Somali Heritage is the title of a new collection of photographs currently on show at the Milton Keynes Central Library Event Space this week, and through to October 28.
Acclaimed photographer David Tunnicliffe is the man behind the lens, who captured the images on a visit to the region in the 1980s.
"During the summer of 1983, while serving as Cultural Attaché at the British Embassy in Mogadishu, I was invited by Dr Ali Hersi, then Director of Arts and Sciences, Mogadishu University, to conduct a photographic survey of the principal monuments of Shangani and Hamad Wein. Copies of the final corpus was gifted to the Somali National Museum," David explains.
"On my return from Somalia in October 1983 I suggested to Ambassador Fullerton that the work might form the basis of a cultural exchange between Somalia and Great Britain. Early in 1984 I took the work to the Museum of Mankind and handed over the images to a member of the photographic team.
"The Kodachrome images lodged with the British Museum are a distillation of that work, the major corpus of which was taken in monochrome with Kodachrome accompaniments."
Some of those images are now available to view in the heart of the new city, and show an area of rich cultural heritage, which has since suffered during turmoil.
> A meet the artist event is being hosted at the library on Thursday, October 20, from 7pm.
General opening times are 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm on Saturday. Admission is free.
