#BGFAcademyAlumni — Arda Awais
Black Girl Fest Academy is a seven-month community-focused creative programme, created by Black Girl Festival, in association with Today at Apple and The Mayor of London.
Over the past few months, we’ve supported 30 Black women aged 17–25, equipping them with the tools to create events for their local communities. We’re excited to introduce our Academy Alumni sharing more about their event ideas.
Meet Arda Awais, founder of — Somalia: RETOLD an event showcasing stories from Somalia within the journey of pre-war, during the war and possible futures (post-war). It will be made by a collective of Somali creatives with different artistic backgrounds. All pieces will be focusing on the history and culture of the country. Our goals are to help bridge the gap of generational loss and give the power back to the community to change the narrative. Somalia will be the first feature in the :RETOLD series. Each year a different country will feature with a collective of artists with that ethnic background.
Arda Awais
Tell us more about your event, How did you come up with it? What impact do you hope it makes for your community?
As a British born Somali, I have always felt a distance to my heritage and culture. Growing up, this is something I didn’t really learn about plus, the public resources were showcasing Somalia in a specific light. As I began to learn about the history of the country, this changed my point of view. I wanted to make something which honours Somalia, it’s people, it’s culture, it’s history, it’s beauty. That helps people connect to their motherland. But, I didn’t know what that would be. Just that I wanted to make *something*. Fast forward to 2018, I visited an exhibition at Somerset House — London Design Biennale. It had showcased ‘What Remains’ by the team Somali Architecture. They re-modelled historic buildings in Somalia that have been wrecked by the war. It was so beautiful to see. After coming back from this exhibition, I was so inspired and wanted to know more. I literally could not sleep that night by thinking about it and asking myself what else I would have wanted to see. This is when I came up with the foundation of :RETOLD There are so many countries that deserve to be showcased, and their stories to be told by the very people that identify with it. This is why I want :RETOLD to go beyond Somalia and feature a different country each year. In terms of what impact I hope it makes for the community. I hope that people leave the space empowered and inspired. I want the younger generations to be eager to learn about their heritage and culture. I know for me, this wasn’t appealing at a younger age and I hope :RETOLD can help to create that shift. To have a space of learning where real stories are told by the community for their community.
What advice would you give to anyone who wants to sign up to the Black Girl Fest Academy programme?
DO IT, even if you think you know all the ins and out of running an event. BGF will push you to make it happen. It has been the best accountability partner for me.
What have you learnt whilst being on the programme?
How to create a budget even when there are SO many unknowns.
Could you give 3 piece’s of advice you would give to someone who wants to run events for their community?
Budget, budget, budget — it's so time-consuming but once you know what's happening with the monies, it will really help you shape your event. Write down your idea, who is it for and the goals — having this written down makes it more real. Also can help you easily explain to people what you want to do. Talk to people, conversations spark inspiration and you can find that one small thing it was missing or take the idea to a next level. Conversations are powerful.
