Mereja.Forum

________________

Eritrean Art: An Art of Resilience

By: Simon Weldemichael

https://shabait.com/2023/08/12/eritrean ... eaPrevails

Q & A

Aug 12, 2023

In this conversation, we welcome Efriem Habtetsion, a poet, photographer, and critic, to delve into the world of poetry.

His poetic journey is marked by three distinct collections: “seb dika” (are you a human being) in 2014, “Hara mkuan” (to be liberated) in 2022, and “dhri znab” (after the rain) in 2023. Efriem’s creative process is akin to a spider at the center of its web, weaving intricate connections between events, emotions, and life itself. Through his carefully chosen words, he constructs a community of emotions, intertwining hope, despair, love, anger, and more. As a poet, he channels historical themes, awakening a deep historical consciousness within readers. His poems are woven with traditional elements, echoing Eritrean society’s indigenous rhythms, proverbs, and oral traditions. Often recited during national occasions, such as Martyr’s Day, his verses console, remind, and invite reminiscence.

Below, we share an excerpt from our enlightening conversation with Eritrean poet Efriem Habtetsion.

What does poetry mean to you, and what drives you to write poetry?

Poetry defies rigid definitions; to me, it’s a medium for expressing inner emotions. Within us reside a multitude of feelings: hope, despair, happiness, anxiety, longing, anger, love, and dreams, among others.

Poetry, provides a concise and precise means to convey these human emotions. It’s the most refined art form, employing heightened language to succinctly communicate experiences, feelings, conditions, and states of consciousness. I write to communicate with both people and myself, expressing what remains unsaid through other modes of communication. My poems are not crafted merely for the sake of art; they mirror reality and existence.

Could you share your journey toward developing a passion for writing poetry?

My upbringing, played a pivotal role in igniting my passion for poetry. During my time as a student at the Revolutionary School of the EPLF in Kassala, Sudan, we would recite revolutionary songs and poems. I would even jot down song lyrics in my textbooks. I found inspiration in magazines like Sagm, published by the EPLF.

The turning point was when I heard Asmerom Habtemariam’s poem on Radio Dmtsi Hafash in 1990, dedicated to the Fenkil Operation. From then on, I began crafting poems in high school to commemorate Women’s Day, Independence Day, Martyrs Day, and First September; which marks the start of Eritrea’s armed struggle. My first significant poem, “Meytu zeymete,” was published in Haddas Ertra in 1997 as a tribute to the renowned singer Yemane Gebremichael.



I understand, you wrote a poem about Mogadishu. Can you elaborate on that?

My travels to China, Germany, Russia, and Sweden exposed me to various cultures, architectures, and beauties. However, my visit to Somalia in 2018 deeply impacted me. Witnessing the devastation in Mogadishu, moved me. Eritrea and Somalia share historical ties, standing together during the challenging times of our struggle for independence. The sight of Mogadishu, affected me profoundly. The hardships Somalia faces serve as a lesson for developing nations, including us. I wanted to be a part of Mogadishu’s renaissance. The poem aims to inspire the city to rise from the ashes, echoing the sentiment:

Wake up Mogadishu, Asmara is on your side.

Your connection with Eritrean singers, seems quite remarkable. Can you tell us more?

I have strong connections, with both veteran and emerging Eritrean singers of diverse languages. I’ve penned lyrics for various artists, like “fanwa bxot” by Dawit Shilan, “hdmona abay aderash” by Saba Andemariam, “bxay” by Beraki, “Reyeka” by Rezene Alem, “seb eyu hayli” by Merhawi Tewelde, and “Sawa” sung by four artists, among others.

I've also composed the Somali-Eritrea song performed by the Somali military band, during President Isaias Afwerki’s visit. My collaboration with musicians, continues to evolve.

Could you elaborate on the themes that drive your writing?

My books predominantly delve into Eritrean history, past struggles, present challenges, and prospects.

Martyrs Day holds a special place in my heart, and I’ve composed numerous commemorative poems for this occasion. Nakfa, a symbol of Eritrean resilience, particularly resonates with me. Writing about Nakfa, felt like chronicling the entire history of Eritrea. I’m also captivated by societal ideas, exploring themes of existence, death, yearning, and human imperfections. My writing revolves around fostering a collective and strong Eritrean national identity, reflecting historical and cultural narratives.



How does poetry intertwine with Eritrean national identity?

Eritrean art is an art of resistance, deeply embedded in our identity. As an Eritrean, I’m naturally drawn to this reality. My poems contribute to this narrative of resistance; failing to do so would be a disservice to the spirit of resistance. In embracing this ethos, I align with those who resist external pressures and those who stand up against them. Ultimately, my poetry reflects the essence of Eritrea’s collective spirit and resonates with the aspirations of its people.

We appreciate, your insights and time. Thank you for joining us.

I’m grateful for the opportunity. Thank you, for having me!

What does the poet got to do with Alexander isaak why do u mix things that have nothing to do with each other

Besides Alex ows Eritrea nothing absolutely he gained nothing from Eritrea the only good thing for him was that his parents fled. From Eritrea to Sweden in order for him to have a better life

He probably doesn’t even own an Eritrean passport
He doesn’t play for the national team of Eritrea do they even have a national team had Alex been born in Eritrea he would have rotten away some where in a sawa camp, so don’t claim this led he has nothing to do with short legged Shabia


Dr Zackovich

Why do love, s@cking d!ck?

Jealousy & envy, I see it all around me
Kill because I'm up, if I was broke, they'd probably clown me.

Nipsey Hussle








@Pieko97

Zack wrote: ↑

12 Aug 2023, 19:04

What does the poet got to do with Alexander isaak why do u mix things that have nothing to do with each other

Besides Alex ows Eritrea nothing absolutely he gained nothing from Eritrea the only good thing for him was that his parents fled. From Eritrea to Sweden in order for him to have a better life

He probably doesn’t even own an Eritrean passport
He doesn’t play for the national team of Eritrea do they even have a national team had Alex been born in Eritrea he would have rotten away some where in a sawa camp, so don’t claim this led he has nothing to do with short legged Shabia


Dr Zackovich

Nipsy hussle had also nothing to do with Eritrea he was an African American lived the gang live died the gang live he didnt die in a sawa camp . He was married to African American not a short legged nappy head. His off spings if he had any. Would have been 75 percent negro and 25 percent shorlegged dna



Dr Zackovich

Low iq parasite you're beneath everyone. You're a nobody. Quit immersing yourself in our affairs. Low life degenerate, nappy haired people are worth much more than your subhuman clans. Fork toothed smellyman.

abysinialutee wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 09:29

Nipsy hussle had also nothing to do with Eritrea he was an African American lived the gang live died the gang live he didnt die in a sawa camp . He was married to African American not a short legged nappy head. His off spings if he had any. Would have been 75 percent negro and 25 percent shorlegged dna



Dr Zoomalibitch

There you go, you green-eyed sleaze-bag!

Zack wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 09:29

Nipsy hussle had also nothing to do with Eritrea he was an African American lived the gang live died the gang live he didnt die in a sawa camp . He was married to African American not a short legged nappy head. His off spings if he had any. Would have been 75 percent negro and 25 percent shorlegged dna



Dr Zackovich

ፕረዚደንት ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ፡ ቀጽሪ EXPO ንዘአንግዶ ዘሎ ሃገራዊ ፈስቲቫል ኤርትራ 2023፡ ሎሚ 13 ነሓሰ ብወግዒ ከፊቱ። ብድሙቕ ባህላዊ ጸወታታት ብሄራት ኤርትራ ተሰንዩ ድማ፡ ቀሪቡ ንዘሎ ትሕዝቶ እናተዘዋወረ ተዓዚቡ።






The #EritreaNationalFestival opened by Pre. Isaias Afwerki this morning at Asmara Expo Compounds in the presence of Ministers & members of diplomatic corps. Regions' Pavillions; Innovation Hubs; Sectoral Exhibitions & Photo Exhibition by Ministries of Defense & Information on display. @hawelti

Weyane.is.dead wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 09:37

Low iq parasite you're beneath everyone. You're a nobody. Quit immersing yourself in our affairs. Low life degenerate, nappy haired people are worth much more than your subhuman clans. Fork toothed smellyman.

abysinialutee wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 09:29

Nipsy hussle had also nothing to do with Eritrea he was an African American lived the gang live died the gang live he didnt die in a sawa camp . He was married to African American not a short legged nappy head. His off spings if he had any. Would have been 75 percent negro and 25 percent shorlegged dna



Dr Zoomalibitch

Stop crying u short legged shabian maniac I am just telling u the truth that neither nispy or Alex had anything to do with ur short legged sawa sewage cesspool just live with that .

Ze'emso as the amharas address you here,

Thanks for sharing.

Hey! The "EXPO ETHNIC GROUPS" are brought from all corners by higdef trucks just my assumption lol. They appear once in a year same as yemeskerem wof.

I wonder, I may be wrong they could be higdefites clad in tigrayit or kunama or bilen... Etc traditional clothes and well trained to dance. You see them dancing for instance tigrayit, the men jumping up and down and the women swaying their heads left and right while dancing. Of course once in a year with the assumption that ze'emso is telling the truth which no one would buy. His higdef is good in manipulating.

Indeed hade hizbi hade libbi hade zubbi.

You've to always mention your masters the Amara, don't you listro?

Once a slave, always a slave!

kerenite wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 14:05

Ze'emso as the amharas address you here,

Thanks for sharing.

Hey! The "EXPO ETHNIC GROUPS" are brought from all corners by higdef trucks just my assumption lol. They appear once in a year same as yemeskerem wof.

I wonder, I may be wrong they could be higdefites clad in tigrayit or kunama or bilen... Etc traditional clothes and well trained to dance. You see them dancing for instance tigrayit, the men jumping up and down and the women swaying their heads left and right while dancing. Of course once in a year with the assumption that ze'emso is telling the truth which no one would buy. His higdef is good in manipulating.

Indeed hade hizbi hade libbi hade zubbi.

Festival Eritrea: Eritrea’s Cultural Bonanza

By: Natnael Yebio W.

https://shabait.com/2023/08/12/festival ... l-bonanza/

Aug 12, 2023

After a brief hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Eritrea Festival will be back in full swing this week. Prior to the pandemic, the Eritrean Festival used to be held annually in the last week of July and the first week of August inside the Asmara Expo ground for seven days and nights. The festival area is a location to witness the culture, tradition, music, and dance of all ethnic groups in Eritrea.

The festival which will be officially opened tomorrow, will be attended by visitors from all walks of life. As this is a unique occasion for fostering national unity and the sole location will be embracing the culture, tradition, music, and dance of all nine ethnic groups in Eritrea, it is a must-visit event during the summer.

Kids wait for it with enthusiasm, Inventors toil for it the whole year, regional administrations prepare for it for the better half of the year, and tourists flock to Eritrea just because of it.

As a kid as each summer approached, besides having to play soccer and not do homework, the Eritrean festival was among the many other things we looked forward to. The festival gives you a sense of belonging, home is usually where you most feel comfortable and the Expo ground for seven days of summer is to a great extent, home to all nine Eritrean ethnic groups, inventors, different institutions, national associations, and many others who are eager to show their ethnic groups trait and in the process prove the harmony Eritrea possess.

In a world characterized by religious segregation and interethnic conflicts, Eritreans, despite their diversity, have managed to live in harmony for hundreds of years. The multi-ethnicity Eritrean society reflects different languages and cultures and as diverse as it may be, it is as harmonious as its marine biodiversity. The festival brings all aspects of the Eritrean natural, cultural, historical, and archaeological heritages to one place so all Eritreans, from home and abroad, can enjoy them in the spirit of unity and fervent patriotic feelings.



All six administrative zones accordingly are set in a regional pavilion of their own, decorated in all their splendor with images, exhibitions, and cultural programs. Each of the administrative regions which are homes to all ethnic groups, on top of their lifestyles and cultural shows, present their core historical and natural endowments. One needs only to visit a regional pavilion to learn everything there is to know about that particular region.

Outside the regional pavilions’, the scene is entirely different. Replicas of houses and tents of all Eritrean nationalities and their living patterns, can be visited. Proudly presenting their lifestyles, women crouch by open fires cooking or churning milk in goat skin leather bags as men tend after farming tools. Each group also has its own group of performers who play and sing all day long.

Tigre women swing their braided hair, while Afar women dance with curved knives. The Rashaida girls in their finely embroidered traditional dresses welcome visitors to their huts, while youngsters from the Bilen group concentrate on the sword dance. The impressive dance styles of the Hidareb and Kunama should not be missed, last but not least Tigrigna ethnic group plays their famous long pipes, as women and youngsters with peculiar haircuts perform the typical round dance.

Speaking of haircuts and hair-dos, all nine ethnic groups have different hairstyles that differ from age to age and gender to gender. It is quite remarkable the significant meaning each haircut has within specific age, sex, and ethnic group.

This national festival, which one foreign visitor once rightly called Eritrea’s cultural bonanza, provides a ground not only for interaction between local communities but also for encouraging the articulation of local cultural traditions in terms of national integration.



Festival Eritrea which traces its roots to the early 1980s during the years of the armed struggle for liberation has had an enormous impact on Eritrean heritage conservation and national identity formation, while it has become a model influence for similar events held by Eritrean communities across the world.

For kids it is time to go out with their parents or older siblings to have fun, take a picture with Tom and Jerry, eat a bite of Eritrea’s finest food, and take a turn at the swing set or slide, for the elderly it is a moment to once again proudly witness Eritrea in continuous harmony, for participants it is a chance to earn extra bucks, for Eritrean foreigners it is a joy to be among their people and experience being Eritrean first hand, while for Eritrea it is simply a bestowed blessing to have its harmoniously diverse population in one place being what Eritrea is best at, celebrating being Eritrean.

Zack wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 13:50

Weyane.is.dead wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 09:37

Low iq parasite you're beneath everyone. You're a nobody. Quit immersing yourself in our affairs. Low life degenerate, nappy haired people are worth much more than your subhuman clans. Fork toothed smellyman.

abysinialutee wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 09:29

Nipsy hussle had also nothing to do with Eritrea he was an African American lived the gang live died the gang live he didnt die in a sawa camp . He was married to African American not a short legged nappy head. His off spings if he had any. Would have been 75 percent negro and 25 percent shorlegged dna



Dr Zoomalibitch

Stop crying u short legged shabian maniac I am just telling u the truth that neither nispy or Alex had anything to do with ur short legged sawa sewage cesspool just live with that .

Low iq zoomali chimp no one gives 2 flying fvcks. Nothing you say or do is going to change the reality of your low iq people. You're synonymous with everything backward. You're not worthy of any discussion. We all look down on you.

Abyssinialutee wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 13:50

Weyane.is.dead wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 09:37

Low iq parasite you're beneath everyone. You're a nobody. Quit immersing yourself in our affairs. Low life degenerate, nappy haired people are worth much more than your subhuman clans. Fork toothed smellyman.

abysinialutee wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 09:29

Nipsy hussle had also nothing to do with Eritrea he was an African American lived the gang live died the gang live he didnt die in a sawa camp . He was married to African American not a short legged nappy head. His off spings if he had any. Would have been 75 percent negro and 25 percent shorlegged dna



Dr Zoomalibitch

Stop crying u short legged shabian maniac I am just telling u the truth that neither nispy or Alex had anything to do with ur short legged sawa sewage cesspool just live with that .

Who is we ur from the sawa trenches the most backward state of Africa where people have to register to get mobile phone where their own people live in the most hardship one can endure . Ur not in the position to speak off backwardness or enlightenment or the so called iq ur trying to speak off .


Dr Zackovich

Zmeselo wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 14:41

Zack wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 13:50

Weyane.is.dead wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 09:37

Low iq parasite you're beneath everyone. You're a nobody. Quit immersing yourself in our affairs. Low life degenerate, nappy haired people are worth much more than your subhuman clans. Fork toothed smellyman.

abysinialutee wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 09:29

Nipsy hussle had also nothing to do with Eritrea he was an African American lived the gang live died the gang live he didnt die in a sawa camp . He was married to African American not a short legged nappy head. His off spings if he had any. Would have been 75 percent negro and 25 percent shorlegged dna



Dr Zoomalibitch

Stop crying u short legged shabian maniac I am just telling u the truth that neither nispy or Alex had anything to do with ur short legged sawa sewage cesspool just live with that .

This doesn’t proof anything the fact that this lad carried an American passport proud and lived his entire life in the us of a shows u clearly that one has no heart in the cesspoool u call eritrea. Henceford one has to understand African Americans always try to associate with africa it’s in their psyc I have read this in many pieces all African American try to find some association with African now for this lad this is nothing is new because his mother a black American who was knocked up by a short legged shabian back in the 1980s hence he is using that angle to find some association with the sawa cesspool which is understandable. But still I said he has nothing to do with the sawa cesspool geographically socially and identity

Dr Zackovich

I'm not doing it to prove anything, to a blind asß-sûcker.

A blind punani is always a blind punani, anyway.

If Eritrea is a cesspool then what's ur chgray or even dji-booty (wherever the hell-hole, your skinny fág- self hails from)?

Zack wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 15:47

Zmeselo wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 14:41

Zack wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 13:50

Weyane.is.dead wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 09:37

Low iq parasite you're beneath everyone. You're a nobody. Quit immersing yourself in our affairs. Low life degenerate, nappy haired people are worth much more than your subhuman clans. Fork toothed smellyman.

abysinialutee wrote: ↑

13 Aug 2023, 09:29

Nipsy hussle had also nothing to do with Eritrea he was an African American lived the gang live died the gang live he didnt die in a sawa camp . He was married to African American not a short legged nappy head. His off spings if he had any. Would have been 75 percent negro and 25 percent shorlegged dna



Dr Zoomalibitch

Stop crying u short legged shabian maniac I am just telling u the truth that neither nispy or Alex had anything to do with ur short legged sawa sewage cesspool just live with that .

This doesn’t proof anything the fact that this lad carried an American passport proud and lived his entire life in the us of a shows u clearly that one has no heart in the cesspoool u call eritrea. Henceford one has to understand African Americans always try to associate with africa it’s in their psyc I have read this in many pieces all African American try to find some association with African now for this lad this is nothing is new because his mother a black American who was knocked up by a short legged shabian back in the 1980s hence he is using that angle to find some association with the sawa cesspool which is understandable. But still I said he has nothing to do with the sawa cesspool geographically socially and identity

Dr Zackovich

Yes we know nispy was fathered by a short legged shabian who made his negro girlfriend pregnant I am sure the racist Short legged Shabia family never really liked their short legged son to be with a barya lady . Now having said that why on earth are u insulting me personally I never insulted u personally I merely said nispy hussle has nothing to do with the short legged Shabia trenches and u are telling me other wise what gives .
U failed or bring evidence that he has something with eritrea other then waving some flag here and there .

Dr Zackovich