Sada Mire is an archaeologist, heritage practitioner, activist, and public intellectual. She is single-handedly pushing forward the recognition and protection of cultural heritage in Somalia and Somaliland, with active research in the region and an incredible campaign for public awareness at a global scale.
Sada was born in Somalia but spent her early years in Sweden, having travelled there with her family during the Somali Civil War. She travelled to the UK to study for a BA in History of Art/Archaeology of Africa (SOAS, 2005) and subsequently for a Masters (2006) and doctorate (2009) from University College London. After a period as a visiting professor at Leiden University, Sada founded and now runs the Horn Heritage Foundation, an archaeological and heritage research and practice NGO, with offices in Hargeisa, Somaliland and The Hague, The Netherlands.
Sada’s work is difficult to categorise. She is an active field researcher, with projects exploring in particular the endangered rock art of Somaliland, pastoral landscapes and peoples in the African past, community archaeology projects exploring co-production of knowledge, and a major synthesis of Somaliland’s ruined towns and sacred medieval landscapes. She has written many journal articles dealing with archaeological data and has recently published the book ‘Divine Fertility: the Continuity in Transformation of an Ideology of Sacred Kinship in North-East Africa’, praised as “a genuinely post-colonial approach toward heritage protection and conservation in the country and how best to mobilise knowledge and memory of Somalia’s deep past for the greater benefit of current and future generations” (Paul Lane). This fieldwork and commitment to the past of an archaeologically neglected region already makes Sada a pioneer.
She is also a tireless campaigner for cultural heritage as a ‘basic human need’ and has worked to promote Somaliland’s cultural heritage to multiple audiences. Her work on the ground in Somaliland aims to promote care and pride in cultural heritage locally, and includes the MOOC ‘Heritage under Threat’, launched in December 2016, to be continued through 2020 and aiming to promote the value of cultural heritage. She has a phenomenal public profile, having been part of UNESCO public debates and given numerous talks for TED and the BBC. Her honours include a 2011 ‘Swedish Supertalent’ award and inclusion in the ‘Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts’ list of 30 international thinkers and writers 2017, and the International Somali Awards’s Outstanding Educational Achievement award 2019.
Those who nominated Sada emphasised her personal energy and the way that she has single-handedly pushed Somali cultural heritage onto national and international agendas. Sada is a true Trowelblazer and a model to us all.
Post by Stephanie Wynne-Jones
Photo from Kalamu.com and used with permission.
P.S.: Check out her October 2020 article in The Guardian, “Here’s Why We Need More African Archaeologists“.
Dr Sada mire is outstanding personality.
She has achieved quite lot of good work in the horn of Africa.
I started to read her recent book and other research papers on this subject.
I have learn and really appreciated
I fully support her nomination.
Dr. Sada Mire’s love for archaeology including her love of knowledge encourages people to learn more about Africa and their connection to the continent. Thank you for your sharing the African world to us all Dr. Sada.
Sincerely,
Martino Luis Wilkins