Tag: Contemporary Ethiopia

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Wayna | Representing Ethiopia on an International Stage

Wayna is an Ethiopian-born, GRAMMY-nominated singer, former White House writer, and actress, who celebrates the cultural influences of her background through her performances on screen and on stage.

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among us women

among us women tells the story of 3 powerful women doing their best to navigate along patriarchal structures. Set in Megendi Gojam, among us women, has for its central character, Huluager, a woman that’s about to have her fourth child.

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Representing Ethiopia: Marketing that works!

Advertising agencies in Africa take a unique approach to community promotion known as community marketing. Community marketing can be defined as “a form of marketing that seeks to build long-term relationships with customers by engaging with them in two-way communication.”

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Maranata Tegegne

Maranata Tegegne is a filmmaker, mostly known for his collaborations with Ethiopian rap sensation Kassmasse. He also runs a successful Afro-Caribbean, restaurant Shifta, and a recording /artist management label, Meedo Records. His story began with a curiosity for films, music and music videos. Which later evolved to a full-fledged success story.

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Creative Entrepreneurship: Resilience

Art has a long history of being used to speak truth to power as a potent weapon for social transformation, serving as a voice for the oppressed, political propaganda, and a rope in a tug of war between classes. Therefore, naturally, challenges analogous to their surroundings and community emerge.

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We can’t eat art but it feeds us

By Besufekade Mulu If there is something that remains constant about art; for the most part, is that it’s seen as a luxury. A lazy man’s pursuit. The reasons for this though, are unclear. For some, it might be because

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Comic Books: The Art of Cultural Inspiration

Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe took the world’s attention with giant blockbusters, comic book culture was very popular in the West in the 1930s and 40s. The phenomenon in Ethiopia, although still existing in certain niche groups, became a trend in the early 2000s. By the time The Avengers Endgame movie came out in 2019, the potential for storytelling of the medium had made its case worldwide and quite a few Ethiopian creators were coming out with their own comic books.

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Playconomics

Gaming as a societal practice dates back thousands of years. Not only was it a recreational experience, but the conceptual construct behind it has also become a capsule that transfers and preserves ideologies and customs across generations. Some contemporary gamers view ancient illusionists, magicians and storytellers as forebears of gaming as we know it today. Because they represented a deep understanding of human psychology and how it can be influenced.

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French words in the Amharic language

In linguistics, using a word or an expression from another language, without translating it, is called “borrowing”. The term “borrowing” supposes that the other party loans, making these languages lenders. All the languages that are in contact with one another borrow and loan, and sometimes impose terms and expressions.

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Girum Mezmur | ግሩም መዝሙር

Girum Mezmure is often labelled as a pioneer and a positive driving force in the Ethiopian music industry. During a career that extends over two decades, the musician has been known to experiment and explore uncharted territories. He is credited with reviving live music and the Ethio-Jazz genre. In addition, he has mastered a diverse set of traditional and non-traditional instruments. He currently teaches at Yared Music School and Jazzamba Music School.

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Ethiopian Records | የኢትዮጵያ ልጅ

Endeguena Mulu, aka Ethiopian Records, is one of the leading lights in Ethiopia’s burgeoning electronic music scene. Sometimes using nothing more than a computer, Ableton software, and a Push controller, he makes music inspired by traditional music from all over the country and the continent.
የኢትዮጵያን ሪከርድሱ እንደገና ሙሉ በማበብ ላይ ለሚገኘው ኤሌክቶሮኒክ ሙዚቃ ብርሃን ይዘው ከመጡ የሙዚቃ ሰዎች አንዱ ነው። አንዳንዴ ኮምፒወተር ላይ አቤቶን የተባለ ሶፍትዌር እና ፑሽበተን በመጠቀም ብቻ በሀገሩ ባህል እና ትውፊት ላይ ያተኮሩ ሙዚቃዎችን ይሰራል።

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Aziz Yimam | አዚዝ ይማም

Music managers are a central part of any healthy music industry. They wear multiple hats, all to ensure a happy marriage between the musician, the audience and the industry as a whole. But how do they operate in Ethiopia? What role do they play?

የሙዚቃ ማኔጀር የጤነኛ ሙዚቃ ኢንዱስትሪ ማገር ነው። የነበሩት ጠላቻዎች ያሳዩት በሙዚቀኛው ፤ በአድማጩ እና በኢንዱስትሪው መሃል ወዳጅነት እንዲደረጅ ማድረጋቸውን ነው። ግን ኢቲዮጵያ ውስጥ እንዴት ነው የሚሰሩት? የሄዋን ገብረወልድ ማኔጀር የሆነው አዚዝ ይማም ስለስራው እና በዛ በኩል ስላለው የሙዝቃው ኢንዱስትሪ መልክ አጫውቶናል።

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The PARC | ፓርክ

Part of what makes the local music industry challenging is the lack of spaces where artists can fully commit to their art. If there are spaces available, are they accessible and affordable?

የሀገራችንን የሙዚቃ ኢንዱስትሪ ከሚያዳክሙ ነገሮች ውስጥ አንዱ አርቲስቶች ሙሉ ጊዜያቸውን ሰተው መስራት የሚችሉባቸው ቦታዎች እጥረት ነው። ቦታዎቹ ቢኖሩ ራሱ ተደራሽ እና ባለ ተመጣጣኛ ዋጋ ናቸው?

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Agelgil Studio | አገልግል ስቱዲዮ

Launched in September 2019, Agelgil Studios is an Ethiopian record label focused on discovering, empowering and managing talented Ethiopian musicians and producers of all styles of music.
በፈርንጆቹ 2019 የተጀመረው አገልግል ስቱዲዮ፤ወጣት ሙዚቀኞችን ማውጣት ፣ አቅማቸውን ማጎልበት እና መወከልን አላማው ያደርገ ኢትዮጵያዊ ሙዚቃ አሳታሚ ነው። የድርጅቱ መስራች ናሆም ሙሉጌታ ከኢትዮጵያ ሙዚቃ እንዱስትሪ አንፃር የሚኖረንን አንዳምታ አዋይቶን ነበር።

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Music Consumption | የሙዚቃ ፍጆታ

A few years back, it would have been common to see someone fogging a CD and wiping it to ensure it plays clean. Not long before that, it was winding a cassette tape with a pencil. And even further back, people were exchanging phonograph disks. But there was also a time when the only way for people to hear their favorite music was to sit across from a musician playing it.
ከጥቂት አመታት በፊት በትክክል እንዲሰራ ሲዲ በልብሱ የሚጠርግ ሰው ማየት የሚያስገርም ነገር አልነበረም። ከዛም ብዙ ወኋላ ሳንሄድ ፤ የቴፕ ካሴት በእርሳስ ማጠንጠን የተለመደ ነበር። ቀደም ስንል ከፎኖገራፍ ሸክላዎች ጋር ለመታገል የሚገደዱ ሰዎችም ነበሩ።

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Music Promotion | የሙዚቃ ማስተዋወቅ

In the digital world, music promotion is more than just about the music. It’s also about the artist behind the music. And when people come into play, their values, ideas and opinions eventually enter the sphere of public information. Moreover, artists have to navigate this area carefully and craft a presence throughout their careers.
በዲጂታሉ አለም፤የሙዚቃ ፕሮሞሽን ስለ ሙዚቃው ብቻ አይደለም። ከሙዚቃው ጀርባ ስላለው አርቲስትም ጭምር ነው። ሙዚቃ ለመጫወት ሲመጡ ፤ ዋጋቸው ፣ አስታየታቸውን እና ሃሳባቸው አብሮ ለህዝብ ይደርሳል። አርቲስቶች ይህነን በጥንቃቄ አጥንተው እና ዳሰው በሙያቸው ሁሉ ቋሚነትን መፍጠር ይገባቸዋል።

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Managers and Artists | ማኔጀሮች እና አርቲስቶች

The manager is responsible for contacting potential venues and promoters, marketing and social media, liaising with others, paperwork, managing accounts, networking, artistic direction, connecting with fans, negotiating contracts, collecting, and promotional appearances, among other things.
ስራውን ማቅረቢያ ቦታ ማመቻቸት ፤ ፕሮሞተሮችን መነጋገር ፤ ማርኬቲንግ እና ማህበራዊ ሚዲያ ፤ ኔትወኪንግ ፤ ጥበባዊ አቅጣጫን ማስቀመጥ ፤ ከአድናቂዎቹ ጋር ማወዳጀት ፤ ውሎችን መደራደር ፤ ገቢውን መሰብሰብ እና የማስታወቂያ አቅርቦት ከማኔጀሩ ስራዎች ጥቂቶቹ ናቸው።

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Music Production | የሙዚቃ ፕሮዳክሽን

The road to music production is the best kept secret in the Ethiopian music industry. “Well, you just make music,” is the general rhetoric. Perhaps it’s not a one-size-fits-all remedy. As most of our local music producers are self-taught, each one has had to find their way.
ወደ ሙዚቃ ፕሮዳክሽን የሚወስደው መንገድ የኢትዮጵያ ሙዚቃ ኢንዱስትሪ ሚስጥር ሆኖ ቢቀመጥ ይሻላል። “ያው ሙዚቃ ትሰራለህ” ነው የተለመደው ምላሽ። ሁሉም ቁልፍ ሁሉንም በር አይከፍትም አይነት ጨዋታ ይሆናል። ብዚዎቹ የኢቶዮጵያ ሙዚቃ ፕሮዲውሰሮች ራሳቸውን ስላስተማሩ ፤ የሳቸውን መንገድ ማግኘት ነበረባቸው።

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Becomeing a Music Professional | ሙዚቀኛ እንዴት ነው ባለሙያ የሚሆነው?

In the quest to understand how young musicians become professionals, one is first confronted by the question of what makes a professional. Most musicians seem to have their own definition.
ወጣት ሙዚቀኞች እንዴት ባለሙያ መሆን ይቻላሉ ለሚለው ጥያቄ መልስ ስንፈልግ አንድን ሰው ምንንድነው ባለሙያ የሚያደርገው የሚለው ጥያቄ ጣልቃ ይገባል። አብዝሃኞቹ ሙዚቀኞች የራሳቸው መልስ አላቸው።

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Music Education | የሙዚቃ ትምህርት

We live in a fast-paced and ever-changing world, where the advent of the internet is opening doors and opportunities for people from all walks of life. Technology has also pushed a great many things that were once considered essential or part of daily life into obsolescence, while calling into question the practicality of a great many more.
የምንኖረው በፍጥነት በመቀየር ላይ ባለች አለም ውስጥ ነው። የምንወደው ነገር ላይ ያደረሰን መንገድ ከእኛ በቀደሙ ብዙዎች የተጠረገ ነው። እጃችን ላይ አማራጮች እንደልብ አሉን። የተለየ ድምፅ ያላቸው ወጣት የፈጠራ ሰዎች ብቅ እያሉ ነው። እኛም ከሌላው ጊዜ በእጅጉ ለእዲስ ነገ ክፍት የሆን አድማጮች ሆነናል። እንደዚህ በተመቻቸ ጊዜ ታድያ አርቲስቱ በቀላሉ እየሰራ ከኢንተርኔት መማር እየቻለ ለምን ሙዚቃ ትምህት ቤት ይሄዳል?

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Ethiopian Pottery and Handicrafts

Handicrafts and their creator’s stories mirror Ethiopian history and the industry today. The artisans produced essential items for sustenance (think of the injera clay plate). Still, they were seen as “non-essential” to demonically possessed. Moreover, the handicraft sector is riddled with inexplicable paradoxes.

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Tell Me Something New | Ethiopian Creative Sector

The creative sector in Ethiopia is something that causes a lot of people pain. Both people that are on the outside looking in and those of us knee-deep in it. It sometimes feels like the creative sector is stagnant. Of course, it is unfair to say that there is no evolution but have we seen an art revolution that has achieved national impact? What about the parts of the sectors that have achieved success to a moderate level are they pushing others to reach their level?

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For the Love of Film! | Freelance

We pondered a lot, in terms, of what to highlight on the importance of cinema in Ethiopia. The truth of the matter, there’s a lot to complain about, especially, in the current times (with Corona and Civil War looming over the country). But it’s important to look at the positives. Mostly because, we all know what’s wrong with the local cinema but we can’t really appreciate it’s importance. So here’s why we here GETZ love the movies and why we think it’s important to keep pushing until we’re in that ideal state where we can rightfully hate on whatever version of cinematic universe will eventually form in Ethiopia.

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Hanna Haile | Zellan Corner | Ethiopian Filmmaking

We are nothing more than a mosaic of our stories, an encapsulation of lived experiences. Cinema has the power to gather people and for 120 minutes it allows us a glimpse of what is, could be, or has been. There is an undeniable magic.