ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the work carried out by a generation of diasporic Somalis who make themselves storytellers of the future through acts of self-determination. It focuses on perspectives of looking ahead, of thinking of the future. The chapter encourages a more holistic and expansive understanding of Somalia through narratives of the country that are separate from Italy. Nisenbaum's dialogic listening yields a technique that she defines as “a montage of points of time” with which the artist saturates the space around the sitter with “pattern-dense interiors” and “object-filled scenes”. Nisebaum stitches pieces of the sitter's biography into the portrait – whether colorful textiles or cultural artifacts that are not in the room at the time of painting – to build layers of meaning. Headline stories, like the tale of Somali piracy, predated other narratives about Somalia and invaded pop culture with imageries that circulate through social media memes.
