Zare ferragi
When I think of my purpose of connecting people and places, with depth, art and lightness, to build a more conscious and supportive society, I think about how much sense it makes to bring more from Ethiopia to Brazil. I went there in 2015, on my way to Japan, and the 10-day stopover became a memorable experience. It was just when my grandmother Vanda passed away, symbolically when I was visiting the grandmother of us all - Lucy, the fossil that rewrote the history of mankind - at the National Museum of Ethiopia. It was a spiritual journey, of discovering my own subjectivity, and for this and so many other reasons it was a wonderful journey, that I try to express with my photos and texts along this photo essay. I came in contact with many ancient wisdoms. I found a country that is culturally rich, proud of itself, ancient, with stimulating cuisine, great music, and a remarkable history. One of the few in Africa that has never been a colony of Europe. Ethiopia fought and won, against Italy, the colonization attempt. (Despite a brief occupation by Mussolini during World War II). Like the Self, which is not colonized by the ego, neither is Ethiopia. It's there, pristine the way it is. It offers the visitor a primordial contact with the links of our origin, something which is a collection not only of fossils, but also of symbols that portray our human history... something of all of us.
e-mail: [email protected] |
Terhas Berhe
I was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1987. During my early childhood, I traveled extensively with my family to many beautiful regions of Ethiopia. From those experiences I became enamored with the landscape and rich heritage that exist in and outside of the capital. After high school, I pursued and completed a Bachelor's degree in computer science in 2008. It was during my undergraduate studies that I gradually realized that my interest lay primarily in the arts. I started taking workshops in theatre, film, painting, journalism, and photography. My study of the arts helped further my curiosity and interest in finding innovative ways to explore and document my community. I started my professional photographic work by volunteering with local and international NGOs on various children programs using art for rehabilitation. Today, currently I am working on my own company Arbol pictures as photographer and filmmaker in collaboration with different organizations and Ngos like UNICEF, European Union, Menschn for Menschn (MFM) I was the head of the photography department at Culture and Arts for Ethiopia (CAFE) also work in Adika event and communication as assistant director of different music videos, further film and documentary films, I was the Assistant director of the movie LAMB and The Ethiopian which is successful internationally. I have also exhibited my work at the Goethe Institute, world economic forum, National Theater, National Museum, lafto moall, Radisson blu hotel, Resource and capacity building Center (RCBC) Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and the New School for Photography in Berlin, Germany. I have found my creative muse through photography and film and look forward to sharing my vision of new and powerful images and stories of Ethiopia.
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Aléxia Canavezzi
From experience to experience, from time to time, we lose ourselves and build every moment. I joined the Tourism course at UFSCar - Sorocaba in 2019 and since then, the anthropological aspect within our area of research is very pleasing to me. I have always had a lot of affinity, sensitivity and a true passion for art and how it manifests itself through each culture with its particularities and techniques. I felt very contemplated and challenged by this project, where we deconstructed general perspectives and built real perspectives - those that are concretized in facts, data, studies and research. Nowadays, it is no longer possible to accept arrogant attitudes in the name of an unhealthy "solidarity" that preaches the perpetuation of the ego itself to keep its name in the "ranking of good deeds". We must maintain a sympathetic look that does not underestimate the reality or the capacity of others, but a look that promotes equity in our relationships. This project, besides bringing a sensitive look, brings a empowering look to Ethiopia. From a country that has never been colonized, from a country that has its own schedule, its own calendar and which is the cradle of humanity. We then propose a project that is a hug, a reconciliation and a proposal for reflection. Why do we know Brazil from the perspective of European colonization?
More important than being "deconstructed", is to be rebuilt. With new values, ideals, studies, recognizing our birthplace, our claims and giving visibility to those who really need it. |
Gabriel Cherle
Freshman from the class of 2020 in the Tourism course, I have always been passionate about culture and communication. To be able to learn more about our worlds and understand the differences and similarities that we share with other peoples has always been a great inspiration for me.
I joined UFSCar with a focus on participating in as many extension projects as I can and found in the Ethiopian Faces project the opportunity to further break my worldview and open my horizons to a part of Africa that still lacked knowledge: Ethiopia. The country won me over not only for its strong and inspiring history, but also for its culture and landscapes. To be able to share the knowledge obtained with this project with the community is a great honor, bringing so many similarities that they have with Brazil and Ethiopia being the cradle of civilization. |
RAUL AMORIM
Student and educator, activist of happiness and social justice. I firmly believe in the power of art and culture to create another possible reality, and that the path to that reality is forged in dreams built by many hands. Born and raised in Sorocaba, in the interior of São Paulo, I live to find people out there willing.
I work with Youth and Adult Education, with participatory methodologies and youth policies. I currently work as a public school teacher and work in the Levante Popular da Juventude, a national social movement for youth organization in the suburbs, schools and in the countryside. Since my first year at UFSCar I have been involved in extension projects, as I believe that the main function of the university is to transform reality. Projects with agroecology and family farming, non-violent communication, and during the pandemic with production of alcohol gel for donation to public health equipment. I got involved with the Ethiopian Faces project through Zare, with whom I have worked before. I saw in the project an opportunity to question the common, colonized look that inhabits the popular imagination about Africa and Ethiopia. It was a space where I could challenge myself to look at the contradictions of a diverse country that is going through instabilities at that moment. A collective project in all its stages, from the selection of images to the construction of strategies to create a photographic exhibition in times of pandemic. And finally, a project that allowed us to look at a very old territory, the cradle of humanity and the roof of Africa, which has always resisted and built its own destiny. In a world where the narrative of history belongs to those who want to maintain their cultural dominance over all, finding gems like this humanizes and moves us. |