|
Acknowledgements This WWW site is one of the by-products of a project begun over eight years ago. In 1989, Harold Marcus, Professor of Ethiopian history at Michigan State University (MSU), learned that MSU would be hosting the 12th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies in the Fall of 1994. He asked me to organize an art exhibition for the Conference. Prior to this project, my research had focused on West African art and I knew little about Ethiopia. Overseeing the evolution of the exhibition was a tremendous learning experience. It took me on several trips to Ethiopia and through some of the world’s great cultural history museums. I had the opportunity to work with hundreds of people and various organizations in Ethiopia, Europe, and the United States—I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge their contributions and thank them for their assistance. Initial Planning Our project began as a collaboration between Michigan State University Museum and the Fowler Museum of Cultural History at UCLA. The advice offered by my colleagues at the Fowler Museum, especially Doran Ross, Betsy Quick and David Mayo, proved invaluable during the early stages of exhibition planning. We also involved a number of scholars as consultants during the planning process; namely, Donald Levine, Stanislaw Chojnacki, Richard Pankhurst, Paul Henze, Grover Hudson, Marilyn Heldman, John Hinnant, Girma Kidane, Eike Haberland, Kay Shelemay, Achameleh Debela, Brigitta Benzing, Diane N'Diaye, Chris Prouty Rosenfeld, and Neal Sobania. Later on, I also sought the advice of Jacques Mercier, Hermann Amborn, and Serge Tornay. I thank all of these scholars for their valuable insights into Ethiopian history, culture and aesthetic tradition and for their assistance in helping us develop the conceptual framework for our project that came to be called, Ethiopia: Traditions of Creativity. A critical stage of the project included a survey of Ethiopian collections maintained in North American and European museums. Many thanks are extended to the curators who assisted during my visits to these museums: Peabody Museum (Salem, MA), Peabody Museum (Harvard), American Museum of Natural History (NY), University Museum (Philadelphia), National Museum of Natural History (Washington), Oklahoma State University Natural History Museum (Stillwater, OK), Mingei Museum of International Folk Art (San Diego), Fowler Museum of Cultural History (University of California, Los Angeles), University of Oregon Natural History Museum, Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR), Field Museum (Chicago), Frobenius Institute (Frankfurt), Museum für Völkerkunde (Frankfurt), Museum für Völkerkunde (Munich), Völkerkundemuseum (Zürich), Museo Pigorini (Rome), Instituto Italo-Africano (Rome), Musée de l'Homme (Paris), University Museum (Manchester), Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford), Museum of Mankind (London), Powell-Cotton Museum (Birchington, Kent). Ethiopia: Traditions of Creativity benefited greatly from a linkage established in 1991 between MSU Museum and the Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) Museum at Addis Ababa University. Support from the American Association of Museum’s (AAM) International Partnership Among Museums program allowed Girma Kidane, then Head of the IES Museum, and me to spend time at one another’s institutions. This provided a firm foundation on which to pursue the research for our exhibition, a book, and this WWW site. Thanks to Marilu Wood and Helen Wechsler of the AAM for helping coordinate this important program. The Institute of Ethiopian Studies played a vital role in the project for it served as the base for our research in Ethiopia. I express my thanks to the Institute’s directors, Bahru Zewde and Tadesse Beyene, for their support of the project. I appreciated working with the curatorial staff of the IES Museum, namely, Ahmed Zekeria and Taye Tadesse, as well as the Museum conservator, Ketsela Markos. Also important was the support of Ethiopia’s Minister of Culture and Sports Affairs, Leule Selassie Temamo, and Kassaye Begashaw, Head of the Center for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage. The core of Ethiopia: Traditions of Creativity is research conducted in Ethiopia from April through June 1993. The fruits of this research is presented in this volume. Special thanks are extended to the scholars who led the research teams and authored these essays: Jon Abbink, Ahmed Zekeria, Marco Bassi, Elisabeth Biasio, Girma Fisseha, Alula Pankhurst, Worku Nida, Neal Sobania, Tsehai Berhane-Selassie, Mary Ann Zelinsky-Cartledge, and Daniel Cartledge. I also would like to thank Owen Moore of the Fowler Museum who assisted us on a number of our research trips. We obtained valuable assistance from residents of the communities in which we worked in Ethiopia, in particular, Fatuma Ibrahim Muhammed, Werqnesh Weltamo, Father Emmanuel Fritsch, Gezehegn Alemayehu, Moges Lelissa, and Amatula Muhammed Ibrahim. A number of people in Addis Ababa also helped us at various stages of the project: Dell Hood, Isaac Russell, Marc Baas, Mathewos Tesfaye, Charles Schaefer, Margaret Chandler, Belainesh Haile, and Worku and Barbara Goshu. Special gratitude is extended to Berhanu Wolde-Amlak who generously provided assistance on numerous occasions and to Degefa Etana Rufo who served as our primary research assistant and interpreter while working in Ethiopia. It goes without saying that there would be no exhibition, book or WWW site if it were not for the artists with whom we worked in Ethiopia. A special note of gratitude is reserved for them. I thank them for their time, patience, and the knowledge they generously shared with us (the names of the artists featured on this site are highlighted in red): Amina Ismael Sherif, Munira Ahmed Adish, Samiyya Ahmed Adish, Amatula Muhammed Ibrahim, Elema Boru, Jilo Hola, Jilo Dido, Dida Hukka, Bogine Shala, Gelta Foroshowa, Ilto Indalay, Arba Desta, Malako Arba, Kalkai Arba, Tabita Hatuti, Wagete Wodebo, Elizabeth Anjeyo, Kumpe Shubamo, Tumbe Gatore, Menjiye Tabeta, Gebre Wolde Tsadik, Nesqiye Andiye, Abebech Torcha, Tolera Tafa, Bekele Bedada, Sorri Tafa, Gezahegn Gebre Yohannis, Abib Sa'id, Qengeta Jembere Hailu, Marcos Jembere, Zerihun Yetmgeta, Qes Adamu Tesfaw, Qes Leggese Mengistu, Haile Alemseged, Brehane Mesqal Fisseha, Amha Gebre Medhin, and Belai Tedla. There were a number of people at MSU who played key roles in the evolution of the 1994 exhibition, Ethiopia: Traditions of Creativity. First, I would like to thank a number of graduate students who served as research and curatorial assistants at various stages of the project, namely, Andrea Bour, Teresa Goforth-Piselli, Tibebe Eshete, Shiferaw Assefa, Chris Plescher, Earnestine Jenkins, Rae Welch, Heran Sereke Brhan, Sabine Barcatta, and Gerna Rubenstein. Two of my colleagues at Michigan State University Museum, Juan Alvarez and Kris Morrissey, were instrumental in planning the exhibition and its ancillary programs. A special note of gratitude is reserved for Kurt Dewhurst, the Director of the Museum, who offered both administrative and intellectual support for the project. Several people assisted in the development of this WWW site. Kim Kauffman generously granted us permission to use digital images of the photographs she had taken of objects in the MSU Museum collection. Chris Van Wyck of Ciesa and Associates (East Lansing) also allowed us to use a digital version of the beautiful montage of Ethiopian art and artifacts that he created for the 1994 exhibition. Brenda Schuster, my research assistant in 1997-98, digitized many of the graphic images. Mark Kornbluh, the executive director of Humanities and Social Sciences Online (H-Net), has generously provided space on one of H-Net's servers for this page. Members of the H-Net staff, specifically, Jim Sleight, Jerry Tran, Dennis Boone, and David Halsted, provided valuable technical assistance. None of this would have been possible if not for the financial support of a number of individuals and institutions. I would like to thank them for their generous contributions: National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University; and at Michigan State University, the Office of the Provost, Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, Office of the Vice Provost for Computing and Technology, Consortium for Inter-Institutional Collaboration in African and Latin American Studies, Office of the Dean of International Studies, Office of the Dean of the College of Social Sciences, and the Center for Integrative Studies in Arts and Humanities. Two individuals deserve special thanks. John Eadie, Dean of the College of Arts and Letters at MSU, was keenly interested in this project from its inception and his support is greatly appreciated. My colleague and friend, Neal Sobania of Hope College, played a vital role in our project, serving as a consultant and assisting in the direction of the research teams in Ethiopia in 1993. Much deep felt thanks to him as well as the administrators at Hope College who supported his participation in our project. Finally, I would like to acknowledge my appreciation for the experiences shared with four Ethiopian colleagues who sadly have passed away recently, Fatuma Ibrahim Muhammed, Girma Kidane, Taye Tadesse, and Seyoum Wolde. This site is dedicated to their memories. |