The sand doodler who won over his Somali Islamic detractors
The sand doodler who won over his Somali Islamic detractors
Image source, Nujuum Hashi By Mary HarperAfrica editor, BBC World Service News
Nujuum Hashi, who overcame the tional tradition of becoming a respected artist in Somalia, decided her career as she drew pictures in the sand at the age of seven in the capital, Mogadishu.
His family had no fixed address as it was during the height of the civil war in the 1990s and early 2000s. They fled from neighborhood to neighborhood, but Hashi always found sand to draw from.
"Art has always been a form of relief for me," says Hashi. "During times of intense fighting, drawing pictures of normal and peaceful life calmed my nerves."
Art also helped her after the war has died down. "My Quranic teacher was super aggressive. He beat us. I was terrified of him. I drew pictures in the sand on my way home as a form of stress relief.
"I used my school pencils to draw an entire city on my bedroom wall, building it frame by frame over time."
Image source, Nujuum Hashi By Mary HarperAfrica editor, BBC World Service News
Nujuum Hashi, who overcame the tional tradition of becoming a respected artist in Somalia, decided her career as she drew pictures in the sand at the age of seven in the capital, Mogadishu.
His family had no fixed address as it was during the height of the civil war in the 1990s and early 2000s. They fled from neighborhood to neighborhood, but Hashi always found sand to draw from.
"Art has always been a form of relief for me," says Hashi. "During times of intense fighting, drawing pictures of normal and peaceful life calmed my nerves."
Art also helped her after the war has died down. "My Quranic teacher was super aggressive. He beat us. I was terrified of him. I drew pictures in the sand on my way home as a form of stress relief.
"I used my school pencils to draw an entire city on my bedroom wall, building it frame by frame over time."
Image source, Nujuum Hashi 
