReasonTextInputEnabled":false,"wgGELevelingUpEnabledForUser":false};RLSTATE={ "ext.globalCssJs.user.styles":"ready","site.styles":"ready","user.styles":"ready","ext.globalCssJs.user":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","skins.vector.search.codex.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles":"ready","skins.vector.icons":"ready","jquery.makeCollapsible.styles":"ready","ext.wikimediamessages.styles":"ready","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript":"ready","ext.uls.interlanguage":"ready","wikibase.client.init":"ready","ext.wikimediaBadges":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","mediawiki.page.media","ext.scribunto.logs","site","mediawiki.page.ready","jquery.makeCollapsible","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.js","ext.centralNotice.geoIP","ext.centralNotice.startUp","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","ext.gadget.switcher","ext.urlShortener.toolbar","ext.centralauth.centralautologin","mmv.bootstrap","ext.popups","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.init","ext.visualEditor.targetLoader","ext.echo.centralauth", "ext.eventLogging","ext.wikimediaEvents","ext.navigationTiming","ext.uls.interface","ext.cx.eventlogging.campaigns","ext.cx.uls.quick.actions","wikibase.client.vector-2022","ext.checkUser.clientHints","ext.growthExperiments.SuggestedEditSession","wikibase.sidebar.tracking"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.impl(function(){return["user.options@12s5i",function($,jQuery,require,module){mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); }];});});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cext.uls.interlanguage%7Cext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript%7Cext.wikimediaBadges%7Cext.wikimediamessages.styles%7Cjquery.makeCollapsible.styles%7Cskins.vector.icons%2Cstyles%7Cskins.vector.search.codex.styles%7Cwikibase.client.init&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector-2022"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.44.0-wmf.4"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin-when-cross-origin"> <meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:standard"> <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Somali_traditional_doorway_with_decorative_carving%2C_set_into_white_stone_wall.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="1200"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="849"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Somali_traditional_doorway_with_decorative_carving%2C_set_into_white_stone_wall.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="800"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="566"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Somali_traditional_doorway_with_decorative_carving%2C_set_into_white_stone_wall.jpg/640px-Somali_traditional_doorway_with_decorative_carving%2C_set_into_white_stone_wall.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="640"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="453"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=1120"> <meta property="og:title" content="Somali art - Wikipedia"> <meta property="og:type" content="website"> <link rel="preconnect" href="//upload.wikimedia.org"> <link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)" href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_art"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit this page" href="/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&action=edit"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png"> <link rel="icon" href="/static/favicon/wikipedia.ico"> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/rest.php/v1/search" title="Wikipedia (en)"> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="//en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_art"> <link rel="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Wikipedia Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//meta.wikimedia.org" /> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//login.wikimedia.org"> </head> <body class="skin--responsive skin-vector skin-vector-search-vue mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Somali_art rootpage-Somali_art skin-vector-2022 action-view"><a class="mw-jump-link" href="#bodyContent">Jump to content</a> <div class="vector-header-container"> <header class="vector-header mw-header"> <div class="vector-header-start"> <nav class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-main-menu-dropdown vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Main menu" > <label id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-label" for="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-menu mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-menu"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Main menu</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-main-menu" class="vector-main-menu vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-main-menu-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="main-menu-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-main-menu" data-pinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Main menu</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-navigation" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Navigation </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-mainpage-description" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z"><span>Main page</span></a></li><li id="n-contents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Contents" title="Guides to browsing Wikipedia"><span>Contents</span></a></li><li id="n-currentevents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Portal:Current_events" title="Articles related to current events"><span>Current events</span></a></li><li id="n-randompage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Visit a randomly selected article [x]" accesskey="x"><span>Random article</span></a></li><li id="n-aboutsite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About" title="Learn about Wikipedia and how it works"><span>About Wikipedia</span></a></li><li id="n-contactpage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us" title="How to contact Wikipedia"><span>Contact us</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-interaction" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-interaction" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Contribute </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-help" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia"><span>Help</span></a></li><li id="n-introduction" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" title="Learn how to edit Wikipedia"><span>Learn to edit</span></a></li><li id="n-portal" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_portal" title="The hub for editors"><span>Community portal</span></a></li><li id="n-recentchanges" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes to Wikipedia [r]" accesskey="r"><span>Recent changes</span></a></li><li id="n-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_upload_wizard" title="Add images or other media for use on Wikipedia"><span>Upload file</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <a href="/wiki/Main_Page" class="mw-logo"> <img class="mw-logo-icon" src="/static/images/icons/wikipedia.png" alt="" aria-hidden="true" height="50" width="50"> <span class="mw-logo-container skin-invert"> <img class="mw-logo-wordmark" alt="Wikipedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-wordmark-en.svg" style="width: 7.5em; height: 1.125em;"> <img class="mw-logo-tagline" alt="The Free Encyclopedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-tagline-en.svg" width="117" height="13" style="width: 7.3125em; height: 0.8125em;"> </span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-header-end"> <div id="p-search" role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-collapses vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box-auto-expand-width vector-search-box"> <a href="/wiki/Special:Search" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only search-toggle" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </a> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail cdx-typeahead-search--auto-expand-width"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div id="simpleSearch" class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikipedia" aria-label="Search Wikipedia" autocapitalize="sentences" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput" > <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-user-links vector-user-links-wide" aria-label="Personal tools"> <div class="vector-user-links-main"> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-preferences" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-userpage" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown " title="Change the appearance of the page's font size, width, and color" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Appearance" > <label id="vector-appearance-dropdown-label" for="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-appearance mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-appearance"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Appearance</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-notifications" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-overflow" class="vector-menu mw-portlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en" class=""><span>Donate</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-createaccount-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Somali+art" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory" class=""><span>Create account</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-login-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Somali+art" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o" class=""><span>Log in</span></a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-user-menu vector-button-flush-right vector-user-menu-logged-out" title="Log in and more options" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Personal tools" > <label id="vector-user-links-dropdown-label" for="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-ellipsis mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-ellipsis"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Personal tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-personal" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-personal user-links-collapsible-item" title="User menu" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en"><span>Donate</span></a></li><li id="pt-createaccount" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Somali+art" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-userAdd mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-userAdd"></span> <span>Create account</span></a></li><li id="pt-login" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Somali+art" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-logIn mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-logIn"></span> <span>Log in</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-user-menu-anon-editor" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-user-menu-anon-editor" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Pages for logged out editors <a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" aria-label="Learn more about editing"><span>learn more</span></a> </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-anoncontribs" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y"><span>Contributions</span></a></li><li id="pt-anontalk" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> </div> <div class="mw-page-container"> <div class="mw-page-container-inner"> <div class="vector-sitenotice-container"> <div id="siteNotice"></div> </div> <div class="vector-column-start"> <div class="vector-main-menu-container"> <div id="mw-navigation"> <nav id="mw-panel" class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav id="mw-panel-toc" aria-label="Contents" data-event-name="ui.sidebar-toc" class="mw-table-of-contents-container vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-toc-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-toc" class="vector-toc vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-toc-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="toc-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-toc" > <h2 class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Contents</h2> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.unpin">hide</button> </div> <ul class="vector-toc-contents" id="mw-panel-toc-list"> <li id="toc-mw-content-text" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a href="#" class="vector-toc-link"> <div class="vector-toc-text">(Top)</div> </a> </li> <li id="toc-History" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#History"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1</span> <span>History</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-History-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle History subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-History-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Carving" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Carving"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.1</span> <span>Carving</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Carving-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Textile" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Textile"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.2</span> <span>Textile</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Textile-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Metalwork" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Metalwork"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.3</span> <span>Metalwork</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Metalwork-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Architecture" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Architecture"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.4</span> <span>Architecture</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Architecture-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Somali art</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 4 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-4" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">4 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%86_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A" title="الفن الصومالي – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="الفن الصومالي" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pa mw-list-item"><a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%B8%E0%A9%8B%E0%A8%AE%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%B2%E0%A9%80_%E0%A8%95%E0%A8%B2%E0%A8%BE" title="ਸੋਮਾਲੀ ਕਲਾ – Punjabi" lang="pa" hreflang="pa" data-title="ਸੋਮਾਲੀ ਕਲਾ" data-language-autonym="ਪੰਜਾਬੀ" data-language-local-name="Punjabi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ਪੰਜਾਬੀ</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-so mw-list-item"><a href="https://so.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farshaxan_Soomaali" title="Farshaxan Soomaali – Somali" lang="so" hreflang="so" data-title="Farshaxan Soomaali" data-language-autonym="Soomaaliga" data-language-local-name="Somali" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Soomaaliga</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tr mw-list-item"><a href="https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_sanat%C4%B1" title="Somali sanatı – Turkish" lang="tr" hreflang="tr" data-title="Somali sanatı" data-language-autonym="Türkçe" data-language-local-name="Turkish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Türkçe</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q7559180#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Somali_art" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c"><span>Article</span></a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Talk:Somali_art" rel="discussion" title="Discuss improvements to the content page [t]" accesskey="t"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown emptyPortlet" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Change language variant" > <label id="vector-variants-dropdown-label" for="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">English</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-variants" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-variants emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation" class="vector-collapsible"> <nav aria-label="Views"> <div id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-views" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-view" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Somali_art"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-history" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-tools-dropdown" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Tools" > <label id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-label" for="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-page-tools" class="vector-page-tools vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-page-tools-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="page-tools-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-page-tools" data-pinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Tools</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-cactions emptyPortlet vector-has-collapsible-items" title="More options" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Actions </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-more-view" class="selected vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Somali_art"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-edit" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-history" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&action=history"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-tb" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-tb" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> General </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-whatlinkshere" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Somali_art" title="List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [j]" accesskey="j"><span>What links here</span></a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Somali_art" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k"><span>Related changes</span></a></li><li id="t-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard" title="Upload files [u]" accesskey="u"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="t-specialpages" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages" title="A list of all special pages [q]" accesskey="q"><span>Special pages</span></a></li><li id="t-permalink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&oldid=1239408660" title="Permanent link to this revision of this page"><span>Permanent link</span></a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&action=info" title="More information about this page"><span>Page information</span></a></li><li id="t-cite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=Somali_art&id=1239408660&wpFormIdentifier=titleform" title="Information on how to cite this page"><span>Cite this page</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UrlShortener&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSomali_art"><span>Get shortened URL</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener-qrcode" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:QrCode&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSomali_art"><span>Download QR code</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-coll-print_export" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-coll-print_export" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Print/export </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="coll-download-as-rl" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:DownloadAsPdf&page=Somali_art&action=show-download-screen" title="Download this page as a PDF file"><span>Download as PDF</span></a></li><li id="t-print" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&printable=yes" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p"><span>Printable version</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-wikibase-otherprojects" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-wikibase-otherprojects" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> In other projects </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-wikibase" class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikibase-dataitem mw-list-item"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q7559180" title="Structured data on this page hosted by Wikidata [g]" accesskey="g"><span>Wikidata item</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" class="vector-appearance vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-appearance-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="appearance-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-appearance" data-pinned-container-id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><p class="mw-empty-elt"> </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:" · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li:last-child::after{content:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:first-child::before{content:" (";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:last-child::after{content:")";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol{counter-reset:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li{counter-increment:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li::before{content:" "counter(listitem)"\a0 "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li ol>li:first-child::before{content:" ("counter(listitem)"\a0 "}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1246091330">.mw-parser-output .sidebar{width:22em;float:right;clear:right;margin:0.5em 0 1em 1em;background:var(--background-color-neutral-subtle,#f8f9fa);border:1px solid var(--border-color-base,#a2a9b1);padding:0.2em;text-align:center;line-height:1.4em;font-size:88%;border-collapse:collapse;display:table}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .sidebar{display:table!important;float:right!important;margin:0.5em 0 1em 1em!important}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-subgroup{width:100%;margin:0;border-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-left{float:left;clear:left;margin:0.5em 1em 1em 0}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-none{float:none;clear:both;margin:0.5em 1em 1em 0}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-outer-title{padding:0 0.4em 0.2em;font-size:125%;line-height:1.2em;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-top-image{padding:0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-top-caption,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-pretitle-with-top-image,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-caption{padding:0.2em 0.4em 0;line-height:1.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-pretitle{padding:0.4em 0.4em 0;line-height:1.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-title,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{padding:0.2em 0.8em;font-size:145%;line-height:1.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{padding:0.1em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-image{padding:0.2em 0.4em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-heading{padding:0.1em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-content{padding:0 0.5em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-content-with-subgroup{padding:0.1em 0.4em 0.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-above,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-below{padding:0.3em 0.8em;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-collapse .sidebar-above,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-collapse .sidebar-below{border-top:1px solid #aaa;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-navbar{text-align:right;font-size:115%;padding:0 0.4em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-list-title{padding:0 0.4em;text-align:left;font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6em;font-size:105%}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-list-title-c{padding:0 0.4em;text-align:center;margin:0 3.3em}@media(max-width:640px){body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .sidebar{width:100%!important;clear:both;float:none!important;margin-left:0!important;margin-right:0!important}}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .sidebar a>img{max-width:none!important}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sidebar{display:none!important}}</style><table class="sidebar nomobile nowraplinks"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-top-image"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Somali_traditional_doorway_with_decorative_carving,_set_into_white_stone_wall.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Somali_traditional_doorway_with_decorative_carving%2C_set_into_white_stone_wall.jpg/210px-Somali_traditional_doorway_with_decorative_carving%2C_set_into_white_stone_wall.jpg" decoding="async" width="210" height="149" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Somali_traditional_doorway_with_decorative_carving%2C_set_into_white_stone_wall.jpg/315px-Somali_traditional_doorway_with_decorative_carving%2C_set_into_white_stone_wall.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Somali_traditional_doorway_with_decorative_carving%2C_set_into_white_stone_wall.jpg/420px-Somali_traditional_doorway_with_decorative_carving%2C_set_into_white_stone_wall.jpg 2x" data-file-width="700" data-file-height="495" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-pretitle-with-top-image">Part of <a href="/wiki/Category:Somalia" title="Category:Somalia">a series</a> on the</td></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-title-with-pretitle"><a href="/wiki/Culture_of_Somalia" title="Culture of Somalia">Culture of Somalia</a></th></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="background:#ddddff;"> <a href="/wiki/Culture_of_Somalia" title="Culture of Somalia">Culture</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Somali_architecture" title="Somali architecture">Architecture</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Art</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cinema_of_Somalia" title="Cinema of Somalia">Cinema</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Somali_cuisine" title="Somali cuisine">Cuisine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_Somalia" title="History of Somalia">History</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Somalian_literature" class="mw-redirect" title="Somalian literature">Literature</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Maritime_history_of_Somalia" title="Maritime history of Somalia">Maritime</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Media_of_Somalia" class="mw-redirect" title="Media of Somalia">Media</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Music_of_Somalia" title="Music of Somalia">Music</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Somali_mythology" title="Somali mythology">Folklore</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Religion_in_Somalia" title="Religion in Somalia">Religion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sports_in_Somalia" title="Sports in Somalia">Sport</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tourism_in_Somalia" title="Tourism in Somalia">Tourism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Traditions_of_Somalia" class="mw-redirect" title="Traditions of Somalia">Traditions</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="background:#ddddff;"> <a href="/wiki/Demographics_of_Somalia" title="Demographics of Somalia">People</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Somalis" class="mw-redirect" title="Somalis">Somalis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Benadiri" class="mw-redirect" title="Benadiri">Benadiri</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bravanese_people" title="Bravanese people">Bravanese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bajuni_people" title="Bajuni people">Bajunis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Somali_Bantu" class="mw-redirect" title="Somali Bantu">Bantus</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="background:#ddddff;"> <a href="/wiki/Religion_in_Somalia" title="Religion in Somalia">Religion</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Islam_in_Somalia" title="Islam in Somalia">Islam</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Christianity_in_Somalia" title="Christianity in Somalia">Christianity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Religion_in_Somalia#Traditional_faiths" title="Religion in Somalia">Traditional faiths</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="background:#ddddff;"> <a href="/wiki/Languages_of_Somalia" title="Languages of Somalia">Language</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Arabic" title="Arabic">Arabic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Somali_language" title="Somali language">Somali</a> (<a href="/wiki/Maay_Maay" title="Maay Maay">Maay Maay</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soqotri_language" title="Soqotri language">Soqotri</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Italian_language" title="Italian language">Italian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_language" title="English language">English</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="background:#ddddff;"> <a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Somalia" title="Politics of Somalia">Politics</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Federal_Parliament_of_Somalia" title="Federal Parliament of Somalia">Parliament</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Somali_Armed_Forces" title="Somali Armed Forces">Military</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economy_of_Somalia" title="Economy of Somalia">Economy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Judiciary_of_Somalia" title="Judiciary of Somalia">Laws</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/National_symbols_of_Somalia" title="National symbols of Somalia">Symbols</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transport_in_Somalia" title="Transport in Somalia">Transportation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Communications_in_Somalia" title="Communications in Somalia">Communications</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Education_in_Somalia" title="Education in Somalia">Education</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-below plainlist" style="font-weight:normal; border-top:#aaa 1px solid"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Portal:Somalia" title="Portal:Somalia">Somalia portal</a></li></ul></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Culture_of_Somalia" title="Template:Culture of Somalia"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Culture_of_Somalia" title="Template talk:Culture of Somalia"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Culture_of_Somalia" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Culture of Somalia"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><b><a href="/wiki/Somalia" title="Somalia">Somali</a> <a href="/wiki/Art" title="Art">art</a></b> is the artistic culture of the <a href="/wiki/Somali_people" title="Somali people">Somali people</a>, both historic and contemporary. These include artistic traditions in <a href="/wiki/Pottery" title="Pottery">pottery</a>, <a href="/wiki/Music" title="Music">music</a>, <a href="/wiki/Architecture" title="Architecture">architecture</a>, <a href="/wiki/Woodcarving" class="mw-redirect" title="Woodcarving">woodcarving</a> and other genres. Somali art is characterized by its <a href="/wiki/Aniconism" title="Aniconism">aniconism</a>, partly as a result of the vestigial influence of the pre-Islamic <a href="/wiki/Somali_Mythology" class="mw-redirect" title="Somali Mythology">mythology</a> of the Somalis coupled with their ubiquitous <a href="/wiki/Muslim" class="mw-redirect" title="Muslim">Muslim</a> beliefs. However, there have been cases in the past of artistic depictions representing living creatures such as the <a href="/wiki/Gold" title="Gold">golden</a> <a href="/wiki/Bird" title="Bird">birds</a> on the <a href="/wiki/Mogadishu" title="Mogadishu">Mogadishan</a> <a href="/wiki/Canopy_(building)" class="mw-redirect" title="Canopy (building)">canopies</a>, the ancient <a href="/wiki/Rock_painting" class="mw-redirect" title="Rock painting">rock paintings</a> in <a href="/wiki/Somaliland" title="Somaliland">Somaliland</a>, and the <a href="/wiki/Plant" title="Plant">plant decorations</a> on religious <a href="/wiki/Tomb" title="Tomb">tombs</a> in Somalia, but these are considered rare. Instead, intricate patterns and geometric designs, bold colors and monumental architecture was the norm. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: History"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:LaasGeel.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/LaasGeel.jpg/140px-LaasGeel.jpg" decoding="async" width="140" height="119" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/LaasGeel.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="170" /></a><figcaption>Ancient <a href="/wiki/Rock_art" title="Rock art">rock art</a> depicting a <a href="/wiki/Camel" title="Camel">camel</a>.</figcaption></figure> <p>The oldest evidence of art in the <a href="/wiki/Somali_peninsula" class="mw-redirect" title="Somali peninsula">Somali peninsula</a> are <a href="/wiki/Pre-historic" class="mw-redirect" title="Pre-historic">pre-historic</a> rock paintings. The rock art of <a href="/wiki/Laas_Geel" title="Laas Geel">Laas Geel</a> are thought to be some of the best preserved in <a href="/wiki/Africa" title="Africa">Africa</a>, representing cows in ceremonial robes accompanied by humans. The necks of the cows are embellished with a kind of <i><a href="/wiki/Plastron" class="mw-redirect" title="Plastron">plastron</a></i>, some of the cows are depicted as wearing decorative robes. The paintings not only show cows, but also a domesticated dogs, several paintings of <a href="/wiki/Canidae" title="Canidae">canidae</a> and a <a href="/wiki/Giraffe" title="Giraffe">giraffe</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Aspects of ancient Somali styles of architecture and art can be seen in the various Somali civilizations that flourished under <a href="/wiki/Islam" title="Islam">Islam</a>, particularly during the <a href="/wiki/Mogadishu" title="Mogadishu">Mogadishan</a> <a href="/wiki/Golden_Age_(metaphor)" class="mw-redirect" title="Golden Age (metaphor)">Golden Age</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Ajuran_Sultanate" title="Ajuran Sultanate">Empire of Ajuran</a> period (especially in the domain of architecture). In the early modern and contemporary era, <a href="/wiki/Poetry" title="Poetry">poetry</a> and <a href="/wiki/Theater" class="mw-redirect" title="Theater">theatrical</a> ventures shaped much of today's Somali artistic culture. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Carving">Carving</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Carving"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Carving, known in <a href="/wiki/Somali_language" title="Somali language">Somali</a> as <i>qoris</i>, is a much respected profession in Somalia both in historic and modern times. Many wealthy urbanites in the medieval period regularly employed the finest wood and marble carvers in Somalia to work on their interiors and houses. The carvings on the <a href="/wiki/Mihrab" title="Mihrab">mihrabs</a> and <a href="/wiki/Column" title="Column">pillars</a> of ancient Somali <a href="/wiki/Mosque" title="Mosque">mosques</a> are some of the oldest on the continent. Artistic carving was considered the province of men similar to how the Somali textile industry was mainly a women's business. Amongst the <a href="/wiki/Nomad" title="Nomad">nomads</a>, carving, especially <a href="/wiki/Woodwork" class="mw-redirect" title="Woodwork">woodwork</a>, was widespread and could be found on the most basic objects such as <a href="/wiki/Spoon" title="Spoon">spoons</a>, <a href="/wiki/Comb" title="Comb">combs</a> and <a href="/wiki/Bowl_(vessel)" class="mw-redirect" title="Bowl (vessel)">bowls</a>, but it also included more complex structures such as the portable nomadic house, the <i>aqal</i>. In the last several decades, traditional carving of windows, doors and furniture has taken a backseat to the introduction of workshops employing electrical <a href="/wiki/Machine" title="Machine">machinery</a> which deliver the same results in a far shorter time period.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Textile">Textile</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Textile"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The textile culture of Somalia is an ancient one, and the Somali textile center in <a href="/wiki/Mogadishu" title="Mogadishu">Mogadishu</a> was, from at least the 13th century to the late 19th century, considered to be one of the main textile hubs in the <a href="/wiki/Indian_Ocean" title="Indian Ocean">Indian Ocean</a>. It competed with those of the <a href="/wiki/Demographics_of_India" title="Demographics of India">Indians</a> and later the <a href="/wiki/United_States" title="United States">Americans</a> in domestic and foreign markets such as <a href="/wiki/Egypt" title="Egypt">Egypt</a> and <a href="/wiki/Syria" title="Syria">Syria</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Metalwork">Metalwork</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Metalwork"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The <a href="/wiki/Goldsmith" title="Goldsmith">goldsmiths</a> and <a href="/wiki/Blacksmith" title="Blacksmith">blacksmiths</a> of the urban cities, though often shunned by the dominant <a href="/wiki/Nomad" title="Nomad">nomadic</a> culture for their occupation, fashioned the city-dwellers' traditional display of wealth and power through ornaments such as <a href="/wiki/Jewelry" class="mw-redirect" title="Jewelry">jewelry</a> in the case of women, or the intricately designed Somali <a href="/wiki/Dagger" title="Dagger">dagger</a> (<i>toraay</i>) in the case of men. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Architecture">Architecture</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Architecture"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Architecture_of_Somalia" class="mw-redirect" title="Architecture of Somalia">Architecture of Somalia</a></div> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Ancient-Almnara.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Ancient-Almnara.jpg/200px-Ancient-Almnara.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="252" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Ancient-Almnara.jpg/300px-Ancient-Almnara.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Ancient-Almnara.jpg/400px-Ancient-Almnara.jpg 2x" data-file-width="650" data-file-height="819" /></a><figcaption> <a href="/w/index.php?title=Almnara_Tower&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Almnara Tower (page does not exist)">Almnara Tower</a> in <a href="/wiki/Mogadishu" title="Mogadishu">Mogadishu</a>, <a href="/wiki/Somalia" title="Somalia">Somalia</a>.</figcaption></figure> <p><a href="/wiki/Architecture_of_Somalia" class="mw-redirect" title="Architecture of Somalia">Somali architecture</a> is a rich and diverse tradition of <a href="/wiki/Engineering" title="Engineering">engineering</a> and <a href="/wiki/Designing" class="mw-redirect" title="Designing">designing</a> multiple different <a href="/wiki/Construction" title="Construction">construction</a> types such as <a href="/wiki/Masonry" title="Masonry">stone cities</a>, <a href="/wiki/Castles" class="mw-redirect" title="Castles">castles</a>, <a href="/wiki/Citadel" title="Citadel">citadels</a>, <a href="/wiki/Fortresses" class="mw-redirect" title="Fortresses">fortresses</a>, <a href="/wiki/Mosques" class="mw-redirect" title="Mosques">mosques</a>, <a href="/wiki/Temples" class="mw-redirect" title="Temples">temples</a>, <a href="/wiki/Aqueduct_(watercourse)" class="mw-redirect" title="Aqueduct (watercourse)">aqueducts</a>, <a href="/wiki/Lighthouses" class="mw-redirect" title="Lighthouses">lighthouses</a>, towers and <a href="/wiki/Tomb" title="Tomb">tombs</a> during the ancient, <a href="/wiki/Medieval" class="mw-redirect" title="Medieval">medieval</a> and <a href="/wiki/Early_modern" class="mw-redirect" title="Early modern">early modern</a> periods in Somalia, as well as the fusion of Somalo-Islamic architecture with Occidental designs in <a href="/wiki/Contemporary_architecture" title="Contemporary architecture">contemporary</a> times. </p><p>In ancient Somalia, <a href="/wiki/Pyramid" title="Pyramid">pyramidical</a> structures known in <a href="/wiki/Somali_language" title="Somali language">Somali</a> as <i>taalo</i> were a popular burial style, with hundreds of these <a href="/wiki/Drystone" class="mw-redirect" title="Drystone">drystone</a> monuments scattered around the country today. Houses were built of <a href="/wiki/Stonemasonry" title="Stonemasonry">dressed stone</a> similar to the ones in <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Egypt" title="Ancient Egypt">Ancient Egypt</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and there are examples of <a href="/wiki/Courtyard" title="Courtyard">courtyards</a> and large stone walls such as the <a href="/wiki/Wargaade_Wall" title="Wargaade Wall">Wargaade Wall</a> enclosing settlements. </p><p>The adoption of Islam in the early medieval era of Somalia's history brought <a href="/wiki/Islamic_architecture" title="Islamic architecture">Islamic architectural influences</a> from <a href="/wiki/Arabia" class="mw-redirect" title="Arabia">Arabia</a> and <a href="/wiki/Persia" class="mw-redirect" title="Persia">Persia</a>, which stimulated a shift from <a href="/wiki/Drystone" class="mw-redirect" title="Drystone">drystone</a> and other related materials in construction to <a href="/wiki/Masonry" title="Masonry">coral stone</a>, <a href="/wiki/Mud-brick" class="mw-redirect" title="Mud-brick">sundried bricks</a>, and the widespread use of <a href="/wiki/Limestone" title="Limestone">limestone</a> in Somali architecture. Many of the new architectural designs such as <a href="/wiki/Mosques" class="mw-redirect" title="Mosques">mosques</a> were built on the ruins of older structures, a practice that would continue over and over again throughout the following centuries.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><span class="nowrap"><span class="mw-image-border noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="flag" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Flag_of_Somalia.svg/32px-Flag_of_Somalia.svg.png" decoding="async" width="32" height="21" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Flag_of_Somalia.svg/48px-Flag_of_Somalia.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Flag_of_Somalia.svg/64px-Flag_of_Somalia.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="900" data-file-height="600" /></span></span> </span><a href="/wiki/Portal:Somalia" title="Portal:Somalia">Somalia portal</a></li> <li><span class="nowrap"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Nuvola_apps_package_graphics.png" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="icon" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Nuvola_apps_package_graphics.png/28px-Nuvola_apps_package_graphics.png" decoding="async" width="28" height="28" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Nuvola_apps_package_graphics.png/42px-Nuvola_apps_package_graphics.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Nuvola_apps_package_graphics.png/56px-Nuvola_apps_package_graphics.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></a></span> </span><a href="/wiki/Portal:Arts" class="mw-redirect" title="Portal:Arts">Arts portal</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">The Journal of African Archeology Volume 1.2 (2003) Chapter 3</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Culture and customs of Somalia By Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi pg 97</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi(2001) pg 100</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Man, God and Civilization pg 216</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Diriye, p.102</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox-styles+.navbox{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output .navbox-inner,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{width:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-title,.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow{padding:0.25em 1em;line-height:1.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group{white-space:nowrap;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{background-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list{line-height:1.5em;border-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list-with-group{text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid}.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-group,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-image,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-list{border-top:2px solid #fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title{background-color:#ccf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-title{background-color:#ddf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow{background-color:#e6e6ff}.mw-parser-output .navbox-even{background-color:#f7f7f7}.mw-parser-output .navbox-odd{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ul,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ul{padding:0.125em 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbar{display:block;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title .navbar{float:left;text-align:left;margin-right:0.5em}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .navbox-image img{max-width:none!important}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .navbox{display:none!important}}</style></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="African_art" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:African_topic" title="Template:African topic"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:African_topic" title="Template talk:African topic"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:African_topic" title="Special:EditPage/Template:African topic"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="African_art" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/African_art" title="African art">African art</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states" title="List of sovereign states">Sovereign states</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Algerian_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Algerian art (page does not exist)">Algeria</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Angolan_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Angolan art (page does not exist)">Angola</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Beninese_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Beninese art (page does not exist)">Benin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Botswanan_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Botswanan art">Botswana</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Burkinab%C3%A9_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Burkinabé art">Burkina Faso</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Burundian_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Burundian art (page does not exist)">Burundi</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Cameroonian_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Cameroonian art (page does not exist)">Cameroon</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Cape_Verdean_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Cape Verdean art (page does not exist)">Cape Verde</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Central_African_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Central African art (page does not exist)">Central African Republic</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Chadian_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Chadian art (page does not exist)">Chad</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Comorian_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Comorian art (page does not exist)">Comoros</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Democratic Republic of the Congo art (page does not exist)">Democratic Republic of the Congo</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Republic_of_the_Congo_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Republic of the Congo art (page does not exist)">Republic of the Congo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Djiboutian_art" title="Djiboutian art">Djibouti</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Egyptian_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Egyptian art">Egypt</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Equatoguinean_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Equatoguinean art (page does not exist)">Equatorial Guinea</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Eritrean_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Eritrean art (page does not exist)">Eritrea</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Swazi_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Swazi art (page does not exist)">Eswatini</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ethiopian_art" title="Ethiopian art">Ethiopia</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Gabonese_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Gabonese art (page does not exist)">Gabon</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Gambian_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Gambian art (page does not exist)">The Gambia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ghanaian_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Ghanaian art">Ghana</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Guinean_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Guinean art (page does not exist)">Guinea</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Bissau-Guinean_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Bissau-Guinean art (page does not exist)">Guinea-Bissau</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ivorian_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ivorian art (page does not exist)">Ivory Coast</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kenyan_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Kenyan art">Kenya</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Lesothan_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Lesothan art (page does not exist)">Lesotho</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Liberian_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Liberian art">Liberia</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Libyan_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Libyan art (page does not exist)">Libya</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Malagasy_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Malagasy art">Madagascar</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Malawian_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Malawian art (page does not exist)">Malawi</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Malian_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Malian art (page does not exist)">Mali</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mauritanian_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Mauritanian art">Mauritania</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Mauritian_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Mauritian art (page does not exist)">Mauritius</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moroccan_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Moroccan art">Morocco</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mozambican_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Mozambican art">Mozambique</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Namibian_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Namibian art">Namibia</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Nigerien_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Nigerien art (page does not exist)">Niger</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nigerian_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Nigerian art">Nigeria</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rwandan_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Rwandan art">Rwanda</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Santomean_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Santomean art (page does not exist)">São Tomé and Príncipe</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Senegalese_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Senegalese art (page does not exist)">Senegal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Seychellois_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Seychellois art">Seychelles</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sierra_Leonean_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Sierra Leonean art (page does not exist)">Sierra Leone</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Somalian_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Somalian art">Somalia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/South_African_art" title="South African art">South Africa</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=South_Sudanese_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="South Sudanese art (page does not exist)">South Sudan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sudanese_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Sudanese art">Sudan</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Tanzanian_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Tanzanian art (page does not exist)">Tanzania</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Togolese_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Togolese art (page does not exist)">Togo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tunisian_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Tunisian art">Tunisia</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ugandan_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ugandan art (page does not exist)">Uganda</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zambian_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Zambian art">Zambia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zimbabwean_art" title="Zimbabwean art">Zimbabwe</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;"><a href="/wiki/List_of_states_with_limited_recognition" title="List of states with limited recognition">States with limited<br />recognition</a></div></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sahrawi_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Sahrawi art (page does not exist)">Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Somaliland_art" class="mw-redirect" title="Somaliland art">Somaliland</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;"><a href="/wiki/Dependent_territory" title="Dependent territory">Dependencies</a> and<br />other <a href="/wiki/Sovereign_territory" class="mw-redirect" title="Sovereign territory">territories</a></div></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Canarian_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Canarian art (page does not exist)">Canary Islands</a> / <a href="/w/index.php?title=Ceutan_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ceutan art (page does not exist)">Ceuta</a> / <a href="/w/index.php?title=Melillan_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Melillan art (page does not exist)">Melilla</a> / <a href="/w/index.php?title=Plazas_de_soberan%C3%ADa_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Plazas de soberanía art (page does not exist)">Plazas de soberanía</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(Spain)</span></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Madeiran_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Madeiran art (page does not exist)">Madeira</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(Portugal)</span></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Mahoran_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Mahoran art (page does not exist)">Mayotte</a> / <a href="/w/index.php?title=R%C3%A9unionese_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Réunionese art (page does not exist)">Réunion</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(France)</span></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Saint_Helenian_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Saint Helenian art (page does not exist)">Saint Helena</a> / <a href="/w/index.php?title=Ascension_Island_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ascension Island art (page does not exist)">Ascension Island</a> / <a href="/w/index.php?title=Tristanian_art&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Tristanian art (page does not exist)">Tristan da Cunha</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(United Kingdom)</span></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&oldid=1239408660">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&oldid=1239408660</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Culture_of_Somalia" title="Category:Culture of Somalia">Culture of Somalia</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Art_by_country" title="Category:Art by country">Art by country</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_short_description" title="Category:Articles with short description">Articles with short description</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Short_description_is_different_from_Wikidata" title="Category:Short description is different from Wikidata">Short description is different from Wikidata</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Region_topic_template_using_suffix" title="Category:Region topic template using suffix">Region topic template using suffix</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 9 August 2024, at 03:20<span class="anonymous-show"> (UTC)</span>.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License</a>; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms of Use">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy policy">Privacy Policy</a>. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/">Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.</a>, a non-profit organization.</li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places"> <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About">About Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimers"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-contact"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us">Contact Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-wm-codeofconduct"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct">Code of Conduct</a></li> <li id="footer-places-developers"><a href="https://developer.wikimedia.org">Developers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-statslink"><a href="https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/en.wikipedia.org">Statistics</a></li> <li id="footer-places-cookiestatement"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Cookie_statement">Cookie statement</a></li> <li id="footer-places-mobileview"><a href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Somali_art&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile" class="noprint stopMobileRedirectToggle">Mobile view</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/static/images/footer/wikimedia-button.svg" width="84" height="29" alt="Wikimedia Foundation" loading="lazy"></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki.svg" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"></a></li> </ul> </footer> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-settings" id="p-dock-bottom"> <ul></ul> </div><script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgHostname":"mw-web.codfw.main-f69cdc8f6-fhqv7","wgBackendResponseTime":132,"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.366","walltime":"0.464","ppvisitednodes":{"value":11031,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":38257,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":6008,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":12,"limit":100},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":4,"limit":500},"unstrip-depth":{"value":0,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":21028,"limit":5000000},"entityaccesscount":{"value":0,"limit":400},"timingprofile":["100.00% 401.457 1 -total"," 40.75% 163.579 1 Template:African_topic"," 39.78% 159.686 1 Template:Navbox"," 27.66% 111.029 1 Template:Culture_of_Somalia"," 26.63% 106.893 1 Template:Sidebar"," 21.84% 87.690 54 Template:Iso2country"," 16.83% 67.578 1 Template:Short_description"," 10.11% 40.572 54 Template:Iso2country/data"," 9.20% 36.953 2 Template:Pagetype"," 7.10% 28.486 54 Template:Iso2nationality"]},"scribunto":{"limitreport-timeusage":{"value":"0.193","limit":"10.000"},"limitreport-memusage":{"value":4111381,"limit":52428800},"limitreport-logs":"table#1 {\n}\ntable#1 {\n}\n"},"cachereport":{"origin":"mw-web.codfw.main-f69cdc8f6-qfk9f","timestamp":"20241122155048","ttl":2592000,"transientcontent":false}}});});</script> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","name":"Somali art","url":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Somali_art","sameAs":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q7559180","mainEntity":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q7559180","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Contributors to Wikimedia projects"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.wikimedia.org\/static\/images\/wmf-hor-googpub.png"}},"datePublished":"2009-10-02T21:10:30Z","dateModified":"2024-08-09T03:20:11Z","image":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/1\/19\/Somali_traditional_doorway_with_decorative_carving%2C_set_into_white_stone_wall.jpg","headline":"overview of the art in Somalia"}</script> </body> </html>