Italian language and the cultural dialogue between the two countries through a series of video meetings with 6 Italian-Ethiopian artists and creative producers, interviewed by the cultural curator Johanne Affricot.
Liliana Mele tells of her debut in the world of acting, her academic career, the reverential love for theater that drives her to go in search of literature and the tradition of Ethiopian theater during the reign of Haile Selassie. A research that is not only cultural but also personal, transforming it into her master’s degree thesis in Performing Arts and Sciences.
Gabriella Ghermandi explores the various forms in constant evolution of her literary and artistic practice; how she managed to counter-narrate the Italian occupation in Ethiopia through her novel, of the ways of writing and self-narrating about the younger generations and how art has saved it.
Avalon Tsegaye (stage name Avex The Mc) tells of his “alternative” childhood in Addis Ababa in the Italian School, where he learned to speak Italian, Amharic and English, thus coming into contact with different cultures. He talks about the complexity of writing verses in three different languages, the choice to use little Amharic and his latest EP, “Black Lion”, whose title resonates with one of the most powerful Ethiopian symbols ever: the lion.
Dagmawi Yimer, he tells us, with a different lens, the condition and life of people who migrate, trying to fill the narrative and experiential void on the migration theme. The director questions terminologies and categories and implements in-depth paths to find new ways of telling the uniqueness of individual stories and experiences.
Hellen Yirga, tells of a life dedicated to fashion linked to social development and her leather “made in Ethiopia” garment through which she created job training opportunities for young orphans of Addis Ababa.
Saba Anglana, author, actress, singer, radio host and poet. Taking an imaginary leap at the beginning of her rich artistic career, Saba tells us about the passage from the history of art, which has shaped her critical gaze and her obsession with harmony, to work in the theater, cinema and radio fields.
A profoundly eclectic multidisciplinary artist, in his works Saba researches and conceptualizes the anthropological-cultural heritage – both physically and spiritually – of cultures, feelings, Weltanschauung, the vision of the world that is typical of a woman, telling us about her condition as a hybrid, as an artist and a human being.
The interviews will be available on our Facebook and Instagram page @iicaddisabeba