Fozia Ismail is the founder of Arawelo Eats and co‑founder of dhaqan collective. Her practice moves across food, sound, textiles, and found objects to create material‑led artworks exploring migration, climate, identity, and diasporic memory.
Rooted in nomadic feminist pedagogy, her work positions everyday cultural practices as living archives of care and knowledge. Her project Camel Meat & Tapes marked a shift toward a participatory practice grounded in Somali oral traditions and shared acts of listening, eating, and making, reframing domestic and communal spaces as sites of collective learning and authorship.
Central to her practice are objects inherited from her mother’s Somali nomadic roots- vessels, spices, textiles, cassette tapes, and sound recordings are activated through collective use and transformed into sculptural, time‑based, and archival works foregrounding lineage, care, and shared authorship.
With dhaqan collective, Ismail has exhibited internationally at the British Textile Biennale, Southbank Centre, Biennale Architettura Venice, Weltmuseum Vienna, Playable Cities Osaka, and Jodhpur Art Week, supported by the British Council. The collective’s work has received recognition from the MyWorld Playable Cities Award, Counterpoints Platforma Award, and Columbia University’s Digital Dozen.
Ismail’s ongoing research continues to expand between social practice, inherited material culture, and Somali feminist ways of knowing and making.
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