Sumeya Ahmed, Playing Cards, 2026

This pack of playing cards was designed by Somali illustrator Sumeya Ahmed as part of Castlefield Gallery’s collaboration with the Manchester School of Art.

Sumeya Ahmed is a Somali illustrator with a particular interest in the subconscious imagery that is generated through free and uninhibited drawing. She uses text, memory or research as a starting point for her illustrations and allows the images to unfurl through a process of layering drawings and printmaking.

For her thesis project, she illustrated a deck of playing cards depicting her personal relationship with being Somali; she used cultural attire, Somali-English slang, and memories as points of research to create an imaginary world for the work to exist in.

Website: https://sumeya-ahmed.com/