Teddy Afro's New Song, Sew Abel Ena Kayel, and the
Dilemma's of Ethiopian Modernity.
14 January, 2010 | Teodros Kiros (PhD)
The singer thinker, the icon of Ethiopian youth is out on the streets of freedom.
We are invited to think musically and act morally.
The camera returns again and this time to document the lives of street children.
At first a lovely child full of smiles, in tattered cloth, visits us. The child poses
for us and our eyes are quickly filled with tears, as the child’s eyes invite us to
care, to attend to his existence. The child wants us to know that, he like many
others, was celebrated at birth, but now, the world does not even know that
they exist.
Teddy’s music accompanies the child and becomes the voice and conscience
of street children, the lone beggars on the street.
Teddy’s large eyes, the sparkling teeth, not to say the Golden voice, are
interrogating Ethiopian modernity. The new song is subtle, existentially
serious, deep and heart penetrating.
We are treated to the two faces of Ethiopian modernity, skyscrapers,
highways, hotels, and gourmet food as they stare at us rudely; and then our
eyes refuse to see the children on the streets, their saddened mothers, and
their unemployed fathers.
The new song compels us to see. Some eyes see cakes; other eyes stare at
the naked reality, without hope.
We are forced to stare at the two faces of Ethiopian modernity; hope for the
negligible few and misery for millions of Ethiopians.
The singer-thinker appeals to the Transcendent, like Diagonese, the Greek
philosopher of antiquity, long before him, and begs God to attend to the
human condition, by creating a new human being who thinks for the world,
and who would wake us up from our deep sleep. The appeal is subtle, and the
indictment of the holders of power is in the background, it is the unsaid, which
says, without saying.
Teddy brilliantly tells us what we must do by showing us Ethiopian reality.
The artist is doing his job, and as Birtukan, asked before she left, are you
ready to act, are you ready to fight?
Teddy begs God to speak, to act and to show him the way to change the
miserable Ethiopian reality. We are asked to get engaged, to really see at the
horrible reality environing us, beyond the glaring commodities of wealth and
power for the very rich.
Sew Abel Ena Kayel brings music to its classical place, as the interrogator of
reality, and the documenter of the Ethiopian condition.
Dilemma's of Ethiopian Modernity.
14 January, 2010 | Teodros Kiros (PhD)
The singer thinker, the icon of Ethiopian youth is out on the streets of freedom.
- There he encounters the street
beggars and street children and
sings about them. The camera
takes us directly to the street
corners where the homeless
Ethiopians reside. The camera
slowly moves to document their
lives.
The movement is slow so that
we can absorb the reality as
Teddy accompanies with the
melodies of sorrow, and a
subtle message to the viewer to
think and act about their
misery, their pain.
We are invited to think musically and act morally.
The camera returns again and this time to document the lives of street children.
At first a lovely child full of smiles, in tattered cloth, visits us. The child poses
for us and our eyes are quickly filled with tears, as the child’s eyes invite us to
care, to attend to his existence. The child wants us to know that, he like many
others, was celebrated at birth, but now, the world does not even know that
they exist.
Teddy’s music accompanies the child and becomes the voice and conscience
of street children, the lone beggars on the street.
Teddy’s large eyes, the sparkling teeth, not to say the Golden voice, are
interrogating Ethiopian modernity. The new song is subtle, existentially
serious, deep and heart penetrating.
We are treated to the two faces of Ethiopian modernity, skyscrapers,
highways, hotels, and gourmet food as they stare at us rudely; and then our
eyes refuse to see the children on the streets, their saddened mothers, and
their unemployed fathers.
The new song compels us to see. Some eyes see cakes; other eyes stare at
the naked reality, without hope.
We are forced to stare at the two faces of Ethiopian modernity; hope for the
negligible few and misery for millions of Ethiopians.
The singer-thinker appeals to the Transcendent, like Diagonese, the Greek
philosopher of antiquity, long before him, and begs God to attend to the
human condition, by creating a new human being who thinks for the world,
and who would wake us up from our deep sleep. The appeal is subtle, and the
indictment of the holders of power is in the background, it is the unsaid, which
says, without saying.
Teddy brilliantly tells us what we must do by showing us Ethiopian reality.
The artist is doing his job, and as Birtukan, asked before she left, are you
ready to act, are you ready to fight?
Teddy begs God to speak, to act and to show him the way to change the
miserable Ethiopian reality. We are asked to get engaged, to really see at the
horrible reality environing us, beyond the glaring commodities of wealth and
power for the very rich.
Sew Abel Ena Kayel brings music to its classical place, as the interrogator of
reality, and the documenter of the Ethiopian condition.
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