In the project VISIONI – RAIY, the second installment of a series of video conversations which you can find on our Youtube channel and on the social media pages of the Italian Cultural Institute of Addis Ababa, the Artistic Director Johanne Affricot meets six protagonists of the Italian and Ethiopian cultural and artistic scene who have their roots, by birth or family, in Ethiopia. We will explore their life, work and vision—their raiy, as they say in Amharic—on the many nuances of being Italian and Ethiopian, between presence and absence within geographical, social, cultural and linguistic boundaries.

The protagonists of the conversations are: Liliana Mele, actress who took the first steps in the world of acting at the Italian Cultural Institute’s theatre workshop “Airbag Terzo Millennio” which she attended for three years (1997-2000); Dagmawi Yimer, documentary filmmaker known for his documentaries Soltanto il Mare(2011)  [Only the Sea] and Va’ Pensiero, Storie Ambulanti (2013) [Va’ Pensiero, Walking Stories], he experienced the toughest migration journey by crossing the desert and the sea before arriving in Italy; Gabriella Ghermandi, writer, musician and performer. She is the author, among other texts, of the acclaimed novel Regina di Fiori e di Perle (Donzelli, 2007) [Queen of Flowers and Pearls] and of L’Italiano degli altri: 16 storie di normale immigrazione (Einaudi Scuola, 2006) [Others’ Italian: 16 Stories of normal immigration]; Avex TheMc, up and coming rapper of the Italian underground scene. Born in Italy and raised in Ethiopia, he has been based in Bologna for over five years; Hellen Yirga, designer, manager, former model and founder of Yirga, a fashion company with a social purpose; and finally, Saba Anglana, a deeply eclectic multidisciplinary artist: actress, singer, radio host and poet.

From October 21 we will present the protagonists with dedicated insights:

21 October – Liliana Mele
25 October – Gabriella Ghermandi
28 October – Avex TheMC
1 November – Dagmawi Yimer
4November – Yirga
8 November – Saba Anglana

Authors — Johanne Affricot, Celine Angbeletchy
Editing — Marco Brunelli
Graphic Design — Rokhaya Seck

VISIONI | RAIY is curated and produced by GRIOT in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Addis Abeba. The series is presented on the occasion of the XXI Week of The Italian Language in the World (18-24 October 2021).