Field and river

20th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies (ICES20)
Mekelle University, Ethiopia

"Regional and Global Ethiopia - Interconnections and Identities"
1-5 October, 2018

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[PANEL] 1203 FILM PANEL: ETHIOPIAN STUDIES THROUGH IMAGE, SOUND AND BEYOND: PERSPECTIVES FROM ETHNOGRAPHIC FILMS

Organizers:

Itsushi KAWASE, Associate Professor, National Museum of Ethnology, Japan

Paper presenters:

Leila QASHU; Ivo STRECKER; Karri BHARATHI; MITIKU Gabrehiwot; Lucie BUFFAVAND;
Till Jakob Frederik TROJER; Cynthia Tse KIMBERLIN; Thera MJAALAND; TEWODROS Hailemikael

A great number of films, particularly ethnographic films, based on anthropological inquiry and long-term field research have been produced in Ethiopia on a variety of cultures and societies by researchers from different countries and academic institutions. The recent development of digital technology as well as the dramatic growth of visual anthropology conferences/festivals and scholarly networks has further facilitated the production and progress of methodology of ethnographic films on Ethiopia. This panel focusing on anthropological films will have academic discussions on practical and theoretical questions on the form of audio-visual storytelling in anthropology. In addition to paper presentations, this panel will be linked with a systematic presentation of latest ethnographic films. We invite scholars who are interested in films as a practice of doing anthropology, and engage in an interdisciplinary debate on different audio-visual approaches to anthropological subjects as well as different styles and conventions employed in the construction of the films.

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A PARTICIPATORY MEDIA EXPLORATION OF CHALLENGES AND RESISTANCE AMONG YOUNG ARSI OROMO WOMEN IN ETHIOPIA [Abstract ID: 1203-06]

Leila QASHU, Concordia University (Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling)

Over the years of living and researching in Arsi Oromo communities in Ethiopia, young female informants have shown me many examples of daily challenges: butaa (marriage by abduction), abuse, difficulties accessing education, falling into problematic relationships for economic reasons, and general concern for rights, autonomy and livelihood. Scholars in anthropology, human rights and gender studies have analyzed complexities of negotiating and resolving human inequities (Cowan et al. 2001, Green 2007, Hodgson 2011, Merry 2009, Oyewùmí 2003) and anthropology, ethnomusicology and communication scholars have been examining how expressive arts are used to enact social change (Diamond 2012, Jackson 2004, Meintjes 2004, 2015). I have sought to bring forth Arsi Oromo narratives representing different generations of women. Married Arsi women enact ateetee, a sung judicial ritual that enables them to claim their rights when they have been abused (Qashu 2016), but young women must look for other avenues of expression. Using multimedia representations made with project participants, I will discuss a collaborative multimedia project with an under-represented younger generation of Oromo women. Through participatory media, the aim of the project is to explore challenges facing young Arsi women, and their strategies – especially the use of expressive arts – for questioning, resisting and changing cultural practices. Theoretical approaches used to frame this collaborative research model include: 1) a vernacular feminist approach, which is both experience-based and culture-specific (Green 2007, Nnaemeka 1998, Oyewùmí 2003); 2) documentary and participatory film theory, that is related to the (self-) representation of young Arsi women (Miller 2009, Milne, Mitchell and de Lange 2012), and 3) emerging discourses on participatory and collaborative research (High 2009, 2014, Miller 2009, Sillitoe 2015) and the arts (Barz 2011, Robinson 2014). This presentation will be related to a film presented during the film screenings at the conference.

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ABRAHAM & SARAH. CREATORS OF A PRODUCTIVE LANDSCAPE [Abstract ID: 1203-09]

Ivo STRECKER, Johannes Gutenberg University, Prof. Emeritus; MPI Guest researcher; Guest professor at Mekelle University

In the highlands of Tigray - northern Ethiopia - on the edge of the escarpment that descends steeply to the Danakil dessert, Hagos Mashisho and Desta Gidey have toiled and struggled for years to turn the rugged slopes of the East African Rift Valley into fertile ground. They have grown crops here not only to feed themselves and their family, but also to share with others, in particular the pilgrims who regularly pass by on their way to the monastery of Gundagundo. Touched by the kindness of their hosts, the pilgrims have given them the biblical names "Abraham" and "Sarah". The film explores the work ethos and grace of these Tigrean farmers: the cheerful mood with which they do what needs to be done; the devotedness to the tasks at hand; the coordinated movements of humans and animals as they work when ploughing, sowing, harvesting, threshing; - and finally those moments of invocation when the dependence on nature and the transcendent are acknowledged.



In terms of cinematography "Abraham & Sarah" exemplifies the resonance and synergy between people in front and behind the camera that Jean Rouch called 'cine-trance'. This becomes visible again and again in situations such as when Sarah and Abraham cut the wheat, when their sons thresh the barley, when the itinerant fiddler plays and sings his tune, when the neighbours rebuild the washed-away terrace, and ? as a kind of climax ? when Abraham ploughs his field. "Abraham & Sarah" is the first film in a series entitled "Guardians of productive landscapes" currently produced under the auspices of the Department of Integration and Conflict at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/Saale, Germany. It can be seen as a contribution to an applied anthropology that tunes in with the rising awareness that rapidly increasing environmental degradation threatens the earth. Humanity is at the crossroads where life as we know it will soon collapse unless we muster all our ingenuity for inward and outward persuasion to find ways to overcome the current crisis.



The series aims to help in this rhetorical venture. It urges the global public to re-think and reform the relationship that until now has prevailed between subsistence and capitalist economies on our planet. Today, an estimated one and a half billion people practise subsistence agriculture that produces about fifty per cent of the domestic food consumed in the developing world. "Abraham & Sarah" shows how such a mode of production involves only human and animal labour, and only local resources. Being non-poisoning, non-destructive, bio-diverse, and sustainable it makes an invaluable contribution to the preservation of the biosphere. In the light of this, "Abraham & Sarah" may lead audiences to better appreciate the positive role of these "guardians of productive landscapes" and help to establish the foundation for new policy initiatives that treat these subsistence farmers as partners in a joint struggle to save the endangered planet.

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CULTURE AS IDENTITY AMONG DORZE WOMEN [Abstract ID: 1203-03]

Karri BHARATHI, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Arba Minch University, Ethiopia

The aim of ethnographic film is to preserve the intangible culture of the people. In ethnographic research, the use of a pen or pencil is mostly practiced, but with the advancement of visual anthropology, ethnographic research has gained more impetus to describe the culture of the people. The present ethnographic film portrays the Dorze culture in general and of women in particular. It shows the sequence of events that are practiced by the people as part of their cultural norm. The events recorded describe the interactions of the people from their perspective. The Dorze people belong to one of the Omotic groups in the south-west of Ethiopia. They are a hard working group, renowned for their skill in weaving, bamboo carpentry and other traditional crafts. The women are involved in many skilful activities and support their families. They impart their indigenous knowledge in the preparation of kocho bread. The traditional birth attendant is actively involved in attending pregnant women and offer specialized assistance to the parturient. Most significantly, birth is considered a cultural production, which generates an enduring interest among anthropologists of reproduction in the cultural shaping of biomedical obstetrics.

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DANCING GRASS: HARVESTING TEFF IN THE TIGREAN HIGHLANDS [Abstract ID: 1203-05]

MITIKU Gabrehiwot, Mekelle University, Ethiopia

"Dancing Grass" captures a communal harvesting of teff among the Tigreans of Northern Ethiopia. Teff is a cereal core to Ethiopian national food identity and at the center of the livelihood of the smallholder farmers. The film follows the sequence of events as they unfold in the homestead, fields and neighborhood of the author's oldest brother and his family. First comes the cutting of the 'dancing grass'; then its drying and stacking; then the threshing and winnowing; then the sale of teff on the local market; then off with a donkey to the mill; then Injera is prepared for the family and guests; then coffee drinking and blessing; and finally the biblical Mesqel fire, celebrated at the end of the rainy season by the Orthodox Christians of Ethiopia. One may generalize that in the face of globalization, Dancing Grass portraits a dignified and caring life of smallholder farmers in one of the oldest traditions of agrarian society. "Dancing Grass" is the second film in a series entitled "Guardians of productive landscapes" currently produced under the auspices of the Department of Integration and Conflict at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/Saale, Germany.

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FILM AND MEMORY: RITUAL KNOWLEDGE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS [Abstract ID: 1203-02]

Lucie BUFFAVAND, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

In this presentation, I offer insights from my filming experience in Mela, south-west Ethiopia. When the date of the generation-set naming ceremony of a sub-group of Mela was approaching, a Mela friend insisted that I should be there to video-record it. The ceremony occurs about every 40 years, and my friend – a ritual expert – was anxious to have it recorded so that later generations will not forget the "right" way to perform it. This experience and the resulting film raise different issues. Firstly, the film fixes the "proper" course of the ceremony in the view of the ritual expert - at the same time as it gives evidence of the disagreements among elders about it in the film itself. Secondly, during editing, I had to compose with different audiences: how to give structure to the film while respecting the wishes of Mela to have a faithful record of their ceremony? Finally, I want to emphasis how ethnographic films can contribute to a specific form of anthropological knowledge, in this case by bringing out aspects of the ritual that are not as easily conveyed in writing, such as its aesthetics, its materiality and its rhythm.

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SHADOW CARAVANS [Abstract ID: 1203-08]

Till Jakob Frederik TROJER, PhD Candidate Anthropology and Sociology, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London

In 1968, the American Anthropologist and Ethnographic Filmmaker Robert Gardner (1925-2011) undertook an attempt to document the salt trade in the Dallol Depression of the Northern ‘Afar Region in Ethiopia. Gardner was specifically interested in the “wondrous environment of unbearable heat and intense color” (Gardner n.d.) of the region. His unfinished footage was edited and released as three-minute short film in 2011 under the title “Salt” (1968/2011; 3min). This ethnographic documentary builds on Robert Gardner’s first attempt to document the marvelous and fascinating journey of the salt caravans by focusing on a particular group of ‘Afar “caravanists” (called makama). I employed newest, modern camera equipment (Feiyu-Tech a2000 Gimbal Stabilizer) that allowed to conduct walk and talk interviews ensuring that the natural flow of events and daily-routine will be not be disrupted or interrupted while. The whole project is a collaborative work, i.e. the people involved in the film were consulted throughout and included in all decision-making processes regarding editing, sound and scene selection.

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THE MAKING OF A MASINQO (ETHIOPIA'S SINGLE STRING BOWED SPIKE FIDDLE) [Abstract ID: 1203-01]

Cynthia Tse KIMBERLIN, Music Research Institute, Richmond, CA USA

In 1990 the late historian Chris Prouty Rosenfeld, author of the book about Empress Taitu and Emperor Menilik II, heard I had made a film and asked if I would show it. I said the ten hours of raw footage have not been edited and in storage. But then the Revolution of 1974-91 happened and circumstances changed including the introduction of digital technology. Passage of time gave me time to reflect and gain perspective. For example, are instruments becoming more massed produced or, if an azmari wants to have a masinqo made, can he still go to a maker to have one custom made using traditional methods? And how are instruments being transformed to suit today's musical environment? This 1-hour documentary was originally made using a Beaulieu 4008 ZM2 super-8 movie camera and a Nagra IV S reel-to-reel tape recorder in October and November 1972 during Ramadan, depicting a period before the onslaught of the 1974-91 Revolution. The film was converted to a digital format in 2009, and the editing process began in 2016. Instrument maker Yusef Idris, a Moslem originally from Wallo, consented to be the subject of this film. He and his wife Tashi, an Orthodox Christian, and their children lived at the outer edges of the Merkato in the Ketema district. Actual masinqo construction took place in the yard of the author's house located above the Ras McKonnen bridge. Aspects of what took place 46 years ago in making a masinqo may no longer exist. Thus, this film provides a time capsule of that point in time at locations in Addis Ababa and Addis Alem. Amhara, Oromo, Tigre and Tigrinya songs are taken from the author's 1972 field recordings and integrated into the film. Films such as this on instrument morphology add to literature on an historic event about construction techniques, production technology, and museum conservation. As an ethnomusicologist, the author utilizes methodologies also relevant to musicologists and anthropologists: participant-observation of musical events, recording and transcribing interviews and interactions, and documenting musical performances within their cultural contexts.

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THREE DAYS OF FREEDOM: WOMEN’S ASHENDA CELEBRATION IN MEKELLE TIGRAY, NORTH-ETHIOPIA [Abstract ID: 1203-07]

Thera MJAALAND, University of Bergen, Addis Ababa University, Mekelle University
TEWODROS Hailemikael, Selina Studio, Mekelle, Ethopia

Originally celebrated in highland Ethiopia and Eritrea in August every year, Ashenda is an age-old women’s culture. This documentary tells the story about one attempt to invigorate this culture in the regional capital of Tigray, Mekelle. Here groups of girls and young women come from all parts of the region to celebrate Ashenda for three days. Presented from both a cultural and religious perspective in light of recent research, participants also tell about the value Ashenda has for them. Furthermore, the documentary gives voice to different stakeholders like the Women’s Association of Tigray who uses it to forward women’s issues, Tigray Culture and Tourism Bureau who sees it as a tourist attraction in the pursuit of economic growth and wants to register it in UNESCO, and a music expert who envisions it being developed into an opera. This documentary is a collaboration between the Mekelle-based filmmaker Tewodros Hailemikael and the Norwegian visual anthropologist Thera Mjaaland. It was shot during the Ashenda celebration in Mekelle, August 2017 [2009 E.C.]. Duration: 46:42 minutes. Language: Tigrinya with English sub-titles. Production: Selina Studio, Mekelle, March 2018 [2010 E.C.]. Distribution: Theram Production, Bergen.