Media
Dr Sada Mire wins the 2019 International Somali Awards’s Outstanding Educational Achievement award in London
In the evening of the 3rd of April, Dr Sada Mire was handed the 2019 International Somali Awards' Outstanding Educational Achievement Award by H.E. Mr Mohamed Affey, UNHCR Special Envoy for Refugees. "Dr Sada Mire is a Swedish-Somali archaeologist, art historian and...
Black history has much to reveal about our ancestors – and ourselves
In pursuit of a peaceful society, it is important that we record all perspectives of our complex human story.Black History Month, which runs through October, is trying to address a problem. That problem is, how to move the study of black history away from...
Sada Mire included in the New Scientist list of Inspiring Women in Science
Ada Lovelace and other inspiring women in science... As a child she was forced to flee Somalia. Now Sada Mire is back, uncovering ancient rock art and ruined towns. She told Curtis Abraham what it’s like to be the only working archaeologist in the region,...
Sada Mire selected for The Hay Festival List of Thinkers
Sada Mire selected for the international Hay Festival list of 30 thinkers and philosophers The Hay Festival brings readers and writers together to share stories and ideas in sustainable events around the world. The festivals inspire, examine and entertain,...
Dr Sada Mire – Somali Heritage & Archaeology: How to Use the Knowledge of the Past in Every Career
Dr. Sada Mire who is an Archaeologist from the faculty of Archaeology in Leiden University held a thought provoking lecture at the University Of Hargeisa entitled “Somali Heritage & Archaeology How To Use The Knowledge Of The Past In Every Career”...
Sada Mire, la première et l’unique archéologue somalienne
Sada Mire est une archéologue bien particulière. En effet, sa nationalité la rend unique, elle est somalienne, plus précisément de la partie autoproclamée indépendante de la Somalie, le Somaliland. Elle est la première femme somalienne archéologue. Aucune...
Dutch Newspaper NRC interviews Sada Mire: De enige archeologe van Somaliland
The only archaeologist of Somaliland As a 14-year-old Somali refugee, she came to Sweden. Now she works as an archaeologist in Somaliland. Sada Mire is the only archaeologist of Somaliland. "That often means choosing between doing scientific research or...
Swedish Newspaper DN interviews Sada Mire: Somalias enda arkeolog är från Malmö
Sada Mire was 14 years old when she came to Malmö as a refugee from Somalia. Today she is the only archeologist of the old home country. Her goal is to dig the history of the crisis-stricken region. It is a project full of risks. Violence and political...
The Sunday Times – Interview with Sada Mire on saving cave paintings
Eyewitness: Race to save African cave paintings Prehistoric art in the Gulf of Aden is in danger of being destroyed by developers and looters, warns a British archeologist A British archeologist whose team has discovered a spectacular array of prehistoric...
Sada Mire appears in PBS’s Africa’s Great Civilisations
In his six-hour series, AFRICAS GREAT CIVILIZATIONS, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. takes a look at the history of Africa, from the birth of humankind to the dawn of the 20th century. This is a breathtaking and personal journey through two hundred thousand years...
Dr Sada Mire honoured for her development of archaeology and tourism in Somaliland
Dr Sada Mire ayaa lagu amaanay oo loogu mahad celiyay howsha ay muddo tobon sano ah ka qabatay horumarinta aasaarta iyo dalxiiska Somaliland. Dr Sada Mire waxay soo bandhigtay cilmibaaris ay ku samaysay goobaha taariikhiga ah ee Somaliland, iyo fursad...
NewScientist features Sada Mire: We need culture in a time of war
As a child she was forced to flee Somalia. Now Sada Mire is back, uncovering ancient rock art and ruined towns. She told Curtis Abraham what it’s like to be the only working archaeologist in the region, and why she believes cultural heritage remains a...
Sada Mire in Discover Magazine: 5 Questions for the Woman Who Found Somalia’s History
After Sada Mire returned to her homeland, she found archaeological treasures that hadn't been seen in thousands of years. When Sada Mire was just 12, her father, a Somali police official, was executed by the country’s brutal Barre regime, which saw him as...
PHYS.ORG – Interview with Sada Mire
PHYS.ORG - Interview with Sada Mire: 'Grotto galleries show early Somali life' A galaxy of colourful animal and human sketches adorn the caves in the rocky hills of this arid wilderness in northern Somalia, home to Africa's earliest known and most pristine...
The Guardian – Sada Mire on Somali architecture
I first learned to construct nomadic huts with my grandmother in the summer holidays – spent, whether I liked or not, living in Dayniile, near Mogadishu. Being a Mogadishu girl, living in a comfortable villa, I hated it at first so my father sent, as a...
CNN – Somali Girls Give Back to their Home land
Youtube comment: "Somali Girls educated in Europe go back to give back to their home land. A wonderful story!" Back to Media
CNN African Voices: Sada Mire discovers herself
Sada's personal story, includes a tentative explanation of the ancient Calendar she 'cracked' and views of the extraordinary Fardowsa archaeological site. Video Courtesy Sada Mire Back to Media
Sada Mire TEDtalk
Sada Mire is a Somalian archaeologist. She lived the first fifteen years of her life in Mogadishu, until 1991, when she settled in Sweden, as a result of the conflict in north-east Africa. She is founder and executive director of the Horn Heritage...
Sada Mire featured in New African Magazine
Sada Mire: Excavating African History, Redefining Our Narrative Sada Mire is the world’s only Somaliland archaeologist, who has taken on the task of telling Africa’s forgotten stories hidden in some of its undiscovered ruins. Fuelled by her passion to see...
Sada Mire’s MOOC ‘Heritage under Threat’
What is your heritage? Who defines heritage? Why is heritage under threat? How can we protect heritage? This new Leiden University course is presented by Dr. Sada Mire from the Faculty of Archeology and the LDE Centre for Global Heritage and Development....
Sada Mire: Rethinking African History
Aiming to create a better understanding of Africa's past, a team of multidisciplinary researchers at Leiden University digs in to everyday artefacts and local knowledge. Their work helps to invalidate false assumptions and make less dominant narratives...
Radio – La Otra Cara de Africa
‘La única arqueóloga sobre el terreno en Somalia: Sada Mire, protectora del arte rupestre’. Link to audio file Back to Media
Sada Mire delivers 10th Anniversary Lecture: ‘Somali Heritage and Education’
The 10th Anniversary of the Department of Archaeology Back to Events
Sada Mire, la première et l’unique archéologue somalienne
Sada Mire est une archéologue bien particulière. En effet, sa nationalité la rend unique, elle est somalienne, plus précisément de la partie autoproclamée indépendante de la Somalie, le Somaliland. Elle est la première femme somalienne archéologue. Aucune...
Heritage for Citizenship in Times of Conflict
Exchanges on the Middle East: Heritage for Citizenship in Times of Conflict Images of destruction of Muslim saint tombs, and ancient monuments accompany news items on violent conflicts and war in the Middle East. In this public lecture and debate, a panel...
Maandeeq Features: Sada Mire
Sada Mire is a Swedish-Somali archaeologist, art historian and presenter who currently serves as Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Archeology, Leiden University. She has previously headed up Somaliland’s Department of Antiquities, for the Ministry of...
Sada Mire: Disseminating the knowledge of Indigenous Peoples
Together with members of indigenous communities Leiden researchers preserve and disseminate philosophical, historical and medical knowledge. Indigenous communities possess a lot of knowledge that is unknown to the outside world. Leiden researchers help...
Sada Mire debates with philosopher Stephan Sanders in Dutch UNESCO 1st debate
Sada Mire speaking at the UNESCO debate in Leiden. Watch the Youtube video.
South China Morning Post-‘Welcome to limbo: Somaliland, country that never was’
From the cave paintings at Laas Geel to striking colonial architecture, the people of this self-declared East African nation have good reason to be proud. It is well worth a visit, even if tourism infrastructure is lacking. Rather surprisingly, as a...
European Lecture – Reflections by Sada Mire
Archaeologist and researcher at Leiden University, The Hague, 13 June 2016 Cultural heritage at risk: protecting cultural heritage in times of conflict Her Excellency Ms Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO Her Excellency Ms Silvia Fernandez de...
Meet Sada Mire: the First Somali Archeologist known to the World
Somalia sits on the horn of Africa with the longest coastline on the continent’s mainland, while its capital city Mogadishu is known as the ‘white pearl’ of the Indian Ocean. In antiquity, Somalia is said to be “among the most probable locations of the...
FIVE Amazing Women Working in the Cultural Sector
A video by Culture in Motion A tribute to a few amazing ladies working in the cultural sector, innovating the industry and inspiring others. Learn more about each of our increadible featured women. Back to Media
Sada Mire’s fieldwork joined by National Geographic TV
National Geographic - “Don’t Tell My Mum I am in Somalia”. Sada Mire guided the presenter, Diego Bunuel, through a selection of sites, such as rock art site of Laas-Geel, in Somaliland. Watch video on Youtube Back to Media
Dr. Sada Mire at Laas Geel explaining rock art in Somali
Back to Media
Polish Newspaper Wyborcza interviews Sada Mire: Indiana Jones z Somalii
When, as a child, she had to flee Somalia's civil war, she did not suppose that after many years she would return to discover monuments from thousands of years ago as the first and only archaeologist in this country. A woman to be next. Thanks to her,...
Somali-Swedish Archaeologist Sada Mire and Iraqi-British Architect Zaha Hadid
WHAT THE WORLD’S ONLY ACTIVE SOMALI ARCHAEOLOGIST HAS IN COMMON WITH THE IRAQI-BRITISH WINNER OF THE PRITZKER ARCHITECTURE PRIZE They are both women leaders born to the predominately Muslim nations. Forced to leave for the Western world, where they...
BBC Radio – The Forum’s Bridget Kendall interviews Sada Mire
The aftermath of war and marriage: How do you put a country and a people back together again after a traumatic conflict? And how do individuals come to terms with the end of a marriage? We hear from Somali Archaeologist Sada Mire who argues food and...
A CNN Hero – Dr Sada Mire Somali Archaeologist
IF you're familiar with the title "the Horn of Africa" then it's very likely you've seen images or watched news reports of the famine and war which has beleaguered parts of the region and brought its people to their knees. But the region also has a rich...
Sada Mire: “Io, archeologa per salvare la Somalia”
Sada Mire ha 35 anni perché a 14 ha resistito appesa a una corda fuori da un camion che correva via da Mogadiscio, via dalla Somalia in guerra. Il resto, dopo, diventa quasi facile: da rifugiata in Svezia, studiare così tanto, lei e la sorella gemella, da...
CBC’s Carol Off interviews Sada Mire
CBC Canada's Carol Off interviews Sada Mire on her archaeological work in Somaliland Link to Audio File Back to Media
Sada Mire: Uncovering Somalia’s heritage
Sada Mire fled Somalia's civil war as a child, and lived as a refugee in Sweden. But now she is back in the Horn of Africa as an archaeologist, making some incredible discoveries. Sada Mire is only 35, but she has already revealed a dozen sites that could...
BBC World Service -OUTLOOK interview with Sada Mire
Mathew Banister of BBC World Service OUTLOOK program interviews Sada Mire about her work in Somaliland Link to the Audio File Back to Media
NewScientist ‘Somali Archaeologist: we need culture in a time of war’
As a child she was forced to flee Somalia. Now Sada Mire is back, uncovering ancient rock art and ruined towns. She toldCurtis Abraham what it’s like to be the only working archaeologist in the region, and why she believes cultural heritage remains a...
Global Post interview with Sada Mire: ‘Protecting Somaliland’s endangered cave paintings.’
HARGEISA, Somaliland — Follow an unmarked dirt road to a dry riverbed in the scrubby, northwestern Somali plains and in the shadows, beneath the sandstone outcroppings, are remarkably well-preserved paintings. They date back between five and 11,000 years...
Thomson Reuters Foundation ‘Forget war and hunger’
LONDON (AlertNet) – Insurgency, anarchy, drought, pirates, hunger… Such woes are the mainstays of most reports about Somalia. But here are some things you might not know about the East African country. It is often said that Somalia is a lawless country but...
CNN Interview with Sada Mire: Here today, gone tomorrow? Saving Somaliland’s heritage
Sada Mire is on a mission to raise awareness about Somali cultural heritage The archaeologist discovered prehistoric cave art in Somaliland in 2007 Mire is the head of Somaliland's Department of Antiquities Every week CNN International's African...
Sada Mire interviewed by CNN: ‘First-aid’ needed for 5,000-year-old Somali cave paintings
(CNN) -- Prehistoric paintings of antelope, snakes and giraffes that have survived for around 5,000 years are now under threat from looting and a lack of protection. The rock paintings, which include renderings of dogs and sheep as well as human figures,...
Il Fatto Storico ‘I tesori della Somalia in Pericolo’
L’AFP ha pubblicato alcune bellissime immagini di Laas Gaal (o Laas Geel in somalo), lo splendido sito archeologico scoperto nel 2002 nella Somalia nord-occidentale, più precisalente nel Somaliland, un’area devastata dalla guerra che si proclama...
RedOrbit. ‘Early Somali Life Depicted in Cave Paintings’
Known today for its bloody conflicts and instability, Somalia's little known history can be found in the colorful cave paintings of animals and humans discovered in 2002 by a French archaeology team. Laas Gaal, Somalia (also known as Laas Geel), just...
AFP: World Online TV – ‘Grotto galleries exhibit early Somali life’
A galaxy of colourful animal and human sketches adorn the caves in the rocky hills of this arid wilderness in northern Somalia, home to Africa's earliest known and most pristine rock art. But in a region ravaged by two decades of relentless civil unrest...
BBC World Service-News Hour interviews with Sada Mire
BBC WS NEWS HOUR interviews Sada Mire on her archaeological discoveries in Somaliland. Link to audio file Back to Media
The Guardian – Interview article on Sada Mire’s archaeological discoveries
UK archaeologist finds cave paintings at 100 new African sites Scientist unearths 5,000-year-old rock art, including drawing of a mounted hunter, in Somaliland. Striking prehistoric rock art created up to 5,000 years ago has been discovered at almost 100...
BBC Somali Service – a message from Dr Sada Mire
Video interview (July 2010) a film in Somali about heritage preservation Link to BBC Somali Back to Media