Convinced of the power of art to unite, the EU Delegation to the African Union is organising a series of activities bringing together culture shapers from across Europe and Africa.
‘MAISHA – Afro-European Music Experiment’ will kick off on 25 April 2019 with 12 musicians with 10 different European and African nationalities. Throughout a two-week residency in Addis Ababa, the artists will co-create original musical pieces, give workshops at local music schools and record an LP. Samuel Yirga from Ethiopia, Maryll Abbas from France, and Cherif Soumano from Mali are among the artists that will take part.
The public will be able to enjoy the results of the residency during a live concert at the Ethiopian National Theatre on 9 May 2019 (the Europe Day).
“This experiment is a clear demonstration of art being a bridge between different cultures. It is my hope that MAISHA will inspire more partnerships between Europe’s and Africa’s creative industries,” Ranieri Sabatucci, the EU Ambassador to the AU, says.
Following ‘MAISHA’, ‘Africa-Europe Creatives Connect’ will take place on 10 May, 2019. This one-day networking event will bring to Addis Ababa six accomplished European and African creatives to share their experiences with local talents. In hopes of inspiring the growing creative industry in the city, they will discuss important facets of art as it relates to social impact, authenticity, innovation and entrepreneurship. Film director Zeresenay Mehari from Ethiopia, sculptor Nynke Koster from The Netherlands and fashion designer Safietou Seck from Senegal are some of the creatives who will be speaking.
EU Endeavours to Bridge People through Art
Condolence message to French people
By Haile-Gebriel Endeshaw
Dear people of France, I am writing this message with broken heart regarding the sudden accident occurred last Monday on one of the world religious heritages, Notre-Dame Cathedral. It was really horrifying to see the 850 years old Cathedral being gutted by fire. I know you were crying and lamenting that the national treasure was being lost in no time. I tell you that I watched the incident on television with eyes moistened with tears. I felt that this planet was losing a big religious heritage… It was really upsetting to see in particular the spike falling down being scorched by the fire.
I feel that the demolition of Notre-Dame will also cause the ruining of a number of artworks cautiously placed in it. It is a big loss not only for the French people but also for all other nations across the world. I agree with what New York Times said last Monday that Notre-Dame “is a landmark not only for Paris, where it squats firmly yet gracefully at its very center, but for all the world”. As a Muslim man said, the damage done on the cathedral is a sad incident not only for people of France but also for other nations. “I am a Muslim but I’m still very moved when I see this place… It represents something deep… It’s a loss, not only for France but for the entire world. It’s as if the Pyramids in Egypt were destroyed”.
If the horrible fire had not been controlled, it would have been very heart-rending occasion not to save the Holy Crown of thorns which is believed to have been worn by Christ before His crucifixion including a linen-fabric associated with Saint Louis. It would have really been painful not to see in the cathedral many treasures that include a “17th century organ with all its parts still functional”. However, thanks to God and you in general and the 500 members of the fire departments in particular, these wonderful relics were saved from the horrible fire.
Yes, as it is said by many historians, scholars and reporters, Notre-Dame Cathedral is one of the world’s most recognizable landmarks and has been immortalized in literary works such as Victor Hugo’s “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” or the French “Notre-Dame de Paris”. According to the New York Times (April 15, 2019), Notre-Dame Cathedral, “the symbol of the beauty and history of Paris”, is visited by 30,000 tourists and pilgrims a day. History tells us that England’s King Henry VI was crowned King of France in the cathedral in 1431, and Napoleon-I had his coronation as Emperor there in 1804. This is wonderful!
I realized from my readings that the artefact, Notre-Dame, endured many challenges. It survived many attacks and experienced threats of extremists. Particularly the November 2015 attacks which left 147 people dead and the massive explosives discovered in a vehicle parked near the Cathedral are the unforgettable occurrences, among others.
Dear French people, we remember that the fire accident occurred a month after the official visit of your president to my country, Ethiopia. During his short stay here, President Emmanuel Macron had a chance to visit one of our national relics, the rock-hewn church Lalibela, a religious heritage registered by UNESCO. What surprises me and many others here is that the rock-hewn church, Lalibela was built around 12-13th century. This means the two wonders of the world, Notre-Dame and Lalibela, are of the same age.
Available sources indicate that a jewel of medieval Gothic architecture, Notre-Dame, was built in the 12th and 13th centuries. The 223-foot-high towers were erected between 1210 and 1250, and the church was officially completed in 1345.” It took 200 years to complete the entire works of the cathedral. Similarly, documented history retells that King Lalibela of Ethiopia built the rock-hewn church, Lalibela (named after the king), between the 12th and 13th centuries. What a coincidence!
Now after 800 years, Lalibela is in danger of collapse. It is now in the status of needing refurbishment. Taking this in to consideration, President Macron pledged to support the renovation; and of course, we witnessed about the visiting team of French experts which was here to assess how the maintenance work could be conducted. I should seize this opportunity to extend my appreciation for the kindness of the French government and people to support the restoration of this cultural and religious heritage of Ethiopians.
Dear people of France, though my country is facing an enormous problem, I should take time to give condolence to you on the misfortune befallen you. We Ethiopians are devastatingly worried about the unprecedented man-made ethnic conflicts that have been causing massive internal displacements. We are bewildered by political uncertainty and inter-party squabbles. We are being scorched by ethnic politics that caused disasters to many countries across the world. I am afraid we might be descending in to chaos. The international community will never forget the massacre in the little African country, Rwanda. Over 800,000 people were butchered in that country for the very reason of ethnic politics and racism… Unless our political leaders stop this political lunacy, we might face bigger problems.
Dear people of France, though we are in such situation, I don’t want to pass a day without consoling you over the misfortune happened on the world’s wonderful relic. Remember the old saying, ‘fire is a good servant, but a bad master’. I have verified this over the recent incidents occurred here in my country. Dear brothers and sisters, we Ethiopians have witnessed sordid destructions of the bad master on two of our famous national parks, which have been recognized by UNESCO.
As you can read in the web site, our Bale Mountains National Park is an important area for several threatened Ethiopian endemic species. These include Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis), Mountain Nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni), big-headed African mole-rat, bushbuck, common duiker, klipspringer, Bohor reedbuck, warthog, spotted hyaena and the Bale Mountains vervet (Chlorocebus djamdjamensis). These endemic species have been damaged by the bad master, fire. The second highest point in our country, mount Tullu Dimtu, (4,377 meters above sea level) is found in this National Park. The other park is named Semien National Park. It is of global significance for biodiversity conservation because it is a home to globally threatened species like Gelada Baboon (Theropithecus gelada), the Semien Fox (Canis simensis) and the iconic Walia Ibex (Capra walie), which is found nowhere else in the world. The highest mountain in Ethiopia, Ras Dashen (4,620 meters above sea level) is also located in this Park. By the way, I should extend my heartfelt appreciation to the government of Israel and Kenya for sending their fire fighters along with a helicopter to stop the horrible fire in the Semein National Park.
Yes, though this is the saddest moment for Ethiopia, I should come forward to give my condole to friendly people like you. I hope with your diligence; the damaged cathedral will soon be restored. I personally feel that this is the day when we all must turn our face to our creator, the Almighty God. We should plead with Him to deliver us from annihilation. We should plead with Him to turn his gracious face to us, His children who are wallowing in sin.
The writer can be reached at gizaw.haile@yahoo.com
Time out
I was away for a few weeks and I enjoyed some of the things that are different than what we are used to here, like culture and food but also infrastructure and the consistent supply of utilities and services like water, electricity and fast internet connections. I also missed all the things that we have in Ethiopia, like real coffee, time for each other and the calendar, making us seven years younger and giving us thirteen months of sunshine. We also have the opportunity here to celebrate holidays twice, like Christmas, the upcoming Easter and New Year. Wonderful! Especially those who work in international organizations or companies are privileged as both calendars are respected. Add this to the numerous other national holidays that are celebrated in Ethiopia and you hardly find the time to take up some of your annual leave days. From the employees’ perspective, that is. From the employers’ point of view, things may look somewhat less rosy though. Quite a number of productive days are lost or subjected to claims for overtime. Come to think of it and I realize that workers seem to find it rather easy to claim overtime. They find it a lot harder though to apply for a day off or for annual leave. Annual leave is preferably capitalised instead. “What to do?” or “Where to go?” are responses that I get when I ask somebody when he or she will take leave. There is a monetary factor involved here as well as many will not have been able to set aside enough money to take the family out for a holiday. This is a pity as it is important to rest and spend quality time with family and friends.
On the other hand, I observe that workers find it very easy to stay away from the workplace at any given time, without requesting for it or explaining the reasons for their absence. If given at all, the reasons are expected to be accepted without further questions. Some of the reasons for absence are more justifiable and verifiable than others but even then, little effort is made to inform the office sufficiently and in time.
I have noticed that employees find it very easy to leave their work on their desk and leave the office for any personal reason. They may be away for a few hours without anybody knowing where they are and for what purpose they left the office. Ever wondered about all the people who go to church during week days to pay respect to their church’s Saint? The whole street is blocked by parked cars and believers dressed in white to pay their respect. They can’t all be jobless, can they?
In some offices this has developed into the interesting habit to report for work twice a day, i.e. early in the morning and just after lunch. And after attending to some urgent matters, the coat is left on the hanger behind the desk, to be picked up again at the end of the day. Where the office bearer is during the hours in between, nobody knows.
While the existence of non-commercial organizations will not be directly threatened by such behaviour, this is different for companies that need to make a profit out of their productive hours. All the more reason to take the issue far more serious than is normally done, as examples of productive hours lost are plenty.
I cannot help but conclude that when it comes to ethics related to observing working hours and putting in the time and energy required to do the job, we face a culture in Ethiopia, which negatively affects business. And where this is so, management needs to deal with such culture and bad habits. Here follow some suggestions:
Have a policy, regulating leave, holidays and overtime. The policy will include the requirements to apply for permission for any leave or time off in writing, written justifications for any absence and the consequences for not following the regulations.
Don’t only have the policy; apply it consistently. Where you allow exceptions, the policy will become obsolete.
Set a number of compulsory leave days, for all workers to take, like for example the Easter Monday.
Have a system recording workers coming to and leaving the office.
Install cameras in the workplace.
I know some of these measures will be difficult to introduce as many workers have gotten used to relaxed working hours and they will feel restricted, while using Ethiopian culture as an excuse. Don’t worry about the excuses but remain consistent in applying the new rules will be my advice. After all, it is your business. In time, the resistance will make way for acceptance. In the age of globalization, when we have to compete with companies who carefully consider their productive time, what chance do we stand if we continue to be as relaxed as we are?
To remain productive though, it is important for workers and management alike to take time off and a number of leave days per year is normally included in anybody’s contract. Management has a responsibility here to make sure that the leave days are taken and not consistently carried over to the next year or capitalised instead. We all need to balance our lives if we are to be effective people, not only at work but also at home and in our social environments.
Ton Haverkort
Tamrat Adamu
Name: Tamrat Adamu
Education: MA in Social Work
Company name: Mako Billi Media
Studio Title: Owner
Founded in: 2015
What it does: Advertising and organizing event
HQ: Piassa
Number of employees: 15
Startup Capital: 16,000 birr
Current capital: Growing
Reasons for starting the business: Poor media environment in the country
Biggest perk of ownership: Doing what I want
Biggest strength: Doing quality work
Plan: To open my own broadcasting media
First career: Media employee
Most interested in meeting: Seteve Jobs
Most admired person: Lemma Megeressa
Stress reducer: Going out of the city
Favorite past-time: Working
Favorite book: Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon
Favorite destination: Bishoftu
Favorite automobile: Mercedes Benz
