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Eritrean Designers’ Group: Modernizing Traditional Clothing

By: Ruth Abraham

https://shabait.com/2022/07/21/eritrean ... eaPrevails

GENERAL

Jul 21, 2022



The elderly, have a close attachment to the cultural values of their society and are often the most ardent advocates for their preservation. In most families and societies, the generation gap comes as a problem, as the young and the elderly engage in a pull-and-push to assert their respective stances and values.

‘Newri/Eib,’ Tigrigna and Tigre words that mean indecency, are often used by the elderly to tell the young of their wrongdoings. Sometimes, the elderly simply tell you that you are not supposed to do or say something, but when you ask them why they tell you it’s just ‘Newri/Eib’ without giving any explanation. Of course, if you dig deep, you understand why but the lack of explanation tends to cause disagreement between the young and the elderly.



There is no question that the young in Eritrea are rooted in their culture and are bound by the values of their parents and society, but it’s also natural for them to be influenced by their peers and global trends. There are many contentious areas but this article deals with fashion designs.

For the elderly, the wearing of overexposing clothes is ‘Newri/Eib.’ Though the modern style is not new to the Eritrean culture, it strictly requires complete decency. The wearing of miniskirts and ripped jeans, for instance, is incompatible with the traditional decorum. In short, it’s considered ‘Newri/Eib.’

I came across a fashion design group, in an exhibition conducted at the hall of the Eritrean Agricultural Professionals Association. As I have mentioned in a couple of articles in the past, a group of talented Eritreans is having a monthly exhibition, which serves as a platform for showcasing products and innovation for five different groups. The groups’ objectives and their products vary. The designers’ group is one of the five groups participating in the exhibition with the objective of expressing and preserving culture, while adding the value of modernity to their designs.



Henok Kidane is a young Eritrean designer who has recently joined the Eritrean designers’ group, led by designer Abraham Sultan. He is participating in the exhibition, as a member of the designers’ group.

Looking at the group’s work, in general, and that of Henok, specifically, reminded me of the clash in fashion between the older and younger generations. Most of the designs that I saw in pictures and at the exhibition, incorporated some of the traditional clothes into modern designs. As I later heard from most of the designers in the association, this era in fashion design in Eritrea is a time when designers are struggling to satisfy the desires of the young for modernity and the needs of the elderly to preserve culture. Henok, is one of the actors.

The exhibition seeks to lay a stage where designers and other talents express situations, cultures, and values, and the designers’ group tries to transmit national and cultural messages through their works.

According to Mr. Abraham Sultan, the coordinator of the designers’ group, some members of the group excel in traditional designs while others excel in modern designs, and the group provides a common ground for the example of the young and talented Eritrean designers.

He started designing, five years ago. He has taken courses and has had extensive experience in his design career. He won a golden award at the New Year 2022 designers’ competition of around thirty contestants held at Hotel Ambasoira, Asmara. The 2022 competition was held under the theme, “National Brand (trademark) of Development” and sought to express national development values and objectives.



According to Henok, he and his group used to make only traditional clothes. But with global trends overwhelming the local markets of traditional clothes, they were compelled to look for options. For the Eritrean designers’ group, the immediate solution has been blending modern designs with traditional clothes. The designs at the exhibition portray this concept, in a varying range of categories.

Designer Abraham, on his part, said that he has a lot of concern regarding the fashion trends in Eritrea. He thinks that the designers do not really utilize their works, to introduce and promote their national and cultural values.

We can make Eritrean dresses, gift bags, shoes, accessories, and so on. We are pushing towards that direction now, towards branding our own products,”

he said in explaining the immediate objective of the Eritrean designers’ group.



Designer Henok finally said, that designing is a medium of expressing thoughts and reflecting creativity. A person is not a designer, simply because he can sew.

If designing is all about putting together a piece of cloth, everyone would be a designer. Real design is making a readable cloth, a design where ideas and thoughts of the designer and his identity are portrayed,

he added.



Speaking of their future plans, members of the Eritrean designers’ group admit their shortcomings but aspire to gain more experience and do well over time.

Designer Abraham also said, that all is possible if they direct their energies toward a common goal.

On July 20, 1993, President Isaias Afwerki made the first official state visit to Saudi Arabia after Eritrea became a sovereign country & met with Saudi Arabia's King Fahd bin Abdel Aziz in Jeddah.

In 1949, Saudi Arabia voted against the Bevin-Sforza Plan to partition Eritrea mainly to prevent the return of Italy to Somalia as a trustee. Saudi Arabia was one of the few countries to vote against the plan, while Ethiopia favored the partition of Eritrea.

In 1950 when the UNGA voted Eritrea to be federated with Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia abstained primarily on the grounds that the federal arrangement imposed severe restrictions on the right of the Eritreans to self-determination.

In Dec. 1960, Idris Mohammed Adem accompanied by Sheikh Ibrahim Sultan set out their initial diplomatic activity to Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, they met King Saud bin Abdulaziz & the Crown Prince Faisal.

In Jan. 1993 in his New Year Message, Isaias Afwerki then Sec Gen of the PG of Eritrea stated;

The Saudis and their ilk talk a lot about their presumed assistance to the Eritrean struggle, but apart from their hostile stance and attempts to instrumentalise and confound it to promote their security interests, they never provided any worthy assistance to the Eritrean people. They did not donate even a single sack of flour as a token of their humanitarian concern, when the Eritrean people were suffering from war and drought. Their act of impounding our weapons on the high seas and confiscating them, at a time when our armed struggle was in its most difficult period is something which cannot be deleted from history.

In 1993, just a week before the Referendum, Saudi Arabia allowed more than 40,000 eligible Eritreans to vote and it was one of the first countries to recognize Eritrea in April 1993. Hamid Mohammed Humed became the 1st Eritrean Ambassador to to Saudi Arabia, on 20 Nov. 1993.
History of Eritreaታሪኽ ኤርትራ.تاريخ إريتريا: @Erihistory




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July 20, 1988 (Eritrea- EPLF- Keren):