Kayd Somali Arts
& Culture
Creative Cafe!
Make it stand out
Join us for an evening at Oxford House celebrating creativity and innovation led by Somali women working across diverse artforms. This event forms part of the Share Your Talent series, a new partnership between Kayd and Oxford House platforming the next generation of artists, entrepreneurs and thinkers. Our first event platforms creative women, but all are welcome to join us for a special evening of music, poetry, spoken word and discussion.
Who We Are
Kayd Somali Arts and Culture is an arts organisation that was founded in 2009 by Ayan Mahamoud MBE in Tower Hamlets, London to build and expand on Somali arts projects that previously took place in Oxford House in Bethnal Green. These projects were created to provide a platform and space for the newly arriving Somali immigrants and refugees from the late 80’s onwards as part of Oxford House’s arts and educational projects. As a result of Oxford House losing their major arts and educational project grants in 2008, there was a huge gap in providing a space for Somali arts and culture to thrive as well as the local community to have a hub, which is why the founder decided to get together with a group of friends to continue this important work through a new organisation, which then developed into Kayd.
Kayd means preservation in Somali language and seeks to promote arts, culture and heritage for the benefit of the public, including musical, literary, dramatic, performance, dance and visual arts as well as talks and workshops by organising and delivering arts and cultural events and festivals. Since 2009, the flagship event by Kayd has been its annual Somali Week Festival, which is the largest Somali festival outside of the Somali Horn and takes place in UK’s Black History Month in October each year.
Somali Week Festival has grown over the last decade from a small festival taking place exclusively in Oxford House in Bethnal Green to a large festival with partnerships with key arts establishments such as the British Library and Southbank Centre. We also work to provide opportunities to develop emerging artists and to support individuals to pursue careers in the creative sector. Our aim is to link both our communities as well as our artists to engage with mainstream arts organisations and venues to access them as audiences and practitioners and to develop creative skills through community initiatives.
Honouring & Celebrating Hudeydi
Hudeydi
Ahmed Ismail Hussein “Hudeydi” (1928-2020) was a popular senior Somali musician and oud virtuoso. “The King of Oud”, as he was famously known, was part of the rich Somali cultural and artistic scene in London after he settled there in the 1990s, during the Somali Civil War, creating a salon in his home for artists and music lovers alike where he also gave oud lessons.
Kayd Somali Arts and Culture had the honor of hosting Hudeydi’s final retirement concert in February 2020. His iconic legacy lives on through his music and in the memories of all those of us who adored him and continue to do so. On behalf of all of us here at Kayd family and our Board of Trustees, we send our deepest condolences to Hudeydi’s family, fans, Somalis across the world and his fellow Somali artists. We will endeavor to keep his iconic legacy alive.