(Ocean wave) - [Afua] Africa, one of
the fastest growing regions in the world. The youngest continent
were six in every 10 people under 25. With hundreds of different ethnicities and some 2000 languages. Africa is the most culturally
diverse place on earth. I'm a Afua Hirsch I've been lucky enough
to work across Africa as a journalist. And now I'm exploring Africa's history through its extraordinary
creativity and culture. I'm looking at how three
very different countries Ethiopia, Senegal and Kenya
emerge from the shadow of empire in the 20th century. And a thriving in the 21st. These African countries are
reasserting their identities. Gaining new recognition for their role as cultural powerhouses. Why I'm interested in how that's happened and how the struggles for
liberation in the past have helped shape today's
African Renaissance. (cultural music playing) In this episode, Ethiopia a country which has a
proud 3000 year history. A significant as any
civilization in the West. - As an artist in this era my responsibility to teach my people. - that gave rise to one of
the most influential figures of the 20th Century. - We witnesses of Jah
Rastafari in almighty flesh - An empire with a distinctive
story, faith, devotion and resistance to European colonizers a midwife of African liberation A once failed state that
developed a new grammar of communism. And with striking imagery and new art now responding to the dark days. - There's such great beauty that I would like to share with the world. - Ethiopia is both art to be distinctive and quintessentially African. a country whose past is
full of heroes and heroines of tragedies and triumphs and successful resistance
against colonial rule. That's made it a beacon
for the black diaspora. A symbol of African
defiance around the world. (soft music playing) I grew up in Wimbledon. As a child in the 1980s, I used to play near the statute. Only later as a teenager and as I became aware of race, did it strike me how in Congress it was. Here in a very white London suburb was a positive symbol of black Africa. A statue of Haile Selassie,
emperor of Abyssinia. What we now call Ethiopia. A country that unlike much of Africa was never truly colonized
by European empires. Growing up here with my mixed identity and my British and African heritage, and then seeing the statue the devotion towards this man often left with garlands
and religious tributes gave me a sense of the richness of Ethiopia's political
history and culture. But left me with far more
questions than answers. (birds chirping) (flute music playing) Landlocked between mountains and desert, Ethiopia has an ancient, deep rooted and highly
distinctive culture. ( drums playing) In Tigray, Northeast Ethiopia. The country developed
its own particular brand of Orthodox Christian faith. A faith that has been at
the heart of Ethiopia story and its keep out attitude to invaders. (drums playing) It's a one hour hike
upwards to Sunday worship. This is actually steeper and harder than I
thought it was going to be. (drums playing) Unsurprisingly, some of
the regular congregation overtake me. Worshipers have been
climbing to the church of Saint John since the fourth century. It's one over a hundred
similarly remote churches in this region. Built high up to protect the faith in the early days of Christianity. The churches embody the
country's fierce independence. (people singing worship song) The Rituals here are familiar and yet otherworldly at the same time. An authentic joyful worship that has been practiced here centuries before the Vatican was built or the Protestant reformation. In the main chapel, faith
and art come together. Here is a culture telling
its own Christian history. This church really feels
like a sacred space. It's built into this
rock high up and covered with these beautiful wall paintings. Here's the Madonna with baby Jesus over here as John the Baptist, his head nearly decapitated and here is Adam and Eve with this menacing serpent
luring them into sin. The murals were painted
in the 18th century in vivid primary colors,
conceptual and symbolic. The wide almost cartoon like eyes. A typical of Ethiopian icons. It's not only we viewers
observing the saints and martyrs. They days back in judgment. They're instantly
recognizable biblical scenes, but at the same time, they're
so distinctively Ethiopian. I think that's a metaphor
for this whole place. Part of the ancient Christian world, but a civilization unto itself. And for me being here really drives home. How exceptional and unique
a culture Ethiopia has. (men singing) Everywhere you go in Ethiopia you feel the weight of history. Yet the history, little
known outside of Africa. (men singing) (soft music playing) We've heard of the Aztecs,
the Egyptians, the Mayans. But rarely of their near contemporaries. The Aksumites archaeology has revealed a
sophisticated civilization developed in Northern Ethiopia. After the eighth century BC. This is the largest megalithic
tomb anywhere on earth. Unlike all of these obelisks, even though this one has fallen down, I have to say I find that
incredibly austere and imposing, maybe that's because the 500 tons of stone from which it's built, resembles concrete in quite a modern way. And all these geometric intricate carvings feel very contemporary. But it's not contemporary. It marks the burial site of Nobles from an ancient civilization millennia old There are 120 obelisks here at Aksum. The tallest engraved with
floor upon floor of windows and topped by a rising sun,
like a kind of mini skyscraper it's as elaborate art and
ambitious, a feat of engineering as anything you'd find in Pompeii. The ancient Ethiopians
who built this place did so to Mark a burial ground. They couldn't have known
that millennia later it would come to Mark
something very different. The story of how Africa far
from being the dark continent was harboring a civilization older than the one of the Europeans
who came to colonize it. (soft music playing) The Aksumite converted to Christianity in the fourth century. It's one of the ironies of history that Victorian missionaries
came out this way to convert people who
had been Christianized much longer than they had. Ethiopians believe Aksum is the birthplace of the queen of Sheba who married King Solomon. Born him a son and established
a line of Solomonic Kings. They ruled Aksum on and off for centuries afterwards. And built an empire in East Africa. That would become modern day, Ethiopia. Aksum is not just a seat of Kings. It's also a religious hub on a par with Rome,
Jerusalem, Constantinople. Because it's home Ethiopians believe to one of the holiest relics
in the Abrahamic faiths. It's said that this church
houses the Ark of the covenant. The sacred tablets on
which the 10 commandments received directly from God
by Moses were inscribed. Most Ethiopians have never actually seen the arc of the covenant. And as a woman, this is the
closest I'm allowed to go. But just the knowledge that
it resides in this country is a foundational part of
Ethiopian identity and faith. Some people even believe
that its presence here is what protected Ethiopians
from Imperial conquest. A formidable test of the
arcs protective power came in the 19th century. in 1868, the British mounted
a raid into Ethiopia. But with truce soon after. in 1895 Italy, hoping a foreign war might distract its
people from the stresses of their countries unification, mounted a full-scale invasion. The Italians were confident
they could add Ethiopia to their growing empire
around the horn of Africa. But what happens next
in the Adwa mountains. With seal Ethiopia's reputation
as an African promised land. This is artist Wendesen Kebede. The battle of Adwa is his muse. A constant motif in his work. This is incredible. Thank you. I wasn't expecting your
paintings to be so huge. And the colors are so vibrant. What is it that happened to
Adwa that is so meaningful? - Adwa rescued my identity being an African and being an Ethiopian and originally Ethiopian. At a time, almost all African
nations were under colony. They didn't imagine that they can win white worriers or white
colonizers in their lifetime. (cultural music playing) - [ Afua] When Ethiopian
forces faced the Italians at Adwa in 1896, they seemed outmatched feudal and in many ways archaic. Ethiopia lacked modern European weaponry. But it had numbers on its side. And a fierce faith in its
Solomonic King. Menelik the second in the event, the Italians
were bamboozled by poor maps. The battle was over in hours. With 6,000 of the Italian army killed and three thousands taken prisoner. A highly symbolic shock
to European prestige. The battle stirred a pan African vision of liberation from white empire. - [Kebede] My foreign fighters,
united the energetic feeling of Africans for independency. As an artist, and it's my
responsibility to teach my people. The Victory of the battle of Adwa is a turning point of history in this planet. That defeated white
people in African land. - [Afua] So you were
seeing the battle of Adwa not just as the defeat
of Italians by Ethiopians but the defeat of white
supremacist ideas by blacks people. - Yeah. It's not only for
Ethiopians to defeat white people. (drumming playing) Adwa is symbol of solidarity of all down children people of the world. - [Afua] Ethiopia would
remain independent, unlike the vast swathes
of the African continent for another 40 years. Emperor Menlik the second, made the Southern city of Addis Ababa. The country's Capitol and
the seats of its King. And after Adwa, Addis boomed. (urban music playing) The city was a magnet for
Ethiopia's diverse ethnicities. Drawn here in the aftermath of victory and connected by pride
in a shared history. Ethiopia used to be called, Abyssinia. A name which comes from the Arabic word, Habesha meaning mixed For good reason. The ancient Christian
cultures of Tigray and Aksum have Merged with the dozens of
other fates and ethnic groups that have settled this
country over two millennia. And it's in these markets and
this bustle in Addis Ababa that all those cultures collide. Adwa has held off the
Europeans for a moment but the story of how
Ethiopia's independence survived the 20th century, is bound up with another Solomonic King. One who came to symbolize
the country's defiance and test its devotion. Arguably the most
complex and flawed figure in modern African history. Rastafari became Regent in
charge of Ethiopia in 1960. And then took the name Haile Selassie on becoming emperor in 1930. His reign would span the
most dramatic decades of the 20th century. Two world Wars, invasion, revolution, all of which embroiled his
fiercely independent nation with the legitimacy so ancient derived from the Solomonic
dynasty of the old Testament. With so much expected of him with a world changing so rapidly. Was he almost doomed to fail? (gentle music playing) It all started well Haile Selassie's coronation
here at St. George's cathedral, projected him as an
international celebrity. Western, newspapers and
magazines laptop the story of a young King. An ancient biblical kingdom
and a fantastical ceremony. Thousands lined the streets as Haile Selassie with gold, diamonds and ivory in his crown and Scepter road here, in a carriage previously owned by the German Kaiser. priest start to drums,
gifts were handed out to some 700 foreign dignitaries and Royals gathered here from around the world. King George the fifth sent his son, who bowed down before the new emperor. A staged managed spectacle. It was amazingly successful. A boldly African drama
about race and power that played out worldwide
to the black diaspora. The coronation projected an image of a proud and free African country and of Haile Selassie as a kind of profit for all black people. Here was a descendant of the line of Judah who had come to set us free. But then a few short years later, disaster fell. Benito Mussolini, Italy's fascist dictator took revenge for the humiliation of Adwa a generation earlier. After border disputes between Ethiopia and the Italian Somaliland in October 1935, Italy invaded. (airplanes engine roaring) Haile Selassie was exiled to Britain. Living first in Wimbledon
and then in Bath. After Italy's defeat during world war II, Haile Selassie returned. (Gentle music) This extraordinary journey
of wartime exile and return made him for a moment the
world's most famous African. He even became to some, a living God. - [Alex] Haile Selasie is the Messiah. He is the last Emperor of Ethiopia. The first and the last. Alpha and Omega. Beginning without end. (rastafari drumming) - [Afau] This Rastafarians
are the immigrate priests of an alternative religion. (Rastafarians chanting) Their very name derives from Haile Selassie's
birth name. Rastafari. They give praise to him
through their sacred act of smoking cannabis,
growing their hair long and twisting it into dreadlocks. And what they call the levity
of drumming and chanting. (drumming and chanting) - Drum is the odd bit of Africa. First music now creation. And it's a way for us to restore African culture to the world. Because drum is a kind of healing. Music therapy I call it. - [Afua] For Rastafarians,
the emperor was the man who would liberate black people worldwide. From what they saw as
the tyranny of Babylon. The Western world, that
had enslaved the ancestors. He would return them to
their promised land of Zion in Ethiopia. (reggae music playing) The Ethiopian emperor was
bemused by the adulation. But also a little flattered. He donated 500 acres of his private land in Shashamane, Southern Ethiopia. To black people in the West,
who wanted to repatriate. (reggea music playing) - [Alex] We consider
Shashamane as a Holy place. Because it was the will of
him to gather his children in this place. - Coming to Sashamone,
it's a dream come true. I wish I had came earlier and I wish I could invite all my friends and
family from the West to come and experience this spiritual life. - By coming here and living this way, are you seeking to heal
the wounds that were done by slavery and colonialism? - African culture has
been done press, despise. You know, we got dignity returning home. You know, escaping from
Babylon, from the West. From the former colonialists, you know? It makes sense to be here. - [Afua] At it's height, it's estimated some 2000
Rastafarians lived in Shashamane. Today only a fraction
of that number remain. After Haile Selassie's reign, they found themselves
ostracized by Ethiopian society. How many are you? - People say, I don't
know, really wrote 300, 400 in Shashamane only. It's not a lot, but it's
not a matter of quantity, its a matter of quality. You
know? We are the Chosen few (Reggae music playing) - I found meeting this community
of Rastafarians inspiring. There is no bigger act of devotion than leaving your home,
traveling to a foreign land, to fulfill a biblical prophecy. That takes a huge amount of faith. The same time I have to say it's left me with a sense of sadness. This is a community that still lives in a state of precariousness
in Shashamane. it's as if in trying to repair 400 years of the wounds of slavery. They're still searching
for a sense of belonging. (gentle music playing) Where did Ethiopia itself belong. During the 1960s? Haile Selassie
tried to bridge two worlds. Feudal, traditionally Ethiopia and modern Africa emerging around it. His attempts to modernize Ethiopia were hampered by powerful vested interests in the army, the church and Land owners. But the Emperor remained
an inspirational figure on the world stage, pushing for the decolonization
of African countries from Europe rule. He eagerly embraced the
symbolism of international power. Encouraging the United nations to establish the headquarters
of its economic commission for Africa in Addis Ababa in 1961. By bringing the United
nations here to Addis Ababa, Haile Selassie wanted to
bring the worlds to Ethiopia. But at the same time he also wanted to bring
Ethiopia to the world. And by encouraging modern
art and modern architecture he was determined to project a new image of what a modern Ethiopia could be. The emperor sponsored modern artists and architects to train abroad and help him overhaul the country. One of these proteges would become Ethiopia's
most acclaimed artists of the 20th century. Afewerk Tekle's prolific work ranges from murals to
mosaics and public statues. But his positive message is epitomized in this 150 square meter
stained glass window. It's the centerpiece of
the UN building in Addis. Designed to be seen here by Africans from a cross the continent. (gentle music playing) This is Afewerk Tekle's famous triptych. The total liberation of Africa
and it's or inspiring to see. The first scene depicts the
colonial oppression of Africa overcome by the angel of
death and the serpent of evil. In Africa now, Africans unite
in a spirit of independence and liberation led by Ethiopians carrying the torch of enlightenment. And in the final piece,
the future Africa unites to finally slave evil that once
further came the continent. And the optimism of this
work, the vision of Africa with Ethiopia as its leading
light shines through here. And it's a work that
defies categorization. There are elements of
conventional European Christian imagery, but
it's visibly African Tekle wanted to achieve not just the end of imperialism in Africa, but the total Liberty of the mind. But there was a paradox that playing with the concept of
liberation in Ethiopia? Well the emperor encouraged freedom from European colonization, Ethiopians themselves were not truly free under autocratic rule. (gentle music playing) Under the emperor, the voice of the people could only be expressed through
coded comments and satire. (woman singing) These are Aamari. Troubadours who performed ballads and Gaz the original language of Ethiopia. (woman singing) (man drumming) Asmari ballads are improvised
responding to events with subtle meanings. (man singing) (woman singing) (woman singing) Asmari lyrics uses a
technique called wax and gold. A metaphor derived from how Goldsmiths create intricate gold work from wax molds. The hidden meanings of the poetry of the gold beneath the
wax of the plain words. Throughout Ethiopian history, wax and gold has been away for the street to definitely speak truth to power. (man singing) Ethiopia may not have had
to fight for liberation from European control,
like other African nations. But it was one of the
last African countries to experience proper democracy, increasingly disillusioned by
injustices, stalled reforms and the excessive lifestyle
of the Imperial family. Artists, writers and student began to turn against Heile Selasie. The tentative clandestine
campaign against the emperor became known as the creeping Coup. - It was a generally accepted
fact that Kings come from God and you're not supposed to criticize them. You're not supposed to criticize
the society they create. - [Afua] One novel, the
13th son by Daniachew Worku. Published in 1973 was a milestone in challenging the Empress regime. It carefully flattered with irony. While revealing the stark
contrast of the country under Haile Selassie. (soft music playing) - Beautiful Ethiopia with
flats valleys of deep Brown or black soil with the hills slopping gently upwards and covered with barley. - [Afua] With her endless herds of cattle and droves of brood
mares and their faults. With her children parading
their bumps from the bugs, lice and fleas that are
bound in the hamlets. The 13th son uses a wax
and gold style allegory of a pilgrimage undertaken
by a sick old man. And his son impatient for change. The voice of a new generation. Can you tell me why this
was the daring book? - [Hiwot] He questions everything from why are women subjected to so many types of oppressions in Ethiopia? Why are peasants treated this way? While, you know, the landlords
are living in luxury. And he talks about the
importance of modern education of modern medicine. Coming up with ways of dealing with the poverty of the country instead of just praying to God. (soft music playing) - [Afua] Beautiful Ethiopia
with all men of title, generals, ministers, princes and princesses. Doing their best to alleviate
suffering in the hamlets. Begging manna from heaven,
sending DDT, sending rat poison, sending insecticides, sending the police. By 1974 Faith in the
emperor had hit rock bottom. A three year drought was devastating the country's Northeast. Nearly 200,000 Ethiopians
starved to death. (somber music playing) Riots broke out. And the military council known
as the Doug seized control. Haile Selassie was arrested. Ethiopia's last Emperor
was driven across Addis in a VW beetle to prison. A highly symbolic calmed down from the grand jury of his coronation. He was never seen in public again. The word on the street was
that he was smothered to death With the emperor gone, Ethiopia turned to a new faith. Communism, Ethiopian art was transformed
in the revolutionary fervor. Art students were shipped to Moscow to retrain and producing public works, designed to mobilize the masses. This is an uncanny thing to see. The kind of Soviet style monument You'd expect to find in Eastern Europe. Yet here it is in Ethiopia
reworked for an African identity. (soft music playing) This monument is called Tiglachin,
which means our struggle. And it depicts the end
of Ethiopia's millennium of Imperial rule. Here on horseback you have a landlord a member of the nobility. Deaf to the pleas of starving people who had just endured a devastating
three-year farming news of which was suppressed
by the ruling elite. The devastation of that era, ushered in a new class of intellectuals gathered here led by Mengistu Mariam. Preaching communism,
socialism as a solution to the inequality of Ethiopia's past. And this form of art was
the only art form tolerated by the communist regime. They believe that abstract
fine art was Porsche war and indulgent. Instead,
the socialist realism was what was useful to the country to create a new narrative for itself. And here is this narrative plentiful food abundance on the communist rule, Ethiopians marching
together strongly boldly into a new communist future. (soft music playing) Art and reality could not
have been farther apart. The communist regime
was brutally oppressive. Using waves of purges to
crack down on dissidents. In a particularly cruel touch, the families of the executed
were made to pay the cost of the bullet used to
kill their loved one. The horror is documented here in Addis Ababa's red terror
Marta's Memorial museum. Mengistu's regime created
a kind of killing fields of Africa. Igniting a civil war that
raged for over a decade. There's so much death and suffering here. Half a million people are
estimated to have died during the red terror. Each of these faces a life that was lost. The communist regime
that promised to bring in a new utopian era quickly
deteriorated into this nightmare. Some of the victims are still alive. But how many of us really remember, this part of Ethiopia history. The civil war and upheaval
threw millions into poverty. And create the conditions
for an even worse famine. Ethiopia's famine of 1983
to 1985 is estimated to have killed over 1 million people. (soft music playing) Created despite the official
cover-up of the famine Eshetu Tiruneh masterpiece,
victims of famine depicts a bleak relentless
flood of people. But its message is very
different to the passive images and helpless begging
favored in news reports. Ethiopia has suffered
two devastating famines in living memory. Events that have cemented a global image of this as a nation dependent on the white saviors of
Western aid and celebrity. Yet here is the same tragedy
told through an Ethiopian gaze. It's a radically different image. One, which doesn't shy
away from the suffering but shows these as families helping and supporting each other. Persevering onward with
such dignity and strength - [Eshtu] There is no outsider. I'm not showing if someone
is helping them or something. They are helping each other. - Eshtu Tiruneh now trains young painters at the enlightenment
arts Academy in Addis. But memories of the
famines still haunt him. How did that painting come about. - As an artist, I'm always doing sketches around the church, around the streets. Step-by-step I understand
there is some people who are coming from the
outside at Addis Ababa. You know, peoples started
coming and begging the citizens. I've started to sketch some
faces, different kinds of faces. I don't have any luck
much complicated ideas in asking them. Just, I
felt them, the faces so sad. I became sad. Finally, I started to understand they are victims of famine. These peoples - [Afua] I can see you are very touched by the suffering you saw
in the victims of famine. What was it like sketching their faces. - My mother, sometimes, you know, you need to know there is who are coming to beg house to house. I asked her, please give them
something, lets them eat. And let me sketch as well as through a sketching Am giving them my inner feeling. You know, I'm participating with them. I'm one of them to them. I want to help them. (people singing) - [Afua] The Doug and the famine may have wiped out whole communities. But ordinary Ethiopians defiantly held on to their cultural heritage. (people singing) - This distinctive sound
emanates from the bagana, attend stringed liar, plot to
accompany Orthodox prayers. A type of music handed down since the days of the old Testament (people singing) - [Abel] This is our
traditional and spiritual world music and instrument. We are used to the praying or singing? Because our fathers and mothers
shows us this how to play and how to pray with this harp or bagana. - it is in the Bible you know, King Saul, he was possessed
by an evil spirit. So, when King David was playing the bagana, it's used to relieve
him from that sickness. It is for our own health
and the spiritual benefits that we, we, we love to play the bagana. - Today, The bagana is
enjoying a resurgence among young people. Nothing, it seems to me. Better illustrates Ethiopians resilience, their devotion to their heritage. A lot of countries in the world are struggling to keep
their traditions alive and young people are rejecting their traditional faith and culture. It seems here in Ethiopia young people are doing the opposite. They're flocking to learn
these ancient customs. Why is that? - We Ethiopians are not colonized with others because of that. We are proud of our traditions. (people singing) (up beat music playing) - [Afua] The dark was overthrown in 1991 with the fall of its Soviet paymaster. Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe. In the 1990s, Ethiopia held
multi-party elections again. The economy modernized,
food security improved and Ethiopia started to
regain its place in the world. Meanwhile, the government's
new openness to artists encouraged emigres who
fled the duck to return. Sparring a thriving fashion
and contemporary art scene. Ethiopia has long survived in
a kind of parallel reality. It's 1980s reputation
as a place of strife, as well as its forbidding language limited its exposure to globalization. And that helped preserve unique
traditions like the bagana and wax and gold. (up beat music playing) Aida Muluneh is an award-winning
Ethiopian photographer and painter. Brought up in exile in Canada, she returns to Ethiopia in 2007. And her work borrows from the past while peeking into the future. Aida's trademark is African
women in striking face paint. Often staring defiantly at the viewer in frames, packed with symbolism
about the black diaspora and her own personal
experience of exile and return. - [Aida] When I create art
is really a provocation. But I'm looking For is really
to provoke someone to say, what is that? Within the image there's a lot of messages that I'm transmitting. A lot of my color incorporates
the primary colors which actually comes from the
Ethiopian Orthodox church. and if you look at the staff that I use that's actually a staff
that we use in the church because in our tradition
and the Orthodox, you know, you stand to receive the prayers. When we speak of Afro futurism, you know this is what it is,
you know, it is the mix of the tradition and also the
future, you know, and to me a lot of my work, it is that dialogue. You know, I grew up as
an Ethiopian abroad. I left at the age of five
and we pretty much spent most of our lives abroad and just waiting for a transition to happen in
order for us to return back. (gentle music playing) The international world also the art world is all of a sudden looking at Ethiopia and actually coming here
physically to see what's happening. Because Ethiopia has popped up that they're wondering, Hey, what's
going on here. You know? (gentle music playing) I remember when I first came, I think it was like in 2001. If there was one exhibition,
it was like a miracle. You know? Now there's
several exhibitions happening at the same time. For me, it's quite an
amazing moment that we're in. (gentle music playing) (up beat music playing) - The growing sense of
optimism in Ethiopia is epitomized by the Zoma museum. Which opened in spring 2019 here in the old airport
district of Addis Ababa. The intricately landscaped
gardens and buildings with that textured moduls, are full of wit and tactile surprises. The renowned Ethiopian
architect, Elias Sime, designed a space for school,
art center, a museum here. Bringing them together in
a way that playfully fuses traditional building techniques with a 21st century ecological message. It's a project that seems
to sum up the new Ethiopia a Testament to a flowering culture. (gentle music playing) What's really struck me being here, is the confidence of this country to stick to its own
traditions, its own church, its own languages, its own
alphabet, its own story. - Why? Because it's seen off invaders. But also because it's
more recent struggles ironically have protected this culture from the globalizing forces
that might have watered it down. Ethiopia is evolving its identity as a modern cosmopolitan nation. In a 21st century where Africa with the youngest population on earth, has perhaps the greatest state of all.
