Events

Jaimitna ("our tent") is a mobile, multimedia artivism project created by Sahrawi women activists with support from FiSahara and the Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara “Nomads”. Centered around the Jaima – the traditional Sahrawi tent – it highlights the resilience of Sahrawi communities facing colonialism, occupation, and exile.

Hand-sewn by Sahrawi women in refugee camps, the tent travels to the Markthalle for Culturescapes 2025 offering an intimate encounter with Sahrawi culture, resistance, and feminism. Inside, visitors find a tapestry of 19 colorful melhfas, each belonging to a female human rights defender from the occupied Western Sahara. Their lives and peaceful resistance under occupation are made visible through QR Codes. 
The exhibit includes videos, photos, and handmade objects from the camps, telling the story of how Sahrawis have adapted their living spaces under extreme conditions. Once a symbol of freedom and mobility, the jaima is now banned in the occupied Western Sahara. 

Yet through Jaimitna, the jaima reclaims space – mobile, resilient, and rooted in collective memory. It becomes not only a shelter, but a place of storytelling, resistance, and cultural continuity, inviting new conversations and global solidarity. 

Opening hours Jaimitna:
Mon. – Sat. 11:00 – 14:30 / 17:00 – 20:30
Sun. 10:00 – 16:00 

• 21 October, 19:00: Opening, Markthalle Basel
• 25 October, 17:30: "Western Sahara: Unsubmissive Voices", neues kino Basel
• 26 October, 16:00: "Talking about Jaimitna", Markthalle Basel
• 29 October, from 10:00:"Greening the Desert",Goetheanum Dornach

In collaboration with terre des hommes.