Visualizing Marriage in Northern Ethiopia: The Production and Consumption of Gama
2018; UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center; Volume: 51; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1162/afar_a_00416
ISSN1937-2108
Autores Tópico(s)Italian Fascism and Post-war Society
Resumoall photos by the author, unless otherwise notedVisitors to private homes in Aksum, Ethiopia may notice a genre of painting that remains relatively unknown outside of the Tigrai Regional State (Fig. 1). Known as gama, which is also the Tigrinya word for “wedding,” the paintings depict a bride and groom, often with attendants, and key iconic images of Aksum, the birthplace of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOC).1 Produced by church-trained artists and their apprentices, gama stylistically resemble paintings found in Ethiopian Orthodox churches, in bars, restaurants, and hotels, and in the artwork carried home by foreign visitors as souvenirs. While Aksum's tourist shops are full of paintings on board and canvas depicting secular and religious themes, gama are much less visible to tourists, as they are either produced on commission or sold in small suqs2 (neighborhood stores) into which few foreign visitors venture (Fig. 2). Found in Ethiopian Orthodox households in Aksum and in Tigraian communities throughout Ethiopia, their prominent display in communal living spaces signifies that a family's daughter is married, and properly so, as her husband followed tradition by giving his bride's family a gama. This article explores the history of gama and their contemporary consumption and production and argues that they remain a prominent element of Aksumite expressive culture, even as photography has become a widespread and increasingly affordable means of documenting weddings.Aksum and its surrounding region have long been a historic center for the production of painting traditions associated with the EOC (Biasio 1993, 2009; Chojnacki 1964; Sobania and Silverman 2006, 2009, forthcoming) as well as for gold- and silver-smithing. While many painters from the Aksum area have moved to the regional capital Mekelle or the national capital Addis Ababa, the number of artists working in and around the city remains high. Many of these are priest-painters who hold offices within the city's churches in addition to their work as artists. They are active members of Aksum's ecclesiastical community and carry titles such as Mergeta (choir master) and Haleqa (chief priest) as well as honorary titles beginning with the Ge'ez3 word Liq (arch or chief), such as Liq Berhanat (Chief of the Light). They also work as teachers in a centuries-old apprenticeship system that remains strong in the region (Sobania and Silverman 2009: 29). Adult male painters train younger male relatives—most often sons, but also nephews, younger brothers, and even grandsons—as well as other boys and young men (Fig. 3). A few painters even train their daughters (Fig. 4), although work as a painter, particularly one focused on creating artwork for the EOC, remains an unusual occupation for women (Teklemichael 2009).The consumption of painting—both active and passive—pervades daily life for Aksum's Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. In addition to the wedding paintings that are the focus of this article, they encounter hand-painted images on the walls of their churches, in the pages of manuscripts held by their clergy, and on the surface of takafatch (icons) used for public religious services and private prayer in the home. Representations of religious narratives, famous battles, and scenes from daily life appear on an ever-changing variety of wooden and metal crosses, icons, and other objects offered for sale in Aksum's tourist shops (Silverman and Sobania 2009, forthcoming). Canvas paintings of scenes from Aksumite history—including the erection of the famous Aksum stelae and the Queen of Sheba's visit to King Solomon—are prominently framed and mounted on the walls of bars, hotels, and restaurants throughout the city, and indeed, similar images are found in hotels, bars, and restaurants throughout Ethiopia and its diaspora.In addition, painted representations of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, other saints, and religious scenes are reproduced on chromolithographs manufactured in Ethiopia or imported from China and India (Simmons 2009; Silverman 2009). These mechanically produced images appear in churches taped to walls or framed and placedFor many years, chromolithographs solely depicted European images of Christian figures and scenes. However, the continued development of Ethiopia's printing industry, along with the entrepreneurial efforts of artists and business owners, has led to the production of chromolithographs that reproduce Ethiopian figures and scenes, particularly those of popular EOC saints not normally found in European contexts. Usually, these Ethiopian-style chromolithographs are created from hand-painted images,4 providing a wider audience for church-trained artists. Today, chromolithographs illustrating both EOC and European Christian imagery are offered for sale throughout Ethiopia, including Aksum. In addition, these images appear in taxis and bajaj, the now seemingly ubiquitous blue and white three-wheeled vehicles imported from India (Endeg 2014; Simmons 2009). Painted Christian images are everywhere in Aksum.Church-trained artists living and working in the city and surrounding region produce artwork for three client groups: the tourist trade, EOC churches, and Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. For each, they create work on commission and on speculation, both of which carry financial risk. Members of EOC congregations purchase paintings to donate to churches as thanks for an answered prayer or to celebrate life events such as a christening or graduation. Such gifts are often commissioned, although some clients choose to buy extant works even if doing so means they have no input on the final product. When a new church is constructed or an older church renewed, affiliated clergy commission an artist (or team of artists) to create paintings for it. In some cases, they choose an artist based on previous experience working with him; in others, they find a painter based on reputation or on first-hand observation of his artwork in another church. Artists receiving such commissions may be asked to paint a church's ceiling, maq'das (sanctuary), or exterior (Fig. 5). Relationships between tourist shop owners and artists are formed in a similar manner. Shop owners purchase artwork from artists who approach them with goods to sell or they develop patron-client relationships with artists whose work they find marketable (Sobania and Silverman 2009, forthcoming). Regardless of their type, commissions allow artists to engage directly with patrons, consulting on and taking into consideration client preferences regarding content, composition, color, and size of work, much as artists worldwide do when offered commissions (Johnson 2003, 2011). Most patrons pay for their commissions, but economic hardship can result in their abandonment, leaving the artist to find another buyer in order to recoup the time and money invested creating the work.5When producing paintings on speculation, artists consider market demand and create in the hope that someone may buy an already completed painting. Such work may be highly innovative in terms of its subject matter and/or form (Sobania and Silverman 2009, forthcoming). Although not entirely uncommon, such innovation is usually driven by a particularly creative business owner or artist (Silverman 1999, 2005; Sobania and Silverman 2009, forthcoming). Until the late twentieth century, Aksum's artists worked primarily for the EOC market. However, “while a significant portion of artistic production in Aksum is still destined for use in the regions churches, the more lucrative market for the town's many painters and metalworkers is the foreigners who come to visit the historic town” (Sobania and Silverman 2009: 28). Today, few, if any, painters create solely for the church or for the tourist trade, choosing, instead, to take advantage of the economic opportunities that come from producing for both. This is true of artists based in Aksum, in other towns and cities in northern Ethiopia, and in the capital. In an increasingly challenging economic environment, some painters have further diversified their income by entering other trades, such as woodworking or shopkeeping. For example, the artist Liq Berhanat Berhane Gebre Iyasus now spends much of his time designing, building, and selling wooden office and household furniture in the workshop he runs with his eldest son Abraham, as the market for paintings has tightened due to the economic climate and the influx of chromolithographs.6In addition to painting for the tourist market and for churches, Aksum's artists create gama for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, specifically for those who closely identify with the city and its heritage and who claim affiliation to the Tigraian ethnic group. Thus, gama is very much an artistic and cultural tradition tied to Aksum. As with other work, artists create gama on commission and on speculation. For gama painters working on commission, the production of a painting happens well in advance of the marriage. Liq Heeruyan7 Gebre Wahid said,Commissioned gama are usually larger and more complicated, appealing to an urban clientele with greater access to educational and financial resources and awareness of contemporary wedding trends. Well-known local artists, including Liq Berhanat Berhane, Liq Heeruyan Gebre Wahid, Ato9 Berhanemeskel Fisseha and his son Deakon10 Ephrem Berhanemeskel, serve such clients locally; but they also receive commissions from Tigraians based in other Ethiopian cities (Fig. 6).11 For rural customers, these artists create smaller, simpler gama, produced in advance and as multiples for sale in suqs.Liq Heeruyan Gebre Wahid and Liq Berhanat Berhane each began painting in childhood after visiting churches and seeing the wall paintings in them. The son of a priest, Liq Heeruyan Gebre Wahid was trained by several priest-painters from an early age; he created his first gama around the age of 20.12Liq Berhanat Berhane is the son of farmers and did not have any training in painting; he is largely self-taught. He recalled,Both men have trained their sons and daughters to paint although none of their children worked as full-time painters while in secondary school. Several of Liq Berhanat Berhane's children once expressed a desire to work as full-time painters, yet as of the spring of 2016, only his eldest daughter Selamawit continues to paint. His eldest son Abraham manages the family's furniture workshop while his second son Daniel has a career in the church. His two younger daughters, Million and Melat, are students.Gama artists paint in their homes, either in the living room or in a bedroom that also serves as a studio. Gama are created by priest-painters in the same manner as they produce paintings for the church and tourist markets. Cotton cloth known as abujedi is stretched and nailed to a wooden frame, then divided into sections, depending on the size of the work(s) being painted (Fig. 7). Painters who work almost solely on commission, such as Liq Heeruyan Gebre Wahid, meet with clients and sell paintings from their homes (Fig. 8), while others produce for suqs, where the works may be sold without an artist's signature. Until 2013, Liq Berhanat Berhane produced paintings at home, then sold them in the small store at the front of his house (Fig. 2). When he moved into furniture production several years ago, the store was closed. A sign advertising gama remains on the building, however, as the family still offer gama for sale during the primary wedding season, which starts after the celebration of Timket (Epiphany) in mid-January and ends when Lenten fasting begins in late February. Similar signs found outside shops and artists' homes now often include a cell phone number for easier client access (Fig. 9).While it is unclear exactly when the practice of creating wedding paintings began, the meaning of gama is clear to the artists who create them and the families who display them. Gama are not intended to be portraits—in other words, the bride and groom depicted are not meant to physically resemble named individuals14—they function, instead, like a marriage certificate.15 According to Liq Berhanat Berhane,Liq Heeruyan Gebre Wahid commented thatTheir clients, local shopkeepers selling gama, and other residents of Aksum agree. Repeatedly, I was told that gama means kibir (respect) and that it represents both local bahel (tradition) and a kal kidan (promise/covenant) between the bride and groom and their families. Wayzero18 Abeba Tsehaiyay, who sells gama in her shop near Aksum's northern stelae field,19 said. “It's a strong cultural obligation. Everyone does it.”20 Ma'areg Mesfin, a 30-year old bajaj driver in Aksum, commented, “If people get married, they have to have a gama. It's a promise. The wedding is like a promise to the family and the community.”21 Two of Wayzero Abeba Teklemariam's five daughters have married and she proudly displays their gama in the living room of her home (Fig. 10). When asked what gama mean to her, she immediately answered, “I feel joy. … The gama represents respect. It expresses that your daughter was a virgin and that she was married in a formal wedding ceremony. … It is Aksum tradition.”22The importance of a woman's virginity prior to entering into marriage was also mentioned by priest-painters and their clients. When I first asked Liq Berhanat Berhane about gama more than a decade ago, he said that when the tradition began, families would sometimes take a piece of bloodstained cloth or hide from the bed on which the newly married couple first slept and nail it over the gama to publicly demonstrate that the bride had been a virgin at the time of the wedding.23 He then commented that while people in the city no longer practiced this part of the tradition, those in the countryside sometimes did. When asked if gama are given when a woman is no longer a virgin, Wayzero Abeba Teklemariam demurred before saying, “Yes, it could be; but the original idea of gama is to show that the woman was a virgin and was married in a respectful manner.”24The first gama were probably created in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, following the emergence of what Elisabeth Biasio refers to as “contemporary painting in traditional style” (2009: 14). The establishment of Addis Ababa in 1886 led to increasing numbers of foreign visitors to Ethiopia and resulted in growing demand for paintings that reflected the country's history and culture, as these ferengi (foreigners) were eager to acquire souvenirs. Church-trained artists began producing paintings with both religious and secular imagery for this market. Gama appears to have evolved during this artistic shift from painting solely for royal and church patrons toward a broader clientele, one that included both Ethiopians and ferengi. Biasio would term gama a form of either “folk painting” or “traditional elite painting.” The former is “work produced by local artists for local indigenous consumption,” while the latter “was produced on commission, often from a ruler, by the very best artists.” These are “art forms grounded in local communities. They fulfill indigenous functions, are produced by artists with a traditional, often church-based training, and are intended for local consumption” (Biasio 2009: 14). Based on her definitions, whether gama qualifies as “folk painting” or “traditional elite painting” depends upon the artist and the socioeconomic status of the client. Key to the genre, however, is that it is intrinsically local, both produced and consumed by Tigraians. Unlike “contemporary painting in traditional style” or several forms of “popular painting,”25gama have not yet attracted significant attention from collectors and collecting institutions,26 which helps explain why they have not yet been the subject of academic study.27The earliest extant wedding painting I have seen is a type referred to as zemenawi (“modern”) because it featured a bride in a white dress and groom in a suit and tie standing in front of Aksum's northern stelae field. Commemorating the marriage of a woman who was in her 70s in 2002, it was probably created in the 1940s,28 but the tradition is believed to date back more than a century. According to Liq Berhanat Berhane,Wayzero Likeyelshi Belay Gessesse, who celebrated her fiftieth wedding anniversary in 2016, had a gama for her marriage, as do each of her married daughters (Fig. 11).30 She said that the tradition dates back to the time of her grandfather Dejazmatch31 Gessesse, who served as governor of Tigrai in 1905 (Rosen 1907: 488–89).32 Similarly, Liq Heeruyan Gebre Wahid commented that the practice dates back at least to the early twentieth century. “Before Haile Selassie I [r. 1930–1974], the gama was very simple, with just the bride and groom, the cross above and names below. After [his coronation], the gama became more complicated.”33Liq Berhanat Berhane agreed that a modern type of gama developed during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie I.34 This was a period of great modernization and innovation in Ethiopia, one building on the efforts of previous emperors including Tewodros II (r. 1855–1868), Yohannes IV (r. 1871–1889), and Menelik II. From the late nineteenth century onward, the import of North American and Western European goods and technologies into the country affected myriad aspects of Ethiopian society, including weddings.The arrival and increasing availability of foreign styles of wedding clothing were soon reflected in gama.Ethiopian marriage practices are extremely varied, which is not surprising given the country's ethnic and religious diversity.35 (For more on marriage in Ethiopia, see Augustyniak 2009; Beyene and Tolera 2006; Fafchamps and Quisumbing 2005; Kebede 1989; Mengesha et al. 1996; Pankhurst 1992; and Ullendorff 1960.) Shared religious beliefs provide for commonality of practice amongst fellow believers, while distinguishing them from other groups, as ethnic traditions also do. Increasingly, economic stratification and urbanization further promote both commonality and diversity. For example, photography is nearly ubiquitous in documenting urban weddings of all faiths and at most income levels, but is very uncommon in remote rural areas. In Ethiopia's northern Christian highlands, several forms of marriage traditionally existed. These include what historian Edward Ullendorf referred to as damoz,36 or short-term marriage by contract; kal kidan,37 a form of “binding civil marriage”; and kal kidan bekwerban,38 in which the marriage is performed as both a civil ceremony and a religious ceremony incorporating communion (1960:179–80). Kal kidan bekwerban is “strictly speaking, indissoluble … Church ceremonies are customary also among the ruling classes and are compulsory for clergy” (Ullendorf 1960: 180; see also Augustyniak 2009: 102; Pankhurst 1992: 69). In Aksum, this form of marriage is widespread for several reasons, including the city's history as birthplace of the EOC and the correspondingly deep religious beliefs of its residents. The clerical offices held by many men also encourages kal kidan bekwerban, as these roles necessitate this form of marriage. Couples participating in kal kidan bekwerban marry in a church while wearing a kaba (cloak) and zewde (crown) (Fig. 12). The “symbol of this royal [rite of] passage is the officiating priest placing the crowns on the couple's heads” (Mengesha, Deressa, and Imagnu 1996: 122–23; interpolation in original). It is this type of marriage that is represented in the earliest form of wedding paintings, which Aksumites now refer to as bahelawi gama (Figs. 2–3, 7).The two primary types of gama are identified by artists and their clients as bahelawi (cultural/traditional) and zemenawi (modern). Clear distinctions exist between these types, each of which appeals to a particular customer base. Bahelawi wedding paintings are divided into two primary registers, with an additional blank space at the bottom of the painting for the artist to add the names of the bridal couple and the date of the wedding (Figs. 2–3, 7). One register, usually the lower, features a bride and groom depicted in the clothing and accessories associated with a church wedding. The second register features geometric or floral motifs or a representation of one of Aksum's famous stelae. Zemenawi wedding paintings, which are created as a single scene, depict a bride, groom, and their mizeotch (attendants) standing in front of the city's iconic architecture (Fig. 13). They wear clothing now associated with modern, urban weddings in Ethiopia and in many other parts of the world: a white dress and veil for the bride; suit and tie for the groom and groomsmen; and long, usually colorful, dresses for the bridesmaids. Textual information about the couple and their wedding is either painted directly into the scene—this is particularly common with older zemenawi wedding paintings (Fig. 13)—or at the bottom of the gama in a space specifically designated for this purpose. The practice of inscribing information about the bridal couple and the wedding date has been part of the gama tradition from its origins, as previously mentioned.39Bahelawi wedding paintings are simpler in composition, physically smaller, and, therefore, less expensive than modern-type gama. They are produced for geberayotch (farmers) and yegetir sowotch (people from the countryside). Artists state that residents of the small villages in the Aksum region have a preference for bahelawi gama due to their lower price, which makes them more affordable, and because they like “simpler paintings.”40 Rural customers are also thought to prefer depictions of the bride and groom in the clothing associated with a church wedding, with which they are most familiar. Traditionally, each figure in a bahelawi gama wears an embroidered cloak and a crown; and the only visible distinctions between the couple are that the bride wears earrings and has long hair. Very rarely, the woman may be depicted as physically smaller. Although less ornate than their modern counterparts, traditional-type gama provide for artistic freedom of expression in the geometric and floral motifs, which allow painters to use bright colors and a variety of shapes including circles, squares, diamonds, and hearts (Fig. 7).Zemenawi wedding paintings are created for yeketema sowotch (city residents). Artists explain that urban dwellers prefer zemenawi gama for several reasons. First, these paintings are physically larger and more ornate, which makes their presence in a family home more prominent, as do their many vibrant colors. Second, the higher price of a modern-type gama serves as a public and private indicator of the socioeconomic status of the brides family, whose daughter is worthy of such an expensive painting, and of the groom, who is able to afford it. “If the groom doesn't bring a good quality gama, it can become a problem; so, to make the brides family happy, he has to order a good quality painting.”41 Finally, the fact that many zemenawi gama are produced on commission enables clients to customize paintings, choosing the color of the clothing worn by the bridal couple and their attendants, the depiction of particular churches, or the color of floral motifs and other objects incorporated into the painting.One iconic element appears in both bahelawi and zemenawi wedding paintings: the carved 21-meter-tall stela (hawlti in Tigrinya) known as King Ezana's Stela. Until September 4, 2008, when the repatriated 24-meter-tall Obelisk of Aksum42 was unveiled,43 King Ezana's Stela was the tallest standing monument in Aksum's northern stelae field, which is integral to the city's designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.44 It served as the primary icon for Aksum and the region, and one of the primary symbols of Ethiopia.45 Images of the hawlti have long appeared on the cover of guidebooks and in advertisements promoting Ethiopia, and they have been reproduced innumerable times in magazine and newspaper articles about the country, on websites and t-shirts, and in small stone replicas offered for sale in Ethiopian tourist shops. In bahelawi gama, the upper register usually depicts a cross-like symbol or the northern stelae field, with flowering bushes and smaller stelae surrounding King Ezana's Stela. If the obelisk does not appear as the focus of a register in traditional-type gama, it is depicted between the bridal couple. According to Liq Berhanat Berhane, “The cross at the top is given by God, no one knows how it arrived … The hawlti is a symbol for when you get married.”46 Increasingly, both the cross-like symbol and King Ezana's Stela are incorporated into bahelawi gama, with the cross at the top and the stela appearing between the bridal couple (Fig. 7). When the stela appears in the upper register, a metal water pitcher is depicted between the bride and groom (Fig. 2). This vessel, which represents hospitality and respect, also appears consistently in zemenawi wedding paintings.Artists incorporate several objects in modern-type gama that comprise the bride's t'ilosh, or dowry (Fig. 14). “In the past, the woman had a dowry that included a mintaf (carpet), an alga tras (bed pillow), and a kuskust47 (water pitcher).”48 The dowry's inclusion in gama highlights yeduro gize bahel (past traditions), which, although no longer always practiced by urban families, remain symbolically important. According to Liq Berhanat Berhane, Liq Heeruyan Gebre Wahid, and numerous other Aksumites with whom I spoke, t'ilosh was traditionally given to young couples by the bride's parents to provide them with some of the goods needed to establish a household.The dowry also represents the esteem that should now be accorded to the newly married pair. “The pillow indicates respect and that no one else has power over them because now they are a couple who lie down together.”50 This is often indicated by the inclusion of two pillows, one for the bride and one for the groom (Figs. 13–14). Once married “they were no longer two separate persons, but two in one flesh; and that so in like manner should their hearts and wills be” (Alvares quoted by Pankhurst 1992: 45). Including dowry components in gama demonstrates the bridal family's commitment to the marriage; in turn, her husband recognizes their support through his purchase of a gama. Visual reference to the dowry also provides an outlet for creative expression. While the water pitcher is generally represented in yellow or gray, referencing the metal from which such vessels were made, the carpet and pillow are painted in bright colors and embellished with geometric or floral motifs.Artists also exercise creativity in their depiction of the attendants. In zemenawi gama, the bride wears a modern white wedding dress, known as a velo, while the groom and his groomsmen wear suits, usually of dark colors, often matching and with colorful ties. The bridesmaids' long matching dresses are brightly colored and often ornately flounced. Representing attendants is a relatively recent practice, following the development of zemenawi gama. According to Liq Heeruyan Gebre Wahid, “We began adding the attendants to gama at the end of the Imperial period or beginning of the Derg51 [circa 1974]. In the past, we used the cross but no attendants.”52 Today, three bridesmaids and three groomsmen are standard in modern-type gama, regardless of how many mizeotch actually attend the bride and groom.In addition to the couple, attendants, dowry, and stela, at least one of Aksum's iconic buildings is ubiquitous in zemenawi wedding paintings: the Old Cathedral of Maryam Tsion.53 When the Aksumite king Ezana converted to Christianity in 333 ce, locals believe he built a church on what is now the site of the Old Cathedral (Phillipson 1998: 115–16). Thought to have been torn down in the tenth century, it was rebuilt before being destroyed yet again during the Abyssinian-Adal War (1529–1543) by the forces of Ahmed Gragn (Henze 2000: 86–87).54 The current structure, built by Emperor Fasilides (r. 1632–1667), dates to the seventeenth century (Munro-Hay 1991). Because the Old Cathedral only admitted male worshipers, Emperor Haile Selassie I commissioned the construction of a massive new cathedral in the 1960s. This project included construction of a bell tower and the Chapel of the Tablet.55 The latter building was created for a unique purpose: Inside, “according to the traditions of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, is kept the Ark of the Covenant, brought to Ethiopia by Menelik I, the son of [King] Solomon and the Queen of Sheba” whom Ethiopians claim as their own (Phillipson 1998: 7).All three edifices form an ecclesiastical complex, or “Cathedral precinct” (see Phillipson 1998: 52–53) that is “the holiest place in the Ethiopian Christian kingdom” (Munro-Hay 1991). They serve as physical reminders of Ethiopia's ancient past and of the longevity of the EOC as well as its status as guardian of the Ark of the Covenant. Based on artistic license or client request, modern-type gama may also include the Chapel of the Tablet or the modern Cathedral of Maryam Tsion (Figs. 13–14). Artists and their clients state that the inclusion in gama of these iconic structures reinforces their EOC faith and local history and culture. The Old Cathedral of Maryam Tsion is, however, always represented because it is Aksum's oldest church, literally and figuratively grounded on the ancient civilization for which the region is renowned and physical home of the Ark of the Covenant until the Chapel of the Tablet was constructed. (Phillipson 1998: 114–15 provides a description of the ancient Aksumite podium on which the Old Cathedral is built.)Much as with other gama elements, artists use Aksum's iconic architecture as a means of adding color and complexity to their paintings. Bright primary and secondary colors predominate, especially the red, yell
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