The noted historian Prof. Bahru Zewde has quipped in his ‘Pioneers of Change in Ethiopia’ that, “There are few people as obsessed with history as Ethiopians.” Certainly, if the number of books run through is any guide to gauging the interest and taste of the readership here, works dealing with various aspects of the county’s past are the ones that top the list.
Prof. Mesfin Woldemariam’s recent Amharic book, a slim volume entitled, ‘Mekshef Ende-Ethiopia Tarik’ (which literally means “ missing the mark, à la Ethiopian history”) has definitely proved controversial and provocative, achieving the distinction of being the most reviewed book in recent memory. It is not strictly a work of history but rather a second order study taking issues with certain established approaches to Ethiopian history writing. It is also a jeremiad on the many failures and disappointments characterizing the history of the fair nation he loves and has been serving for many years now.
The perplexing phenomena that exercises the Professor’s mind is how, as he understands it, a once great nation which in antiquity could extend its imperial reach on faraway lands and seas is now reduced to a shadow of its former self, a glory that was with not much impressive to show for in terms of material and cultural achievements. The urgent need and the great historical challenge, that should accordingly, occupy the present generations of Ethiopians is the task of explicating, in the words of another Ethiopian scholar, the county’s ‘enigmatic present’.
An ardent patriot, and a scholar who has contributed much in his area of specialization, well received books on the current problem of famine in Ethiopia, Prof. Mesfin is a public intellectual par excellence who has taken it upon himself to engage the leaders and the wider public through his articles and other publications in the three regimes he has lived through his long career. In particular, he has come out as harsh critic of the existing regime, taking the role of a gadfly, or as some thinks acting as its nemesis, tirelessly writing bitingly critical pieces in the local papers.
It is this tenacious engagement with the public and steadfast commitment to stay in his country rather than seeking the safety of ensconcing himself in an ivory tower of some western institution, that many admire about him. In spite the many controversies surrounding him and the constant criticism he is subjected to (to my knowledge two book length criticisms have been written in response to his views), he has stayed the course, seeming to thrive on controversy. Not afraid of involving himself in the mundane realities of politics, he has paid by being thrown into jail.
Given such a close engagement in the realities of Ethiopian politics and being first hand witness to significant episodes in the history of the country and certainly given his great learning, one would expect him to be conversant on the social and political reality on the ground. No doubt, he is well informed and in fact more so than most of his colleagues in many aspects pertaining to the country.
And yet, being a person very much shaped and oriented by the institutions and attitudes of the bygone era, of which he is often nostalgic, he seems to be operating by a paradigm that is in need of, if not a complete shift, then at least some significant adjustments. The Ethiopia he is much enamored of and whose praises he sings was not always the utopia it is made out to be by those romanticizing its greatness. In the binary suggested by Ivo Strecker, it had not just its glory but its agony as well.
This defensive stance finds expression in the core of the thesis of his book. He begins his book by taking to task three historians who had written on how the nation came to be what it is today, Prof. Merid Wolde Aregay, Dr.Sergew Hable Selassie and Prof. Tadesse Tamrat. His problem with their ideas concerns the constitution of the Ethiopian nation-state and its territorial extent through the ages. He faults them for what he believes is a fundamentally flawed approach of using models borrowed from foreign writers in characterizing the Ethiopian nation-state. For him any suggestion that Abyssinia was distinct from Ethiopia is unacceptable. Ethiopia has remained what it has always been. But this is not entirely the case. To quote a prominent political scientist writing on this issue, the country has ‘covered widely different territories at different times.’
As many would agree, anyone writing on Ethiopian history today without so much as taking notice of the proliferating discourse of counter-histories advanced by the diverse proponents of identity politics and the vexed question of the trauma of ethno nationalist memories they champion, which dominates the terrain of current Ethiopian historiography today, is operating, not to put too fine a point on it, in an anachronistic framework. The reality on the ground ,whether one likes it or not, needs to be addressed and shrugging it off as if would go away on its own is not going to be of much help if a democratic and peaceful country is to emerge.
Professor Mesfin also has his biases. In what some readers consider as a flag-waving gesture bordering on xenophobic paranoia, he finds the motives of westerners writing on Ethiopian history to be suspicious. For instance, he takes issues with the title of Donald Levine’s “Greater Ethiopia”, with what he considers its suggestion of irredentism, without however appreciating the fact that the latter’s project was no very much different from his. Levine was advancing what in the literature is characterized as the Great Tradition approach of the country’s history by synthesizing the historical experience of three major ethnic groups of the nation.
Another issue that has prompted strong reaction from reviewers is the rather uncharitable view he takes towards Emperor Yohanes IV which reminds one of the same attitude often displayed by those on the other side of the political divide towards Emperor Menelik II. It appears as if the primacy of politics dictates that political elites use competing versions of the past as vehicle for political point scoring. Given the heated political atmosphere prevailing in this part of the world, the various elites and actors in Ethiopian political landscape seem to believe that one’s voice is not heard well unless, if one is , as an observer put it, ‘overstating one’s case,’ as if assuming adversarial posture is the only way ‘the art of possible’ is conducted. For an unabashedly partisan public historian, writing Tigrayan ethno history by vilifying Emperor Menelik II might be, if not excusable, at least something one can understand given the populist agenda and the goal of ethnic rehabilitation informing his undertaking, even one deplores some of his outlandish claims.
But for a seasoned scholar of Mesfn’s stature, stooping to play the same card as his opponents would be beneath him. If we take the trouble to study the records, in the political dynamics of the day in which many regional rulers were contending for the throne, both Yohanes IV and Menelik II resorted to seeking foreign allies in their pursuit of power. Hence, the causes of objectivism and fairness are not best served by singling one for blame for putting his interests ahead of those of the nation. In a statement which has ruffled some feathers, Prof Mesfin even goes as far as to claim, in a way that smacks of essentialism, that the readiness to collaborate with the imperial powers is a characteristic feature of the region, that is Tigray. Responding to a reviewer who pointed this out, the professor simply says he is being charged of being a partisan. What I wonder is, how else a reader who tries to be impartial is expected to understand his skewed presentation of some of the historical record.
But on the whole a thought provoking and timely book that should be read and and widely discussed.

The award for Leul Ras Mengesha Seyoum cited for “his outstanding contributions in the development of rural Ethiopia; for the role he has played in the enhancement of communication infrastructure, transportation, education, tourism, governance in the home land, as an outstanding Governor.” Akiliu described of the former Governor as someone who has spent his life bringing people of like minds together to solve problems of common concern. Leul Mengesha was governor of Arusi from 1952 to 1955 and governor of Sidamo from 1955 to 1958 and prince and governor of Tigray from 1960 to 1974. As vice minister in the ministry of communication, he was instrumental in foundling Bole international airport and helping the country in acquiring Boeing 720B from Continental Airlines. While SEED did its part to remember the public figure, Ras Mengesha also missed the 50 anniversary of the AU meeting in Addis Ababa to be in Washington D.C for the award, Aklilu told VOA.

W/r Mekdes Zelelew was accorded recognition for “her selfless deportment, as role model who has endeared herself to our community and in Addis Ababa-Ethiopia in particular,” SEED announced. She is an “inspiring and self-less humanitarian who has made significant difference in the lives thousands of men, women and children in Ethiopia,” it was said. Mekdes is general manger of Integrated Family Service Organization ( IFSO), an NGO based in Addis Ababa, the provide sponsorship service for vulnerable orphan children and establishes a training centre and provide training in hotel and childcare skills for youths in charge of the vulnerable households. Mekedes was saluted for her “demonstrated love for Ethiopia and Ethiopians, for her civic responsibilities and successful leadership in IFSO, and for all her distinctive contributions to our society,” said the SEED Secretary.

SEED also honored Lij Habte-Sellassie Tafesse, considered by many as the father of Ethiopian Tourism. The former Ethiopian Minister of Tourism Habte Selassie was saluted for his “innovation and excellence in Ethiopian tourism”, having revolutionized tourism in Ethiopia in the 1960s. Habte Selassie coined the phrase, “Thirteen Months of Sunshine”, in referring to the Ethiopian Calendar, which in turn provoked the imagination of visitors. He played a major role in the creation of the Historic Route, which to this date has remained as the most popular segment of Ethiopia’s tourist attractions, Aklilu said.

Other recipient of the SEED includes engineering professor Sossina Haile of the California Institute of Technology. Sossina earned her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992, the first Ethiopian to earn PHD in this field. Newsweek Magazine named her one of “12 people to watch in 2008. Prof. Sossina received the award for her promising research and discovery of a new class of fuel cell technology that has brought promise to the world’s energy needs. “As a venerated teacher and role model to the Diaspora Ethiopians, Africans, Americans and others, in appreciation of the rich and positive contributions, she has made by exemplifying the highest ideals and standards of our community, “the citation reads.” Aklilu said the speech Sosoina made on the occasion touched the crowd in accepting this latest honor, which she said feels different because “it is given from her own people”.

SEED also singled out the late US Congressman Donald Payne who was honored posthumously. Donald Payne’s daughter Wanda Payne was on hand to accept the SEED Award for her father who lost his months-long battle with cancer on March 2012. The congressman was recognized for his courage in defending freedom and civil liberties of Ethiopian people. “He was a role model to African- Americans Diaspora Ethiopians, Africans and others. “Rep. Payne was described as a very special friend of Ethiopia who strove for years to help improve the human rights situation of the country.“We feel privileged to present his family with the award in honor of his service to our community and ensure that generations to come remember the sacrifice he made for all of us,” Aklilu said.

The honorees share the stage and event with the high school and college graduates honored on the night. The students are awarded for their community service and extra-curricular activities. Tamra Nebabu, a student at Alexandria’s Bishop Ireton High School, is one of high school seniors to achieve this honor. She was given 225 thousand dollars.
Since 1993, SEED has been giving a platform to recognize Ethiopians and Ethiopian friends who showed outstanding achievements and stand out as role models from among the educators, scientists, artists, religious leader, high school and university students and community leaders without any preference for education and career category.

Raised in Canada, now living and working in Addis, Aida Muluneh is an artist of humane sensibilities, as her recent photographic work illustrates. With a background in film and photography, Aida has been focusing on photography for the past ten years and her images have appeared in numerous exhibitions in Cuba, Canada, England, Germany, Israel, Spain and Mali. A book of her work, called “Ethiopia: Past/Forward,” was published in September 2009 in Belgium.
Aida seems to be drawn to a sense of place and timelessness, known and familiar, self and other. Most of her images are black and white, which are inspired from her way of looking at the world in black and white. “Truth is either black or white. Human elements are exhibited though it. Black and white is the foundation. Color is tricky. But whatever I use, my focus is capturing light,” she says. Her shots depict the lives of regular folk: a girl on a horse, a woman at the doorway, women holding hands with their faces obscured, a pretty veiled girl looking at us with Bob Marley poster behind her. The photos capture the raw human emotions of mourning, anger, contentment and they come out as a touching story of girls and women becoming visible and discovering their self-acceptance. The photographer’s favorite image is of an old woman taken in Dessie town. The widow’s weathered skin and wrinkled face, her failing eyes become one with scenes of melancholy, but also tenderness. “I entered her humble home and the first thing that I noticed was the fact that she had an egg on her bed. I decided to shoot the bed and as I looked up I saw this amazing ray of light enter her darkened house through the doorway. I asked her if I could take a photo of her and hence, this was the image created,” Aida said. The woman appears tired, undefended but there’s no cruelty, no satire in the portrait, only tenderness.

But Aida’s experimental and best works are those artworks in which she tried to blend photography and hand drawing. The images in it invite the viewer to make her or his own narrative as inspired by the subjects. Aida states she has been exploring this possibility in the past two years and she has been progressively working on incorporating various elements and taking it one more step by adding paint in this exhibition. “I started out as a photo shoot with my dedicated friend and model Selam who endured long hours of sitting for me as we painted her body with whatever we could find. Initially we had the lofty idea that we can make our own body paint …based on some random receipt that we found online…that didn’t work so well but what we discovered is that we can do so much with flour…. We completed the shoot in a day, after which point I made the prints and glued it on leather,” Aida explained.

Both in print quality and sheer scope this exhibition deserves tribute. Eshetu Tiruneh, Art Director of Tomoca gallery and director of the Enlightenment Academy said “It has been exciting to witness the development of this body of Aida’s work. These works connect to the innermost human desire to create a personal narrative through images.”
The photos are on show at Galleria TO.MO.CA which is located in front of Canadian Embassy in Sar Bet and the exhibition will run until June 27, 2013.
(Photos taken from artist’s Facebook page)

A large collection of drawings and paintings by the artist Dereje Demissie will be on show in Addis Ababa this Saturday at LeLa Art gallery. The exhibition titled “Cycle” runs from 8 June, 3pm onwards until 23 June.
Graduated from the Addis Ababa School of Fine Arts, and exhibited in leading galleries in Ethiopia, Sudan, Dubai, Germany and Uganda, Dereje began to make an impact with his portraits and landscapes, rendered with high-keyed flickering colors.
LeLa Gallery art curator Leo Lefort said Dereje’s ‘Cycle’ exhibition offers an eloquent testimony of the need to develop the art of ‘seeing’ in depth the invisible realm. He said by emphasizing the expressive potential of natural formal elements, Dereje built a fine bridge between naturalistic painting and abstraction. The exhibition looks as if “ the observation of nature -mainly occurring in the South of Ethiopia, where Dereje often travels- led him to abandon all basic principles of reproduction, learnt with influential teacher Getahun Assefa, painting only with pictorial elements, not for the purpose of figuration but with the aim of a quasi mystical revelation,” said Leo.

The European Union Film Festival, a festival that presents films about contemporary European life and culture, will start tomorrow in Addis Ababa.
Running through June 17, this year’s edition will feature 17 European films including the Intouchables, France’s biggest international hit ever, a story about a disabled aristocratic millionaire and a good-humored black guy whom he hires as his aide.
The festival always opens with a film from the country currently designated for the presidency of the Council of European Union. This year it is Ireland, so “Stella Days”, starring Martin Sheen in a critically acclaimed performance as an embattled Catholic priest who tries to introduce the movies to his conservative rural flock, screens at 6.30 p.m. Monday at Alliance Ethio-Française.
The polish film, Mill and the Cross, about 16th-century Flanders and those of the canvases of its great painter, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, will be shown at Goethe Institute on Tuesday 6.30 p.m.
On the weekend days of the festival, family-friendly films will be shown at 4pm, including Dutch family drama “Cool kids don’t cry” about a young girl’s love for soccer, and Czech comedy “Waking Up Yesterday” in which a middle-aged man who is suddenly transported back to 1989. Physically he is 17 again, but his mind remains that of a modern forty-something.
The closing film, to be screened on 17 June, is the Oscar and Golden Globe nominated “A Royal Affair”, set in the 18th century and based on the true story of Queen Caroline Mathilda of Denmark and her love affair with Johan Stuensee, physician to her deranged husband, King Christian VII.

The Italian Cultural Institute, Goethe Institute and Alliance Ethio-Française will be the venues hosting the festival.

Here are some of the films to be featured at this year’s film festival.
COLOUR OF THE OCEAN
Country
Germany
A thriller that provides multiple perspectives on the moral complexities of immigration, Maggie Peren’s Colour of the Ocean is set on the Canary Islands, where the sun-drenched beaches are scattered not only with tourists but also the dead and dehydrated bodies of African boat people.
Gothe- Institute
7 June
6.30 pm

Cool Kids Don’t Cry (2012)
Country Netherlands
Adaptation of one of Benelux most famous children’s novels. Tough prime school girl Akkie loves soccer and can be a real bully. Love is the only thing she’s scared of. When Akkie is diagnosed with Leukemia, she has to fight for her life. On the verge of going to high school, Akkie has to allow love to enter her life, and thus gain courage to accept the inevitable. Written by Reinier Selen
Alliance Ethio-Française.
8 June 4 p.m

Caesar Must Die (2012)
Country Italy
Inmates at a high-security prison in Rome prepare for a public performance of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.”
Italian Cultural Institute
11 June 6.30 P.m

Sleep Tight (2011)
Country Spain
You wake day after day to the comfort and security of your home. But how safe is it really?
Toiling silently amongst the residents of an everyday Barcelona apartment building, doorman Cesar (Luis Tosar) harbors a dark secret: his sole desire in life is to make others unhappy. When he sets his sights on Clara (Marta Clara), one of his building’s cheeriest residents, his sick need blossoms into a full-fledged obsession. Embarking on a series of private and physical violations against Clara, Cesar becomes determined to ruin her life by any means.
Italian cultural institute
June 13 6.30pm

Entrance is free.
Follow the whole program on the European film festival Facebook address.

Wendy Laura Belcher, an assistant professor of comparative literature and African American studies at Princeton University, specializes in medieval, early modern and modern African literature. One of her key interests is in how African thought circulated in Europe before the 19th century, which she explores in her latest book by focusing on the influence of Ethiopian thought on the work of the English author Samuel Johnson, according to an article published on the University’s website on August 2, 2012. In 2011, Belcher spent a year in Ethiopia on a Fulbright fellowship researching ancient manuscripts illuminating the lives of women now regarded as saints in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which dates back to the fourth century. She also took the opportunity to photograph a range of scenes and subjects during her visit. Stories from Ethiopia and the African continent have resonated with Belcher since childhood, when she lived in Ethiopia and Ghana. Her first book, “Honey from the Lion: An African Journey,” is an autobiographical account of her time in Ghana.
Get the whole story here.

Taddesse was born in Addis Ababa to his father Tamirat Gebreyes and his mother Berhane Muluneh.Taddesse’s grandparents had all been Orthodox clerks; his father was one founders of the Menbere Berhan Saint Mary Church, and worked as the Patriarchal Vicar (Abune Kesis) for the last Egyptian patriarch, Abune Kerselom.
Young Taddesse learned alphabet at Kidsit Mariam church and later
joined elementary school at Holy Trinity School, which he said helped him to retain a deep absorption with his heritage. For his high school studies, he joined Kokebe Tsiba Secondary High school and later Harar Medhani Alem Secondary School. From his first days in grade school, Taddesse was deeply dedicated to scholarship.He entered academic life after obtaining his bachelor’s degree from the Addis Ababa University.
Taddesse received his PhD in History from the School of Oriental and African Studies (Soas) in London in 1968, specializing in the history of Ethiopia and he was published extensively throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.Living in the United States for a number of years, the late Professor served as a visiting professor at the University of California, Northwestern University, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from SOAS in recognition of his work as one of Africa’s foremost modern historians.
Professor Taddesse’s internationally acclaimed book is “Church and State in Ethiopia: 1270-1527″, which is seen as a pioneering monograph on nineteenth century Protestant and Catholic missions in Ethiopia.Accessibly written, it reached a large public and inspired an interest in church history and monasticism in many casual readers, as well as in some who went on to enter the profession. Professor Marilyn E. Heldman, author of African Zion: The Sacred Art of Ethiopia, described the book as “the essential text for the history of the highland Christian state of Ethiopia during the period of its development as the dominant state in the Horn of Africa”.Professor Charles F Beckingham, Emeritus Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of London, wrote that the book offers “the reader much more than the title might suggest, for it examines most aspects of the Ethiopian state and the Ethiopian church from the supposed restoration of the supposedly Solomonic dynasty to the eve of the Muslim invasion [Ahmed Gragne] in the sixteenth century.” However, the renowned scholar, Professor Mesfin Woldemariam found the book irritating, saying that it tries to impose an idea that was formulated by foreign authors. For him, the book fails to show an independent nation, free from the opinion and judgment of foreign writers; it rather contains a mix of intriguing insights into politics and religion, state and the Orthodox Church. More damagingly, the book puts Christianity above all else and it makes no attempt to show a nation of different religious creeds, according to Prof. Mesfin.
But Taddess’s high regard for his views on the history of Africa and the Ethiopain people is never questioned.He was a strong advocate of an indigenous history of Africa written by Africans rather than the Europeans.He helped form the Institute of the Ethiopian studies, centre for the international studies of the arts of Ethiopian, and was one of its Directors and the Addis Ababa University Press, where he was one of its most admired figures for a decade, serving as director, and editor.
He was also an accomplished linguist, translating Tobbya, Ethiopia’s first novel, which appeared in Amharic in 1900. Professor Tamrat was frequently interviewed for his views on modern African history and guest lectured at numerous international symposiums and conferences.Professor Taddesse has produced several articles on Ethiopia that have appeared in numerous academic journals, magazines and newspapers.
Professor Tadesse was preceded in death in July 2012 by his wife of 45 years, and he is survived by his three daughters.

Ethiopian activist Bogaletch Gebre has won an international prize for her campaign to eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM). Bogaletch was awarded the King Baudouin Prize in Belgium for confronting “culturally entrenched taboo subjects”, the selection committee said. She helped reduce cases of FGM from 100% of newborn girls to less than 3% in parts of Ethiopia, it said.
FGM is practised mainly in communities in Africa and the Middle East. Also known as female circumcision, it is seen as a traditional rite of passage and is used culturally to ensure virginity and to make a woman marriageable. It typically involves removing the clitoris, and can lead to bleeding, infections and childbirth problems.
Ms Bogaletch told BBC Focus on Africa that her message to community elders who promoted FGM was: “Daddy, you lived your time. This is our period, our children’s period. We don’t want to kill our children. I hope you are wise enough to accept that.” The Belgium-based King Baudouin Foundation awarded Ms Gebre the 450,000 euros ($580,000; £385,000) prize for her “innovative” campaign to eradicate FGM.
The Kembatti Mentti Gezzimma (KMG) group, which she founded, focused on arranging “community conversations” in areas of Ethiopia where illiteracy levels were high and FGM “endemic”, the Foundation said in a statement.”By implementing this approach across communities in Ethiopia, Boge and KMG lowered the incidence of FGM in 10 years from 100% to less than 3% of newborn girls in the areas where they work,” it added. Ms Bogaletch told BBC Focus on Africa that supporters of FGM believed in the “subjugation” of women. “It has nothing to do with culture… We don’t even know where it comes from,” she said. “How can something which is killing women, harming women, and our children too, be accepted as culture?”
In February, the UN said data showed that fewer girls in Africa and the Middle East are being subjected to FGM and it is possible to end the practice. FGM was particularly in decline amongst the young in Kenya, it added.
In December, the UN General Assembly unanimously approved a non-binding resolution calling for all member states to ban the practice.
BBC News