Zero Gravity

By Mina Yirga

Lela Gallery was founded with the goal of developing an arts space in Addis Ababa dedicated to the presentation of visual and multidisciplinary art and that would as an active partner to artists, encourage experimentation and innovation.
The ‘Zero Gravity’ exhibition brings together a group of 17 artistes with different backgrounds, interests, and languages. Such a temporary alliance is made possible by the theme itself: questioning the weight and the weightiness of things and existence.
“There is a range of writings about the phenomenon of gravity from Copernicus to Einstein. Copernicus started a scientific revolution by removing the Earth from the centre of the universe and placing it in orbit around the sun. This revolution created conditions that were to bring two scientists of this period, Keppler and Galileo, a little closer to understanding the phenomenon of gravity. Einstein expanded our understanding of gravitation. Some people say that there is nothing more beautiful than a mathematical formula (I am not one of them) but as a matter of illustrating natural phenomena, art can often capture these more precisely than any learned treaties based on scientific research,” say Leo guest curator
Accordingly, through conversations with many of the artists in the show, the concept of zero gravity as a unifying theme emerged and some artists chose to create pieces especially for this show as their reflection on the idea of zero gravity.
“In playing with the concept of gravity another idea of great importance emerges. Is contemporary Ethiopian art actually no more than a footnote to the larger concerns of Ethiopian society?”
“As Lela Art Gallery is standing in the very periphery of the city, its location is just the right place for such an ambitious project started with this initiative and this Zero Gravity launching exhibition. The exhibition space will host six to eight shows annually of both local and international artists. 56 works have been displayed at the gallery,” says XXX
Even though you won’t see any astronauts, the gallery invites the senses to resonate with the vibrant art works on display and you find yourself asking what foundation do your spirit and soul rest upon?

Addis life on the camera

By Tsion Aklilu

On Monday April 23, 2007, six photographers presented their works at the Italian Cultural Institute. It is the daily routine of life captured with cameras eye. Gold Smiths, monk, shepherd, and micro businesses are the interests of the six Italian photographers.
The rural and urban life of Ethiopians is expressed in the pictures as they truly are. Addis deceives those who are new; at first glance, the city invites her good looks but after a while and if you are brave enough to face the reality, Addis will show you her real her self. The places where thousands people share a living, places used as work and living zones, as garbage dumps and at same time as a market for the homeless…Addis is all that. The photographers go beyond the beauty of the country and have discovered and captured the chaos of the city.
One of the pictures at the exhibition shows a giant poster around Bole. What makes it different? The shot is taken from the ground between the legs of a donkey. It purely conveys the dilemma the city is ‘enjoying’; there is the donkey with no destruction of city sophistication and Addis, tolerating both scenes of civilization and underdevelopment.
The shadows and the lights have given the pictures a unique looks.
On a related agenda, the cultural center is preparing to celebrate the European Film festival. Addis and some regional cities are selected to be part of the festival. Films from six European countries and Ethiopia are to be screened in Gonder, Bahar Dar, Dire Dawa, Awassa, Jima, Mekele, Axum and Adwa.
Films attend are from Finland, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Germany, and Ethiopia. The thirteen-day festival will be launched on May 3, 2007 at the National Theater.

Africa 2000

Cape Verde

Cape Verde
Oh, yes. It is in Africa ….well, not exactly inside but a part of the continent, even though it lies over 1500 kms offshore the North West fringe of Africa. Cape Verde’s closest neighbors are Mauritania and Senegal to the East. The west is all deep blue North Atlantic.
Cape Verde is an archipelago of 15 islands and Africa’s second smallest nation after Sao-Tome and Principe. It gained its independence in 1975, a year in which Portugal was finally compelled to relinquish its African colonies. Cape Verde is probably the first part of Africa sighted by Portuguese mariners in the early 1400’s. By 1462 the islands were effectively colonized and slaves were shipped over from the mainland to work on plantations. The islands were also a transshipment hub for the slave trade which was spread throughout the west and south west Africa.
The majority of Cape Verdians are Creole- a term that describes a native population with French, Spanish or Portuguese interbreeding to produce a mixed race. Creole is also the language spoken by this amalgamation of different races.
Cape Verde’s economy is typically small island nation and relies on now limited cultivation because of the infertile soil, shipping and ship repair and tourism. Diaspora Cape Verdians are also a source of income in the form of remittance. The nation is very stable and enjoys a remarkable level of democracy.

Art and Culture
Sara - Bridging continents
She seemed destined for stardom, but her meteoric rise was no smooth path upward. There were issues. She was an African child abandoned by her birth parents, reared by a Portuguese woman in a European culture. It is little wonder than in her search for wholeness, she latched on to what was both Black and popular, that is, African American music.
Her first album, Sara Tavares & Shout, is an admirable mixture of gospel and funk, with calls to Jesus and funky backbeats that exhort one to dance.
These songs display the power of Sara’s pipes. If this whole album had been in English, one would not have been able to tell that this person was not a native African American - as opposed to an acculturated African American - which is what Sara was at that point in terms of her music tastes and expressions.
Clearly Sara could have continued in this direction, but she chose to explore her own roots, so rather than looking across the Atlantic, she looked to the West African Coast - to her parents’ home country of  Cape Verde. The second album, 1998’s Mi Ma Bo, went gold in Portugal and seemed to cement Sara’s status as a fledgling superstar.
All the gospel is gone. The funk has been toned completely down to a simmer. The lead producer is Paris-based Lokua Kanza who brings a modern African pop sound complete with electronic keyboards. Also, most of the songs are collaborations between Sara, her manager of that period, Ani Fonseca, and Kanza.
The album is a mixed bag of fully composed songs, and song fragments or simple, folk-like refrains, plus, a couple of obligatory “Soul” tunes. The funky, little love song “Mi Ma Bo” (You And Me) attracts major attention.
Sarah has an awesomely beautiful voice. It is not hyperbole to refer to her voice as angelic. As a showcase for her wonderful instrument, the album is a delight.

Facts and Figures
Location – In Atlantic Ocean, West of Mauritania and Senegal
Area – 4,033 sq/km
Topography – 15 volcanic islands, eroded and empty landscape, vegetation in interior valleys
Population – 420,979
Distribution –55.9% urban
Principal Ethnic Groups – Creole 71%, African 28%, European 1%
Principal Languages – Portuguese (official), Crioulo
Principal Religions-Roman Catholic blended with indigenous beliefs, Protestant
Capital City – Praia, pop-117,000
Government Type – Republic
Head of State – President Pedro Pires, since 2001
Head of government – Prime Minister Jose Maria Neves, since 2001
Economy – Bananas, other agriculture, food beverages, salt, ship repair
Literacy – 76.6%
Life Expectancy – 67.4 male, 74.2 female
Aids Rate – 0.04%
Currency – Escudo (CUE), 86.90 - 1USD
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - 3 bln USD
Per Capita GDP - 6,200 USD
Economic Growth Rate - 5.5%
Electricity Production – 40 mln kwh
Vehicles – 19,000 units
Airports – 7
TV sets – 5 per 1000 people
Internet – 25,000 users.
Facts and figures are the latest available at time of publication and may not necessarily be the most accurate .

This last week of April and the first one of May are when the Africa 2000 desk of Capital expect to receive responses to the questionnaire below. The Africa 2000 snap survey of readers’ opinions, comments, suggestions or constructive criticisms are being solicited in regard to whether or not the page is fulfilling its objectives.

The Aim of Africa 2000
Serve as a platform for improved continental relations
Introduce the reading public to the countries that make up Africa
Assist in the great effort of the organizers of the Millennium Festival and support the
official declaration of the 8th Summit of AU Heads of State to link Africa with the new Ethiopian Millennium.

Thanks for responding to this questionnaire. Results will be published on May 13,2007.
Send your response to P.O.Box 95 Code 1110 or Fax. 251 11 618 52 06
The Questionnaire is also available online at www.capitalethiopia.com