LEARN MORE ABOUT ETHIOPIA
MUSIC
Search out links for tizita and Ethio-jazz
Here are just a few famous musicians:
Mahmoud Ahmed
Bezawork Asefa
Mulatu Astatke
Girma Beyene
Tilahun Gessesie
Alemayehu Eshete
Aster Awoke
FILM
Tizita (2024)
“My short documentary, Tizita, is about exiled Ethiopian artists who are trying to establish themselves in Canada. The film follows three musicians who gather in a little café to play a tizita together. They are each surviving as refugees in Canada. Along the way, we gain insight into both this growing Canadian immigrant community and the broader meaning of art.”
By Gezahegn M. Demissie, director, Tizita
Tezeta (2024)
“This exploration of Ethiopian nostalgia takes a journey through the haunting and seductive melodies, initiated by 40 Armenian orphans, adopted by Emperor Haile Selassie and becoming the first imperial orchestra of Ethiopia. A tireless teacher, Nerses Nalbandian, inspired many of Ethiopia’s jazz greats like Alemayehu Eshete, Girma Negash and Mulatu Astatqe, and others who reminisce on their teacher’s influence on them and modern Ethiopian music. Nalbandian’s daughter Salpi reflects on her trials and tribulations living in Addis Ababa for over three generations, and seeing the country’s musical greatness and the dark injustices she has had to endure, being imprisoned for four years. The only remaining Armenian musician, Vahe, sings in Ethiopia’s modern music scene, hoping to reconcile his issues with identity, and coping with the loss of memory, as much of Addis Ababa’s city development changes the landscape and the remembrance of this unique cross-cultural symbiosis.”
https://www.ncca.am/en/films/465-tezeta
Ethiopiques: Revolt of the Soul
A 70-minute film about how Ethiopia’s musical history was introduced to the west, through the `Ethiopiques’ CD series masterminded by French music journalist, Francis Falceto.
A Thousand Suns
“The story of the Gamo Highlands of the African Rift Valley and the unique worldview held by the people of the region. This isolated area has remained remarkably intact both biologically and culturally. It is one of the most densely populated rural regions of Africa yet its people have been farming sustainably for 10,000 years. Shot in Ethiopia, New York, and Kenya, the film explores the modern world’s untenable sense of separation from and superiority over nature and how the interconnected worldview of the Gamo people is fundamental in achieving long-term sustainability, both in the region and beyond.”
Source: https://www.globalonenessproject.org/library/films/thousand-suns
A sampling of BOOKS about Ethiopia
Canadian
Daughters of Silence by Rebecca Fisseha
The Tower in the Sky by Hiwot Teferra
Things are Good Now by Djamila Ibrahim
Firewalkers by Bethlehem Terrefe Gebreyohannes
Notes from the Hyena’s Belly by Nega Mezlekia
Life on the Ground Floor by James Maskalyk
The Scent of Eucalyptus by Daniel Coleman
British
The Good Wife by Aida Edemariam
The Lure of the Honeybird—The Storytellers of Ethiopia by Elizabeth Laird
Out of Thin Air: Running Wisdom and Magic from Above the Clouds in Ethiopia by Michael Crawley
American
The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu
Hangman by Maya Binyam
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghesse
The Shadow King by Maaza Mengisti
Addis Ababa Noir edited by Maaza Mengisti
Among the Bone Eaters: Encounters with Hyenas in Harar by Marcus Baynes-Rock
A Song of Longing by Kay Kaufman Shelemay
Cookbooks Bibliography
I delight in reading cookbooks that interweave diaspora stories with recipes and gorgeous photos. Here’s a sampling of recent cookbooks that have added to my repertoire of Ethiopian and Eritrean recipes while deepening my cultural learning.
Gursha: Timeless Recipes for Modern Kitchens, from Ethiopia, Israel, Harlem and Beyond by Beejhy Barhany with Elsa Ung
Enebla: Recipes from An Ethiopian Kitchen by Luladay Moges
Teff Love: Adventures in Vegan Ethiopian Cooking by Kittee Burns
Tekebash and Saba: Recipes from the Horn of Africa by Saba Alemaya
Ethiopia: Recipes and Traditions by Yohanes Gebreyasus