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.
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.
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.”
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.
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
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.
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.
“What the wise awakens to” is a short animation film made from individually hand-painted frames.
The narration of the film is based on the famous allegory of the cave from the Republic. The allegory of the cave as an archetypically structured story has a lot of similarities with other similar myths and stories on the same subject. For instance, with the life of Buddha from the east.
Given our history, you wouldn’t be surprised to find out that religion plays a huge role in the daily lives of Ethiopians. A country where a good majority identifies as either Christian or Muslim has also produced some of the most fascinating art pieces that tell the history of the country and God.
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?
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.
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.
I believe that social conversations and art should complement one another. In some ways, an artist’s perspectives are molded by their environment both in changing and appraising them. Core values of people from different walks of life are understood through social conversations held in different settings and different times. This is what allows art to blossom.
Most of my personal photography is inspired by social issues. I first chose photography as my medium because my camera was the most accessible tool available to me, but as I learned more, I started to realize how powerful it was as a tool to tell people’s unique stories.
Orange Hearts wasn’t planned out meticulously with a specific end goal in mind. As someone who has dealt with an abusive father, who has felt helpless and weak and unable to defend me or my mother (and although I sometimes deny it, the effects linger and affect various aspects of my life), I was completely disturbed when I read about the abuse and rape of over 100 children in Ethiopia.
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