It was very special to be invited by my Ethiopean friend and collegue photographer Michel Temteme Dagie to come to Ethiopia to cellabrate together with him and his friends the Ethiopean Millenium.
It was special, not just because it is fun to be able to cellebrate a millenium change twies, and this time without millenium bug scares. And not even, because it happened on the 9-11 th.
I started to realize how important the millenium change and the counting of years and months, used by the Copts, and borowed of the astronomers of the Alexandrian school, for entire Africa and a big part of black nations is!
The Ethiopian calendar retains the old Egyptian system whereby the year was divided into twelve months of thirty days each plus one additional month of five days (six days in leap years). Ethiopian dates therefore, fall 7- 8 years behind western dates and have done so since early Christian times.
Ethiopia is the only African country that has never been colinised. The Italians had fought a desperate and bloody mean war in the country. They have also left some cultural traces, that can still be found in Addis Ababa but they never colonised Ethiopia.
The Ethiopean pride reaches all over the world. And that’s why many American- Azian- and European- Africans came to Ethiopia to cellebrate the 9-11-2007 th.
Traveling around with my friends I must have been taken over 300 pictures. Some
videos too.
I tried to evoid to take the, what I called: “Classic Africa pictures”.
The pictures have been in my computer since. Not knowing what to do with them, I watched them every now and than. Every time feeling a deep respect and warmth.
"Leave the photo`s for what they are are", I decided. "Draw your Ethiopean experiences the way Hugo Pratt did in his Corto Maltese books". After I saw the exhibition of Kris Ruhs jewelery in Corso Como 10 gallery in Milano, I knew wich shapes to give them.
Edland Man
