by SEAneighborhoods
(FRONT PORCH.SEATTLE) Mohamed Abdullahi recently joined the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods communications team as a Communications and Storytelling Intern. Mohamed came to us through the Cultural and Creative Workforce Development Program, an internship program developed by Northwest Folklife in collaboration with the Office of Economic Development and the Office of Arts and Culture. The program provides paid internships for Seattle’s young creatives, giving them opportunities to develop skills and connections within the creative industries and cultural sector.
Get to know a little more about Mohamed in our brief Q&A below:
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I was born and raised in the state of Minnesota and moved to Seattle in 2011. I moved here at the start of high school, which was a huge and difficult transition for me as a teenager. I left all my friends and everything I knew back in Minnesota. But, it was time for a new start.
Starting community college was the start of my career as a filmmaker. I started to shadow a couple of friends who were photographers, started watching more movies, and started writing. In 2015, I put out my first short film after watching a documentary about high school students working on a film with no budget. I was watching this documentary with my cousin and told him “this could be us.” He agreed and, with his photography skills and my ambition, we put together a short film.
Looking back on my start as a filmmaker, I kind of smile a bit. I see how much I learned when it comes to production, how cameras work, the art of writing, and networking. One thing I wasn’t prepared for was the adversity I was going to consistently face. As a Black Muslim artist, I have to create opportunities for myself. I don’t have the help or necessary resources in order to create whatever I want. I make art with the strength of myself and my friends. With just a small group, I was able to do work for Puma, Adidas, editorial magazines, and high profile celebrities, and hold two art exhibitions in Seattle.
