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is a triptych video installation that frames
the recent political history of Ethiopia from a personal
point of view placing it within the multi-faceted geographic,
social and cultural history of the nation. It is designed
to provide viewers a close-up experience of this history
as they stand before and move about the images. It offers
a range of possible interpretations of the events and
roles of the players that have shaped this complex history.
is designed to reference the
traditional Ethiopian Orthodox religious art. The triptych
is a ubiquitous presence in all facets of the traditional
art form. While the reference is appropriate in the
sense of its on-going influence on both art and life
of present-day Ethiopia, the motif allows me to experiment
with juxtaposition of images, events, stories and ideas,
opening new ways of understanding this history and limiting
the compartmentalization of the experience.
In Ethiopia today, the past, the present
and the future co-exist on the same plane and are experienced
simultaneously in the present. Time is circular; one
is never too far from encounters with the pre-historic,
the pre-modern, the modern and the post-modern in the
course of a few moments. Even as new images appear in
the triptych, the old presences are never far from the
surface. The triptych motif provides me with the opportunity
to explore this existential fact.
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Venice Biennale, 2003
Ruptures: A many sided Story was produced
as a triptych video installation for the Venice Biennale
in 2003.
Writer/Producer/Director - Salem
Mekuria
Camera - Salem Mekuria, Mark Gunning
Editor - Rachelle Dang
Funded by the LEF Foundation
Additional credits available upon request.
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