Ponte Invisibile (Redsea Cultural Foundation) , Somaliland

Redsea Cultural Foundation is a cultural foundation based in Somaliland that promotes a cultural of reading and creative writing in Somali speaking society, with a particular focus on youth. In addition, the Foundation supports and promotes original research of Somali studies, in academia and literary productions, supports heritage preservation, and fosters the use of information and communication technology (ICT) for development within Somaliland society. It prepares and distributes high quality Somali literature material (essays, historical accounts, fiction, science, poetry and drama), while also providing young people with access to the cultures of the world by translating internationally renowned classical literature (including fiction, poetry and drama) into Somali. The Foundation’s main target is to value and preserve the Somali traditional wisdom, embedded in social memory and practice (literature, indigenous science, traditional games, language and all other forms of art of human expression), in the form of the written word. Somalis are traditionally an oral society, and their culture is profoundly animated by the spoken word, with the highest art form within Somali Culture being poetry, a literary form produced for performance.

Ponte Invisibile is the publishing arm of the RCF specializing publishing books in Somali language. Redsea Cultural Foundation established the Hargeysa International Book Fair (HIBF) in 2008 as an annual book and art festival. At the 11th Anniversary, the Hargeysa International Book Fair 2018 drew an audience of 10 thousand individuals over a duration of six days from all sectors of society, including children and youth.