Ikran Ahmed

Somali Landscape

I am an immigrant to this country from Somalia.

My landscape is located in Somalia. Life in Somalia is pretty hard. You have to strive to find a living in Somalia. Most of the children do not attend school. However they work to get a living for themselves and their families. I would like to visit my country.

I love the food and vegetables in my country. The building I drew in the background of my landscape is a mosque. In my country there are mosques almost everywhere because the majority of the people in my country are Muslim.

The three ladies standing in the foreground of my landscape are wearing traditional clothes and as you can see from the picture they are gossiping about something. Somali people, especially the women love gossiping but not in a negative way. We just like asking each other about their health and well-being.

We love domestic animals in my culture that’s why I drew the cow in my landscape. If the owner of the animal dies, his closest relative inherits it. I love watching animals but I’m too scared to touch them because that’s just how I am.

The traditional clothes worn by the women in my landscape represent my culture and are worn in the United States for special cultural events, but how the clothes are worn has changed. Back then one arm was uncovered, and our hair was covered only with a black scarf. Things changed in modern times and people now choose what is worn today.