Beyond Wide-Eyed Angels Contemporary Expressive Culture in Ethiopia
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Beyond Wide-Eyed Angels Contemporary Expressive Culture in Ethiopia Peri M. Klemm ur intention in this issue is to present new research 1 Leah Niederstadt on Ethiopian expressive culture that illuminates how some of the complexities of the modern experience, particularly within the post-Social- ist period, influence art. To use a popular form of Amharic2 rhetoric as metaphor, we hope to get at the seminna werq, the “wax and gold” of art making in Ethiopia O(Levine 1972).3 This term, which refers to the lost-wax casting pro- cess, is commonly found in Amharic poetry and song and in his- torical and contemporary discussions of politics. The “wax” refers to that which is obvious; the “gold” to that which is hidden. The “wax” is the fact that Ethiopian artists produce objects despite lim- ited access to material and financial resources. In what is one of the world’s lowest ranked countries on the human development index, people from more than seventy ethnic groups struggle to meet life’s basic needs (United Nations Development Program 2007/2008:247). As we write this, thousands of Ethiopians are at risk of starvation due to famine. In a landlocked country with approximately eighty million people (the third highest popula- tion on the continent after Nigeria and Egypt), some of the hottest temperatures on earth, and great geographic diversity, droughts are inevitable (Pankhurst 1985/6). This paucity resonates among all of the country’s cultural groups and shapes, to some degree, their material and performance-based expressions. It is also obvious that specific types of artistic practices, namely those associated with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC), 1 Winged angel ceiling of Debre Birhan Selassie Church. Gon- have come to be equated with “Ethiopian art,” a status quo per- dar. The Church of Debre Birhan Selassie was built during the reign of Emperor Iyasu II in the second half of the 17th century petuated by academic and popular texts alike and by museum in Gondar. Its interior is covered in frescoes. The ceiling depicts displays in the West. As Raymond Silverman has argued, the many angel faces with wings sprouting from their heads while country’s myriad other “traditions of creativity” are often ignored more naturalistic images of stories of saints, Christ, and the Devil 4 line the walls below. The angels have been reproduced in count- (1999:3). For example, in 1977 Stanislaw Chojnacki wrote, “Ethio- less postcards and travel books and have come to signify historic pian art is almost exclusively religious and essentially Christian” Ethiopia in print. (1977:44). Thirty years later, the Walters Art Museum toured PHOTO: PERI KLEMM, 1996 “Angels of Light: Ethiopian Art from the Walters Art Museum,” (opposite) an exhibition focused exclusively on objects related to the practice H2 otel wall featuring Pepsi advertisement and reproduc- of Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity despite the seemingly more tion of Meskel Flower. Jimma. Throughout Ethiopia, many small hotels, restaurants, and tej baitotch feature painted walls. The inclusive title. The “gold” we hope to reveal is twofold. This issue images often represent scenes of daily life, the Ethiopian coffee presents three articles that address some of the multiple forms of ceremony, or advertisements for products such as Pepsi. One artistic expression that exist beyond the EOC and by extension, image that is frequently reproduced is that of the Meskel Flower, one of Maître Artiste Afewerk Tekle’s most famous paintings. art practices that address non-Christian traditions. The other four Reproductions of the painting have been found decorating hotels articles offer new approaches to the study of Ethiopian Orthodox in Adama, Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, and Jimma. Christian art. By joining secular and sacred artforms and perfor- PHOTO: LeaH NiedeRstadt, 2001 | african arts SPRING 2009 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/afar.2009.42.1.6 by guest on 28 September 2021 10A17_AMM401_p6-13.indd 6 11/21/2008 10:47:29 AM mance-based expressions, fields that have rarely been examined within the same tome, we hope to offer the reader a fuller appre- ciation of the diverse cultural expressions of Ethiopia within the broader framework of African art.5 When we began to formulate this special issue, we asked our- selves: what do readers of African Art know about the artistic prac- tices and traditions of Ethiopia? Many enjoyed the first major US exhibition by an Ethiopian Orthodox church painter when “Paint- ing Ethiopia: The Life and Work of Qes Adamu Tesfaw” opened at the Fowler Museum at UCLA. Many may also have wandered through “Continuity and Change: Three Generations of Ethiopian Artists” at the University of Florida’s Harn Museum during the last ACASA Triennial. And Ethiopian artists such as Zerihun Yet- mgeta (who won the grand prize at Dak’art in 1996), Wosene Kos- rof, and Skunder Boghossian have been featured in this journal. Yet the majority of artists who have graduated from what is now the Addis Ababa University School of Fine Art and Design (SFAD; for the history of this institution see Achamyeleh Debela 2007) and the rural artists working throughout the country continue to cre- ate beyond our sphere of academic attention and certainly beyond the international market for African art. focuses on circus performances throughout Ethiopia as a means Herein, seven scholars examine some of the emerging prac- of disseminating information about social challenges such as tices and the cultural structures that support artistic activity early marriage and HIV/AIDS. While contributions on dance, within Ethiopia but that are little known to the outside art world, drama, music, and ritual are admittedly lacking in this special whether academic or commercial. All of them examine shifts in issue, her discussion of children’s circuses pays homage to the art production and consumption, particularly with the advent country’s important performance arts traditions (Plastow 1996, of the post-Socialist regime (1991–present) during which Ethio- 1998, 2004) and alerts readers to the need for future study in this pia has experienced an opening-up to the West and a significant direction (see Shelemay 1980, 1982a, 1982b, 1991). increase in tourism. Elisabeth Biasio’s contribution provides a These contributions share a number of themes surrounding the comprehensive overview of the transition from church-based creation and production of Ethiopian expressive culture, themes painting to the production of canvas paintings with increasingly that are useful for discussions of contemporary practices through- secular themes for foreign clients. She refers to this latter genre out the continent. These themes include the process of commer- as “contemporary painting in traditional style” (Biasio forthcom- cialization of artistic practices, including the establishment of a ing). Neal Sobania and Raymond Silverman address the role of capitalist art market; the effects of new materials/practices and patronage and the art market in the production of innovative foreign aesthetic preferences on art production and use; the emer- Christian painting and sculpture in Aksum, former capital of the gence of middlemen; and the role of art as a means of commu- Aksumite empire and now a major tourist destination in north- nicating the social condition. These themes have been explored eastern Ethiopia. Makda Teklemichael6 highlights the lives and through careful analysis of the local, national, and global influ- works of six women painters and sculptors who work as aca- ences on artistic transformation. In all of the cases considered by demically trained artists or within the EOC tradition. Despite our contributors, we see the emergence of new art forms and, in the challenges they face, these women artists continue to create the case of the circuses studied by Niederstadt, performative prac- and survive in highly competitive male-dominated markets. Bri- tices. As artists challenge or build upon established rules and tra- ana Simmons explores the consumption and display of imported ditions, new material and performance-based expressions develop Christian chromolithographs, today increasingly used by Ortho- that hold the essence of older forms but are sometimes radically dox practitioners to construct simultaneously a religious and a altered in appearance so that, to foreign eyes at least, their connec- modern identity. While these contributors study traditions that tions to the past are not always obvious. Our contributors, then, are historically rooted in the EOC, Peri Klemm examines three have largely looked beyond the visual in order to understand why, new body arts made and worn by Muslim Oromo women near how, and for whom these transformations occur. the Islamic center of Harar. She explores how these forms satisfy When we set out to present contemporary expressive culture women’s fashion sense while reinforcing and communicating in Ethiopia, we cast a wide net: from female academic artists to cultural values. In another article on Muslim arts from Harar, young circus performers; from religious paintings produced for Belle Asante Tarsitani demonstrates how changes in economic the tourist market to imported images used by Orthodox Chris- wealth and imported materials have impacted the production tians; from beaded fashions to baskets. As artistic acts that rely and consumption of Harari basketry, which continues to serve on established traditions to express current ideas, the art these as a key marker of Harari