AraweloStudio
Rooted in Somali Nomadic Femininism.
Website coming soon
Arawelo
Studio
Founded by Bristol-based British Somali artist and researcher Fozia Ismail, Arawelo Studio is rooted in Somali feminist nomadic thinking, with a focus on community engagement and cultural preservation as a way of working through climate injustice.
Working across food, sound, textiles, immersive storytelling, workshops, and public programming, the studio centres intergenerational exchange and collective making as tools for exploring Somali diasporic life, belonging, remembrance, and resistance.
Emerging from Arawelo Eats and Dhaqan Collective, two award-winning creative research projects initiated and led by Fozia Ismail, the studio creates joyful participatory work inspired by pastoral traditions in East Africa. This project is rooted in celebrating the creativity of nomadic communities across the world that have long understood the interconnectedness of land, weather, stars, plants, and animal behaviour in sustaining all life.
Arawelo
Drinks
Arawelo Drinks is a drinks project that supports creative wellbeing workshops and access to nature for asylum seekers living in temporary hotel accommodation.
Through foraging walks, shared meals, drink-making sessions, and storytelling workshops, the project creates opportunities for connection, reflection, and collective care. These activities offer people affected by border violence meaningful access to green spaces and creative expression at a time when displacement, isolation, and uncertainty can have profound impacts on wellbeing.
The project has emerged from Fozia Ismail’s ongoing research into everyday material and food cultures, exploring how food can be used as a critical lens through which to understand identity, migration, memory, and belonging in post-Brexit Britain.
Arawelo Drinks will be launching it’s first soft drink for Refugee Week, all profits go back to supporting creative workshops for asylum seekers in temporary hotel accommodation and fighting the normalisation of far right hate and racism in everyday life.