Africa Unite

By Tesfu Telahoun

As Rome was not built in a day (as exemplified by the current E.U.) so will it take years of sustained effort to create a United Africa. The dream of African unity existed long before the establishment of a dedicated organization in 1963. Pan-africanism was born under the stifling yoke of colonialism in most parts of Africa. In Ethiopia, it was more a case of carrying out an obligation to do whatever it would take to help emancipate our colonized sister peoples.
In the period between the late 1880’s and up to 1980, Ethiopia was a stalwart beacon of hope for the eventual sovereignty of Africans.
Ethiopia’s victories over numerous foreign aggressors and especially, the crowning achievement at the Battle of Adwa, added fuel to the torch of the anti-colonial struggle.
The Battle of Adwa was the confirmation that the foreign hordes could be defeated. Who know’s how many thousands of freedom fighters were born across the length and breadth of Africa when news of the 1896 victory was carried from village to village!
The best bet for speedy continental unity is the strengthening of sub-regional institutions to serve as springboards. Today we profile one such organization – the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a bloc embracing Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGAD) was formed in 1986 with a very narrow mandate around the issues of drought and desertification. Since then, and especially in the 1.990s, IGADD became a vehicle for regional security and political dialogue.
The founding members of IGAD decided in the mid-1990s to revitalise the organisation into a fully-fledged regional political, economic, development, trade and security entity similar to SADC and ECOW AS. It was envisaged that the new IGAD would form the northern sector of COMESA with SADC representing the southern sector.
One of the principal motivations for the revitalisation of IGAD was the existence of “many organisational and structural problems that made the implementation of its goals
and principles ineffective. The IGAD Heads of State and Government met on 18 April 199? at an Extraordinary Summit in Addis Ababa and resolved to revitalise the Authority and expand its areas of regional co-operation. On 21 March 1996, the Heads of State and Government at the Second Extraordinary Summit in Nairobi approved and adopted an Agreement Establishing the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). In April 1996 on the recom~ndation of the Summit of the Heads of State and Government, the IGAD Council of Ministers identified three priority areas of co-operation:
*
Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution and Humanitarian Affairs;
*
Infrastructure Development (Transport and Communications);
*
Food Security and Environment Protection.
IGAD has been designated one of the pillars of the African Economic Community in terms of the ABC Treaty. IGAD signed the Protocol on Relations between the ABC and Regional Economic Communities on 25 February 1998. IGAD has collaborated with COMESA and the East African Community to divide projects among themselves so that there is no duplication and to avoid approaching the same donors with the same projects.
IGAD aims to expand the areas of regional co-operation, increase the members’ dependency on one another and promote policies of peace and stability in the region in order to attain food security, sustainable environmental management and sustainable development.
The IGAD strategy is to attain sustainable economic development for its member countries. Regional economic co-operation and integration are given special impetus and high priority to promote long-term collective self-sustaining and integrated socio- economic development. The leading principles of the IGAD strategy are stipulated in the agreement establishing’ IGAD, but are also mindful of the UN Charter and AU Constitutive Act.

'Lalibela-wonders and mystery'

By Abiy Demilew

Directed by Tibebu Belete and produced by Addis Film Production, 'Lalibela-Wonders and Mystery', a documentary, exploring the history of King Lalibela and of the rock hewn churches of Lalibela, opened last week at the London Museum and was nominated as best African documentary, Capital learnt.
Tibebu Belete told Capital that the news came at the beginning of the week and he is still following developments. "We are so excited to see our film absorbing a lot of incredible attention and interest at home and abroad."
'Lalibela-Wonders and Mystery' premiered in mid October at the Addis Ababa City hall.
"This documentary took a long time as we wanted to find a clear picture of the historical background of the churches of Lalibela and to discover more about the architectural civilization," Tibebu, the script writer, revealed to Capital.
The controversy over the origin of the churches runs deep and has been addressed in a variety of mediums.
"The movie proves Lalibela to be a purely Ethiopian creation, despite some local and international historians and writers who are portraying Lalibela as Egyptian, Indian or Israeli.
"Even local historians and writers like Tekletsadik Mekuria, Birhanu Dinke, Sirgu H. Sillase and Hiruy W. Sillase have implicated Lalibala as hailing from foreign civilizations," Tibebu, said. "Graham Hancock in his popular book, The Sign and The Seal, also portrayed Lalibela as the work of Egyptian warriors of that age."
But Sylvia Pankhurst in her book titled 'Ethiopia: A Cultural History', 50 years ago wrote that the Lalibela churches are the extensions of Ethiopian architectural civilization, after Axum, which appear unique in their characteristics. She also states that she could not find any similar architecture in her travels around the world, saying Lalibela is one of the monolithic church civilizations in the world of architecture.
The 90 minutes documentary dwells on this circle of controversy and travels to Lalibela to talk to elders, priests, monks, painters, architects and tourists who reveal the history and secrets of Lalibela.
Additionally, the documentary takes the whereabouts of the extended family of King Lalibela to Bahre Negash, in Eritrea.
"King Lalibela had a son who was the ruler of the Red Sea province of, Bahre Negash," says an elder in Lalibela town on the movie.
Narrated by Teferi Alemu, a senior radio figure, and presented in Amharic and English, Lalibela was premiered at Howard University and the World Bank Hall, in the United States (US) and Kampala, Uganda before making its appearance in Addis last Friday. The movie was produced on DVD in the US.
"On importing the DVDs back to the country, we had a hard time with the Customs Authority which charged us 15 Br per copy," Tibebu told Capital explaining the 7,150 Br in taxes paid. "This is discouraging for the cinema industry developing now as we had only sent this video to the US to reproduce it at international quality standards."
The documentary shows exclusive footage of the interiors of the Lalibela churches going through their historical backgrounds and untold stories. Circling around the historical pages and religious interpretations, the film took the attention of the large audience at its debut.
"This is the history of black Africa. This story should be told all around the continent and the whole world," a Kenyan tourist, visiting Lalibela churches, says in the film. "Lalibela is a purely African civilization and of great religious value."
Production took a year and a half and cost 400,000 Br according to Tibebu Belete, program manager of Addis Film Production and production manager of the documentary.
The British Museum offers up two million years of human history and global cultures slap-bang in the middle of central London. It boasts such world-renowned objects as the Rosetta Stone, Parthenon Sculptures, and Egyptian mummies, wowing up to 5 million visitors per year. The Museum also presents a brilliantly dynamic program of changing exhibitions and displays.

“What is Love?”
Elias Sime hits with anthropological exhibition

By Abiy Demilew

One of the few Ethiopian artists to feature on Dak’Art Biennale, the continental art festivity in Dakar, Senegal and one of the selected 28 artists of Africa on 2004, Elias Sime is back with works on anthropological rhyme this week at the Alliance Gallery.
The latest exhibition, “What is Love?”, curated by Meskerem Assegid, Zoma Contemporary Art Center, asks the timeless question of love, it stated at the opening.
Elias, who graduated from the Addis Ababa University School of Fine Art and Design in 1990, interprets the question of love using goats as metaphor in exploring perceptions and ideas of love, on his new opening.
Since 2002, Elias has traveled to rural parts of Ethiopia with anthropologist and curator Meskerem Assegued, expressing ancient cultural practices through his art. In February 2005, his work was shown at the Italian Cultural Institute, in an exhibition entitled “Min Neber?” about an indigenous ritual from South-Central Ethiopia.
In May 2006, Gota Teret-Teret, an exhibition of his work with Gotas, traditional grain storage containers made with mud and straw found in northern Ethiopia, was shown at Alliance Ethio-Française. Both of these exhibitions attracted attention from both the international and local media.
That same year, Elias showed a live exhibition in Vienna, Austria, about the making of Gotas, for Green Flame, an anthropological contemporary art exhibition curated by Meskerem. Green Flame was the visual arts portion of New Crowned Hope, a festival directed by Peter Sellers to celebrate Mozart’s 250th birthday. In April this year, some of Elias’s work, including his mud and straw constructions from Gota Teret-Teret, will be shown at Flow, an exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York.
Born and raised in Cherkos in Addis Ababa, Elias has a number of art pieces about the activities around his neighborhood.
Over the last 14 years he has been documenting the lives and portraits of Cherkos Gebeya, Legaehar and Chide Terra areas, where he finds most of his material. After seven years of working with this media, in November 2002, Elias exhibited over 100 of his works at the Zoma Contemporary Art Center.
He has also participated in a number of solo and group exhibitions at the Alliance Ethio-française, African Union, Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa University, National Museum, Goshu Gallery, and the Italian Cultural Institute including the 2004 Dak’art Biennale (the 6th International Contemporary African Art, in Dakar, Senegal).
The newly opened “What Is Love?” is another anthropological contemporary art exhibition curated by Meskerem and remains open to until April 26, 2008.

“Ethiopian film makers are on fire”

The cinema hall again reached its full capacity when the first winner of the Addis International Film Festival Award on Rights and Justice (AdIFFA) was announced on March 30. Amongst the 800 guests was utter silence when the speaker of the high profile jury, Professor Abiyi Ford, called the winner on stage. And the winner is: Adanech Admassu with her short documentary on ‘Stolen Childhood’ which depicts the story of a child that was forced into early marriage and points on the consequences of this dreadful tradition.
‘Ethiopian filmmakers are on fire’, said Professor Abiyi Ford as a conclusion of the jury that was composed of well-known Ethiopian and international film experts: Ermias W/Amlak, filmmaker; Solomon Bekele, filmmaker and producer; Lucy G/Egziabher, filmmaker; Maji-da Abdi, filmmaker and producer; Keith Shiri, Africa at the Pictures, Film Festival London; Andrea Kuhn, Human Rights Film Festival Germany; Professor Abiyi Ford, former Dean of the Film and Communication Department, AAU.
‘The whole festival has been a great success’, said Kebour Ghenna, the director of Initiative Africa – the non-profit organisation behind the festival. More than 1200 people visited the Film Festival every day. Discussions with Ethiopian and international film directors, producers and experts engaged the audience after the screenings. Outside the cinema, young filmmakers had the opportunity to network with international and Ethiopian film experts. ‘The festival has created an unimagined vibe for new ideas and networks between Ethiopian film directors’, stated a young Ethiopian film maker full of excitement.
‘It has been a wonderful inspiring festival on rights and justice and we thank the fantastic audience and of course our main thanks goes to our sponsors - the Finland Embassy, SIDA, the Royal Embassy of the Netherlands, Oxfam America, Movies That Matter, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, United Bank, British Council and to our partners - Mono 2000, Adika Tour and Travel, Goethe Institute, Capital and What’s Up! Addis’, said the festival director Annabelle Lach after the grand finale. The Addis International Film Festival on Rights and Justice will now travel to the regions to then start preparing for the 3rd edition in 2009.

Pioneer artist on the track of painting

By Addis Mulugeta

Desta Hagos is among Ethiopia leading and pioneer woman artists who has years of experience in sketching and drawing. She has just opened an art exhibition on April 7, 2008, at the Hilton Hotel.
During the occasion were representatives of the House of People Representatives, various government officials, artists and invited guests.
Among the all time woman painters of Ethiopia, Desta has been participating on more than 40 local and international exhibitions in America, Canada, Denmark and many African countries.
According to the attendants of explained that Desta is one of the luckiest woman as many Ethiopian women remain in their home due to cultural conditions.
Desta has presented 28 painting on the exhibition some of which are for sale.
During the opening ceremony, she stated that art is an important medium for addressing messages and educating the public about politics, economy and social and cultural issues of the country in general. Art also functions because it has the power to change outlooks.

Embassy of Idea and art exhibition opens

By Addis Mulugeta

Zerihun Seyoum, a 31 year old painter is going to open “Embassy of Idea” which is a unique creative design for an art studio. The studio that would be opened on Thursday, April 17, 2008 and is expected to remain until the 24th of April, 2008. Zerihun will also present his works Nive Eyes, an extreme combination of traditional and cotemporary life.
Ambassadors, representatives of national and international organizations, artists, invited guests and up to 8,000 people are expected to attend the opening ceremony of the studio and the exhibition.
The first challenge of Ethiopia’s young painters is finding studio space to display their works. So the opening of Embassy of Idea is very significant to painters who do not have studios. The artist will present and display more than 80 of his works.