Somali Craftwork thread

This thread is on one of most important pieces of Somali craftwork; the building of the collapsable nomadic hut. For nomads who travel with seasons, homes need to be quick to build and quick to dismantle and load onto the camels they keep.

The Aqal has many different components. First there is the Qabax which are all the wooden parts that form the structure these are the Dhigo (curved roots these form the shape of the home and the more of them the bigger the home) the Udub and Kabaal

(these are the straight roots which are for support the Udub Dhexaad is the most central of these) and the Lool. These are taken from the roots or branches of trees such as the Maraar, Galool and Qudhac trees, when digging these they take the main roots so as to not kill the tree

Saari refer to the coverings of the Aqal, these are of different types, one of which is the ‘Kebed’. The kebed is made from the fibres beneath the bark of the ‘Galool’ tree, these are chewed until soft and then woven into the mat. The kebed is also used when loading a camel

The Kebed is placed on the camel and then the items of the house and the houses Qabax on top. So as to make it comfortable for the camel. When weaving the Kebed, it has a specific work song. This video and the previous one are examples of them.

This is the work song for another type of mat called Harrar or Raar, it’s made out of a type of grass called ‘Maadh’ this is another one of the covers from the home and it’s weaved in packs and nicely designed. Depending on the type and how richly one is designed

They have different names. Such as Googoos, Saddexle, Iskujoog etc these take at least a month to complete and when finished a party is often held.

This is the Raar worksong