Somali Cultural Programs

The Somali Museum of Minnesota  (Somali Artifact and Cultural Museum) is the only museum in the world devoted to preserving Somalia’s vanishing cultural heritage. Minnesota is home to over 70,000 Somali-Americans, and the Somali Museum is the state’s premier resource for Somali cultural education. 

The Museum was closed alongside all of Minnesota’s museums and cultural gathering places due to the Governor’s COVID-19 safety orders. The Museum, which normally draws 39% of its income from earned revenue in the form of program fees, commissions, ticket sales, admission, and speaker honoraria, have lost than income for the part of the year. The Somali Museum was closed for 5 months as a result of the joint disasters of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Museum just reopened on September 8, but there are still numerous measures that need to be carried out to enable the Museum to return to anywhere close to its normal programming capacity. 

We are seeking your support to continue to bring programs to the community in these uncertainty times. The funds used will be used in bringing digital programming to the community as well as keeping the gallery open for visitors. No amount is too small, please support however you can. 

Displaying a collection of over 1,000 pieces, the Somali Museum offers an unrivaled collection of artworks and serves as a hub for traditional and contemporary Somali artists. This collection includes everyday craftwork as well as paintings by artists in Somalia and the diaspora. The Museum was founded in 2011 and opened its gallery in October 2013, and since then has hosted visitors from all across North America—and beyond—for tours, hands-on craft workshops, and large-scale cultural celebrations followed throughout the Somali diaspora on social media and Youtube. The Museum’s gallery hosts roughly 1,400 visitors annually, and over 10,000 Minnesotans engage with the Somali Museum through performances, lectures, research, cultural competency trainings, community celebrations, and family events around the Twin Cities.

We need your help! Museum fees and foundation support help us, but much of this work requires gifts for our friends and neighbors to pay artists, rent equipment and space, and much more. Please, join us at any level today!