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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Saeed Kamali Dehghan

The art of resistance: desert film festival showcases stories of the Sahrawi people

Sahrawi women dance to traditional music being played in a tent in the Ausserd refugee camp, Algeria.
Sahrawi women dance to traditional music in a tent in the Ausserd refugee camp set up for this year’s FiSahara film festival. A tent, or jaima, is a symbol of identity, hope and resistance for Sahrawi people living in camps in Algeria Photograph: Susan Schulman/The Guardian

From the outside, Asria Mohamed’s tent in a refugee camp in south-west Algeria could be mistaken for a typical four-door nomadic dwelling used by Sahrawis, people from Western Sahara, though it is smaller in size.

Inside, however, is a series of QR codes attached to 19 melhfas, traditional clothing worn by Sahrawi women, that have been stitched to the tent’s interior walls, forming a colourful tapestry. Visitors are invited to scan the QR codes to dive into the stories of the women behind each melhfa.

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