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Events Lecture Series Participant Activities Program Participant Activities 2023 Walking as a Way of Knowing – Belgrade Click here to edit the text and include the information you would like to feature. View More

Events Lecture Series Participant Activities Series of texts developed by participants of WCSCD 2020/2021 program as a response to Bruno Latour text What protective measures can you think of so we don’t go back to the pre-crisis production model? The series of texts have been developed by participants of WCSCD2020/2021 program as a response to Bruno Latour text What protective measures can you think of so we don’t go back to the pre-crisis production model? http://www.bruno-latour.fr/sites/default/files/downloads/P-202-AOC-ENGLISH_1.pdf This was volunteer response during the lock down as a way of solidarity and vocalizing our hopes and fears. I would like to thank to all authors who contributed as well as Katelynn Dunn and Róisín McQueirns for editorial work on published texts Program has been postponed for March 2021. C OVER IMAGE photo by Anna Mikaela Ekstrand Silver of the Blue Sky NYC April 2020 LIST OF CONTRIBUTION 22 June 2020 Which Side Have You Chosen? A Response to Bruno Latour [1] Anna Mikaela Ekstrand Read More 4 May 2020 Response to Latour I, Crisis, Production and Closed Communication Katelynn Dunn Read More 2 May 2020 After The Covid-19: Speculations Over The Verb ‘To Re-Start Giulia Menegale Read More 23 Apr 2020 Present Perfect Continuous Tīna Pētersone Read More 17 Apr 2020 Immovable Object /Unstoppable Force Devashish Sharma Read More 10 Apr 2020 Care in Crisis – A Response to Bruno Latour’s protective measures post-crisis Beatrice Rubio-Gabriel Read More 10 Apr 2020 A response to Bruno Latour’s Protective Measures Nathalie Encarnacion Read More 10 Apr 2020 Art in Central Asia during the quarantine Nellya Dzhamanbaeva Read More 7 Apr 2020 Activities to stop or to reappear and to be born after (or as a result of) the health crisis Yana Gaponenko Read More 6 Apr 2020 Untitled Madina Gasimi Read More 5 Apr 2020 The Landscape of Unknown Idil Bozkurt Read More 5 Apr 2020 Art as barrier gestures Anne Bourrassé Read More

As You Go ... Activities 10 Aug 2022 Bor Encounters As you go…roads under your feet, towards the new future Bor Encounters September 15th –September 19th 2022 Read More 10 July 2021 Sharing Session: As you go… roads under your feet, towards the new future Read More 28 June 2021 Stories from the Room in Addis Ababa Read More 11 May 2021 Astrobus Ethiopia 2021 | Omo Valley Southwest Ethiopia Read More 8 Apr 2021 AS YOU GO… ROADS UNDER YOUR FEET, TOWARDS THE NEW FUTURE | FILM PROGRAM Read More 24 Mar 2021 Announcement: Ash Moniz’s Research on Cartographies of Solidarity is selected for Maritime Portal Residency in 2021 Read More 2 Mar 2021 As you go… roads under your feet, towards the new future | Symposium Read More 4 Jan 2021 Open Call for Maritime Portal Residency Read More 7 Nov 2020 Newly commissioned project by RAM Jasphy Zheng: Stories from the Room Curators: Biljana Ciric, Larys Frogier, Billy Tang Read More 6 Nov 2020 Приче између зидова у Народној библиотеци Бор Новембар 2020 – Read More 4 Feb 2020 Preface February 4th 2020 2pm – 8pm Guramayne Art Center Addis Ababa Organized in collaboration with Biljana Ciric & Guramayne Art Center Read More

As You Go ... Activities This is a Title 01 This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Read More This is a Title 02 This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Read More This is a Title 03 This is placeholder text. To change this content, double-click on the element and click Change Content. Read More

As you go … Online Journal Editorial Statement As you go... roads under your feet, towards the new future is transitioning from a long-term research curatorial inquiry into a sustainable, autonomous, transnational, and multiplatform organization. Biljana Ciric conceived and initiated this project in 2019, and it has since developed into a network of organic research cells comprising independent art practitioners, small-scale organizations, state/private museums, and researchers from various fields. As you go… aims to generate alternative modes of working together that debunk the hierarchy of the artistic institution, encouraging creative interplays amidst the vast scope of cultural production and interdisciplinary research. The initiative has organized two encounters, the first in Addis Ababa and the other in Bor, a symposium, and provided support to numerous artists, collectives, and researchers. The transition to a sustainable, autonomous, transnational, and multiplatform organization is a significant step forward for As you go… and its partners. The organization will continue to connect and relate with localities on the margins and expand its network to like-minded individuals, communities, and institutions in various regions. As you go… will nurture art and research as political and solidarity practice within its organization members and beyond, using opacity and visibility as active choices. As you go… transnational organization funding partner cells include: Biljana Ciric , What Could Should Curating Do, Belgrade Larys Frogier , OW Ocean & Wavz, Paris Aigerim Kapar , Artcom Platform, Almaty/Astana Jelica Jovanovic , Belgrade/Vienna Sinkneh Eshetu , Fruitycity Children’s World, Addis Ababa Among our other activities and platforms that we use to connect to and engage with artists, art institutions, and the public, we will continue our online journal. As a journal, we are committed to supporting initiatives that challenge the usual definition of curatorial practice and academic research and aim to generate alternative modes of working together. We believe that As you go… has the potential to make a significant contribution to contemporary arts and humanities by fostering collective and critical learning, building a sense of intimacy, and amplifying unheard voices of shared struggles within different contexts. As you go… member cells in different parts of the globe commit to continuing to contribute to our journal, sharing their personal as well as institutional experiences and learning, as they act within their local contexts with a shared vision as an organic unit. We also encourage and welcome contributions from individual and institutional partners of As you go… to lend impetus to our shared goal of playing constructive roles in contemporary arts and humanities through channeling unheard voices and ‘quoting from the margins’. As you go… funding partner cells will also serve as members of the online journal editorial board. Written by Sinkneh Eshetu April 2023 Addis Ababa 21 Feb 2022 Stories from the room - Conversation Jasphy Zheng Read More 18 Feb 2022 A disturbing Chinese dream: scattered thoughts on the cultures of involution and art institution in China Zian Chen Read More 15 Dec 2021 Shore Seeing Stillness Ash Moniz Read More 10 Nov 2021 Non-Alignment Summit Anniversary a difficulty to re-member Dunja Karanović & Jovan Mladenović Read More 5 Nov 2021 SEEING THE INVISIBLE Alexey Ulko Read More 3 Nov 2021 THE CULTURAL INTERWEAVING OF CHINA AND THE BALKANS: A TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF ARTISTIC EXCHANGES UNDER THE BRI Marija Glavaš Read More 15 Oct 2021 NETWORKING THE PERIPHERIES: LOOKING EAST FROM THE EAST Jelica Jovanović Read More 10 Sept 2021 Virtually Driving Back in Time? Sinkneh Eshetu Read More 15 July 2021 Notes on respiration Teodora Jeremić Read More 10 July 2021 Untitled Naol Befkadu Read More 20 June 2021 The Election Conundrum: Ethiopia’s Determination to hold the 6th National Election and its Ramifications Naol Befkadu Read More 15 June 2021 Life ‘After’ the Pandemic: Ethiopia’s Response to COVID-19’s Paradoxical Effect Naol Befkadu Read More 25 May 2021 Astrobus Ethiopia 2021 Astrobus Read More 10 Apr 2021 As you go... Journal Special Issue April 2021 Biljana Ciric Read More 15 Feb 2021 THE CULTURAL INTERWEAVING OF CHINA AND THE BALKANS Marija Glavaš Read More 15 Jan 2021 History and stories from Lake Balkhash Aigerim Kapar Read More 30 Dec 2020 THE DANGER OF AMBITION AND NEGLECT The Case of Beautifying Sheger Sinkneh Eshetu, Aziza Abdulfetah Busser & Berhanu Read More 25 Dec 2020 Behind Ethiopia’s Civil War: From Guerrilla to Secessionist Berhanu Read More 20 Dec 2020 “Bor is burning” [1]: the political economy of IT in the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia Robert Bobnič and Kaja Kraner Read More 26 Nov 2020 Infrastructuring the Region: Fieldnotes of an Ongoing Research Jelica Jovanović Read More 22 Nov 2020 Seeing the Invisible: Documenting and Interpreting China’s Cultural Presence in Uzbekistan (Part 2) Alexey Ulko Read More 15 Nov 2020 Partner Cells in Co-Immunity Read More 28 Aug 2020 On Bor’s Industrial Heritage Dragan Stojmenovic Read More 25 Aug 2020 Seeing the Invisible: Documenting and Interpreting China’s Cultural Presence in Uzbekistan (Part 1) Alexey Ulko Read More 20 Aug 2020 On Not Hearing the Gunfire Su Wei Read More 15 Aug 2020 Treading a line Sarah Bushra Read More 28 July 2020 The stories behind the lockdown: Kazakhstan against Corona Anvar Musrepov Read More 20 July 2020 Bicycle Uprising Against Authoritarianism Tjaša Pureber Read More 15 July 2020 Belgrade Calling 2 Katarina Kostandinović Read More 28 June 2020 BOR Hu Yun Read More 20 June 2020 Beating Around the Bush: Some Reflections on the Crisis of “Imported Cases” of Africans in Guangzhou Berhanu Read More 28 May 2020 Bishkek – Addis Ababa, notes from the journey through space and time Gulnara Kasmalieva & Muratbek Djumaliev Read More 18 May 2020 Mask making and coffee drinking in Addis Sarah Bushra Read More 25 Apr 2020 Belgrade Calling Katarina Kostandinović Read More 20 Apr 2020 Boarding & Europe Siniša Ilić Read More 18 Apr 2020 School-In-Isolation Bermet Borubaeva Read More 16 Apr 2020 Artists as Gardeners Gulnara Kasmalieva & Muratbek Djumaliev Read More 15 Apr 2020 Corena* Musings Sarah Bushra Read More 14 Apr 2020 What happens after the contactless art world? Nikita Yingqian Cai Read More 12 Apr 2020 The Sustainable Museum Zdenka Badovinac Read More

< Back Boarding & Europe 20 Apr 2020 Siniša Ilić Belgrade-based artist Siniša Ilić returned to Serbia the day the State announced a State of Emergency following a rise in the number of local coronavirus cases. From this day, 15 March 2020, Ilic has been required to remain quarantined within his house for a period of one month. The isolation he has experienced is documented through a series of drawings developed as a daily practice, reflecting on the pandemic that connects and divides us. “After sharing his new drawings with me I have invited Sinisa to contribute to this journal with series of drawings for the duration of his quarantine. They will be published in a few phases in the upcoming weeks.” Biljana Ciric 5 April 2020 BOARDING Drawings “Boarding” and “Europe 1” deal with the topics of circulation and its sudden change; controlled and shaped by fear, uniformed bodies, States, the virus, care for our health and the health of others. Drawings “Social distancing” and “Europe 2” question new patterns of social choreographies and fears, including our physical presence in the public space or its absence from consuming habits and rituals. On this occasion “Boarding” is presented as an album of single images, simulating individual panic and fear, and “Europe 1 and 2” and “Social distancing” are exhibited through several photographs captured by smartphone within the home studio. The series of drawings were created using pencils and ink pen in March and April 2020 and are of similar dimensions approx. 21 × 29 cm. EUROPE 1 Drawings “Boarding” and “Europe 1” deal with the topics of circulation and its sudden change; controlled and shaped by fear, uniformed bodies, States, the virus, care for our health and the health of others. Drawings “Social distancing” and “Europe 2” question new patterns of social choreographies and fears, including our physical presence in the public space or its absence from consuming habits and rituals. On this occasion “Boarding” is presented as an album of single images, simulating individual panic and fear, and “Europe 1 and 2” and “Social distancing” are exhibited through several photographs captured by smartphone within the home studio. The series of drawings were created using pencils and ink pen in March and April 2020 and are of similar dimensions approx. 21 × 29 cm. EUROPE 2 Drawings “Boarding” and “Europe 1” deal with the topics of circulation and its sudden change; controlled and shaped by fear, uniformed bodies, States, the virus, care for our health and the health of others. Drawings “Social distancing” and “Europe 2” question new patterns of social choreographies and fears, including our physical presence in the public space or its absence from consuming habits and rituals. On this occasion “Boarding” is presented as an album of single images, simulating individual panic and fear, and “Europe 1 and 2” and “Social distancing” are exhibited through several photographs captured by smartphone within the home studio. The series of drawings were created using pencils and ink pen in March and April 2020 and are of similar dimensions approx. 21 × 29 cm. Siniša Ilić is a visual artist working also in the field of performance art. His work includes drawing, painting, installation, video and artist books. Previous Next

homepage Online Learning Presentation of the ETC magazine followed by screening programme May 2026 Publishing collaboration May, 2026

Events Alumni 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 Future Light: or is A New Enlightenment Worth Considering? | Maria Lind Comradeship: Curating Art, and Politics in Post-Socialist Europe | Zdenka Badovinac What Could/Should the Institution Do? | Ares Shporta < Participants Educational Program Programs >

As you go…roads under your feet, towards the new future Bor Encounters September 15th –September 19th 2022 < Back Bor Encounters 10 Aug 2022 As you go…roads under your feet, towards the new future Bor Encounters September 15th –September 19th 2022 www.wcscd.com www.biblioteka-bor.org.rs Press statement from Dragan Stojmenovic, librarian, Bor Public Library, partner cell of the inquiry “The long-awaited gathering of the participants of the As you go… roads under your feet, towards the new future project at the Bor Encounters will hopefully not be the end of that journey, although it might be said that Bor is somewhere far away, and at the end of the Belt and Road–like some kind of richly decorated, golden buckle on a cowboy belt, or maybe another hole to tighten or loosen that belt. We will finally get to know each other, socialize, consider what we have done so far to promote our shared work and present it to the widest public, at the same time, we will regret the destroyed natural environment, look for hidden stories among the walls of the library, wander and discover Bor’s arcades–the arches between the columns of the French colonial administration, socialist baroque, and neo-colonial practices of liberal capitalism, in the end, we will eat together the food prepared by the guests-hosts. We just need to agree on how to proceed, what road we will choose. We hope that we will have the strength to stay and survive where we are, until we build our own roads, not expecting them to lead us to predictable and presumed destinations, but to revealing and liberating free expressions of disinterested creativity, movement and encounter.” Statement from us guests and visitors of Bor By the time you read this, most of the preparations for As you go… Bor encounters should be done and we are waiting to walk with you in Bor. Bor is small town and I wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of it. It is where Public Library Bor, is located and together we will be hosting number of encounters. Bor is also a site known for its copper mining industry, which has existed since the early 20th century, but also for the recent purchase of its mining complex by Chinese mining giant Zijin. Chinese investment in Bor’s mining industry has created many headlines with regards to land disputes, pollution and relocations. Bor is a very popular film location. Its extraction wounds are vast and photogenic and appear as the background in many movies. We are not going to Bor to extract yet another image of its ever-expanding wounds. We are going to Bor to spend time together as part of transnational inquiry As you go…roads under the feet towards the new future ; to walk with people in Bor, as organized by Jelica Jovanovic ; to eat meals that Hu Yun will cook with Qiu, a Chinese chef who cooks for Chinese workers living and working in Bor Zijin; to gift with artist Jasphy Zheng situating Stories from the Room in Bor Library and to mourn the place together with Robel Temesgen . This will be our first physical meeting since we launch the enquiry in February 2020 in Addis Ababa, although we know for sure that a few colleagues will not be able to physically attend due to closed borders. In addition, this will be our first moment of sharing with public in physical location. The days in Bor also include launch of publication of inquiry As you go… done in collaboration with Mousse Publishing House and Rockbund Art Museum and edited by Biljana Ciric that looks closely into our mode of working and research done since 2020. Participants: Robel Temesgen (artist, Addis Ababa); Larys Frogier (director, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai); Sinkneh Eshetu (writer, Addis Ababa); Aigerim Kapar (interdependent curator, Almaty); Jelica Jovanovic (architect, Belgrade) in collaboration with Dr. Visa Tasic (engineer of electronics), Milos Bozic (member of local community in Krivelj), Katica Radojkovic ( producer and seller of cheese), Nemanja Stefanovic ( student), Hu Yun (artist, Belgrade/Shanghai/Melbourne); Jasphy Zheng (artist, Xia Men/Shanghai); Dragan Stojmenovic (Public Library, Bor); Nikita Choi (chief curator, Times Museum, Guangzhou), simona dvorak ( curator), Vladimir Radivojevic (photographer), Nebojsa Yamasaki (artist). Organized by What Could Should Curating Do and the Bor Public Library Conceived by Biljana Ciric As you go…roads under your feet, towards the new future – Bor encounters Introduction As you go… roads under your feet, towards the new future – Bor encounter is the first physical public moment of sharing not only our research but also our mode of working based on relationality and interdependence that we bring with us as we move forward. As you go… roads under your feet, towards the new future is a long-term project and research inquiry that reflects on the Belt and Road Initiative and how it will alter the aesthetics and practices of everyday life in different local contexts of Ethiopia, Serbia, Slovenia, Uzbekistan, China, Kazakhstan. We have established set commonalities as guidelines of our research including socialism , non-aligned legacies , neo-geopolitical settings , economical influences (especially that of the Chinese and Arab world within localities of similar patterns, that have even employed the same companies through different regions), being an agent of its own culture , and the recent COVID-19 pandemic . Since April 2020, due to the pandemic, we have employed the strategy “dig where you stand”, and have been working with 15 researchers across Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia, Serbia, Slovenia, and China. The research inquiry has been developed trying to listen to local urgencies and learn from them. From there a number of case studies had been formulated and research conducted. Bor encounters is culmination of our work and research done in last two years and will include, number of public moments. China operates within this inquiry as a point of connection, but always with the potential of separation. We did this research with colleagues in China, staying with the trouble as Donna Haraway says. China’s name carries many burdens but what does it mean to talk about China today? Trinh T. Min-ha states that reality cannot be contained and framed in a name. When reality speaks to us, we create an elsewhere within the here and this is what we have trying to do. This was our strategy—not to talk about China as the other, but to speak with China or to speak with Bor . Full day to day program from 15th to 19th will be announced on September 1st All the events are open to public and free of charge and we are looking forward walking with you. More about As you go… roads under your feet, towards the new future. As you go… roads under your feet, towards the new future is initiated and conceived by Biljana Ciric. The inquiry and research cells include What Could Should Curating Do (Belgrade), Zdenka Badovinac (Ljubljana), Rockbund Art Museum (Shanghai), Guangdong Times Museum (Guangzhou), ArtCom (Astana), Robel Temesgen and Sinkneh Eshetu (Addis Ababa), and The Bor Public Library. The first stage of the project has been supported by the Foundation for Arts Initiatives, CURTAIN (Rockbund Art Museum), Austrian Cultural Forum, Curatorial Practice (Monash University Art, Design and Architecture), and the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship。Bor encounters received additional support from Office for Contemporary Art, Norway. As you go… Bor encounters participants biographies: Sinkneh Eshetu (penname: O’Tam Pulto), a published author and landscape architect, is passionate about cultural landscapes – the combined works of culture and nature. He develops his novels and children stories based on his studies and interpretation of cultural landscapes to help preserve indigenous cultures and natural ecosystems. He develops positive youth development and empowerment media products for children and youth f. Among his 9 published works, fiction and non-fiction are ‘Catch Your Thunder: Rendezvous With the End’ (2015, Partridge Africa ), ‘A Thousand Versions of Love: The Tao of the Dusty Foot Philosopher’ (2014, Oland Books), ‘Affordance-Based Conceptual Framework for Landscape Architecture: Dealing With Change in Fixity and Fixity in Change’ (2012, Lap Lambert Academic Publishers). In the process of publishing are his 12 children books, a ‘Fruitycity Series: Appo My Friend’, based on Fruitycity Children’s World that he has created– an imaginary world where children are leaders. He is a founder of a start-up – a social entrepreneurship company called ‘Fruitycity Children’s World, which he currently manages. Dragan Stojmenović graduated in Ethnology and Anthropology from the Faculty of Philosophy (Belgrade, Serbia), and has been living and working in Bor, Serbia since 1974. Since 2000, he has been working at the Bor Public Library; since 2005 as a Local History Department librarian. He is the author and chief manager of Digitization of Non-book Materials, Cultural and Public Activities of the Public Library Bor ; and the editor and curator of several cultural programs, exhibitions and public lecture series, as well as the online platform http://digitalnizavicaj.org.rs/ . He has also been an associate of numerous cultural organizations and NGOs, and a co-author of their various projects and programs. His book On French Society of Bor’s Mines photographic documentation was published in 2021. Born in 1987 in Ethiopia, Robel Temesgen is currently a PhD fellow in Artistic Practice at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. He received MFA from Tromsø Academy of Contemporary Art, University of Tromsø, Norway in 2015, and a BFA with Great distinction in Fine Art (Painting) from Alle School of Fine Arts and Design, Addis Ababa University in 2010. He took part in several fellowships and residencies, Junge Akademie Program of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin, and IASPIS, Stockholm, the Swedish Art Grants Committee’s International Programme for Visual and Applied Art are to mention a few. Temesgen’s work has been widely exhibited in international platforms in solo and group shows including ARoS Museum, Aarhus (2021), Para Site, Hong Kong (2021), Kunsthall Oslo (2019), Circle Art Agency, Nairobi (2019), Addis Foto Fest, Addis Ababa (2018), Modern Art Museum, Addis Ababa (2018), Tiwani Contemporary Art Gallery, London (2018), Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2017), Marabouparken, Stockholm (2017), Nada Art Fair, Miami (2016), Akademie der Künste, Berlin (2016), TromsøKunstforening (2016), Tiwani Contemporary Art Gallery, London (2016), KurantVisningsrom, Tromsø (2015), Lumen Festival, New York (2015), Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (2014) and Modern Art Museum/GebreKristos Desta Center, Addis Ababa (2013). Aigerim Kapar is an independent curator, cultural activist, founder of the creative communication platform « Artcom ». Born in 1987 in Kazakhstan, lives and works in Astana. Aigerim curates and organizes exhibitions, city art interventions, discussions, lectures, workshops. Cooperates with art and educational institutions and scientific structures. In 2015, she founded in collaboration with the art community, the open platform “Artcom”. The platform brings together cultural figures to exchange experiences and find channels of interaction with society in order to develop and promote contemporary art and culture. In 2017, Aigerim initiated the Art Collider informal school – when art meets science. Where artists and scientists jointly conduct artistic studies, lectures and discussions on current topics. The results of the school are presented at exhibitions, publications and video materials. Jelica Jovanović (1983) is an architect and PhD student at the University of Technology in Vienna, working as an independent researcher. She graduated with a degree in Architecture from the Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade. She is a founder and member of the NGO Grupa arhitekata, within which she has worked on several projects: Summer Schools of Architecture in Bač and Rogljevo (from 2010), (In)appropriate Monuments (ongoing from 2015), Lifting the Curtain (2014–2016, exhibited in Venice Bienale in 2014). She also coordinated the regional project Unfinished Modernisations for Association of Belgrade Architects (2010-2012) and worked as s curatorial assistant for the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) for the exhibition Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948–1980 . She is a twice-elected secretary general of DOCOMOMO Serbia , for which she is also working as a project coordinator and web editor. She is also the coauthor of the book Bogdan Bogdanović Biblioteka Beograd – An Architect’s Library with Wolfgang Thaler and Vladimir Kulić, as well as the coauthor of the web page Arhiva modernizma with LjubicaSlavković. She is also an OeAD One Month Visit scholar (Austria) and SAIA (Slovakia) scholar. Hu Yun is an artist currently based in Shanghai and Belgrade. In his practice, Hu Yun revisits historical moments in order to provide alternative readings, a process that also informs the artist’s self-reflection on his native and personal ties. His selected solo exhibitions include Image of Nature (Natural History Museum, London, 2010); Our Ancestors (Goethe Institute Shanghai, 2012); Lift with Care (2013) and Narration Sickness (2016) at AIKE Shanghai, and Another Diorama (2019, NUS Museum Singapore). His works have also been exhibited at the Power Station of Art (Shanghai), Centre Pompidou (Paris), The Cultural Centre of Belgrade, Para Site (Hong Kong) and Times Museum (Guangzhou). Hu Yun has also participated in the 4th Guangzhou Triennial (2012), 11th Gwangju Biennale (2016), 6th Singapore Biennale (2019) and 10th Asia Pacific Triennial. He is the co-founder of art e-journal PDF (2012-2013). Larys Frogier has been the Director of the Rockbund Art Museum (RAM) in Shanghai since 2012.Since 2013, he has been the Chair of the HUGO BOSS ASIA ART jury and he conceived this new award, exhibition and research program as an evolving platform to question Asia as a construction to investigate rather than a monolithic area or fixed identities.In 2020, he engaged the Rockbund Art Museum in the long term research program conceived by the independent curator Biljana Ciric As You Go… Roads Under Your Feet, Towards A New Future . In 2020, with Alfie Chua, he founded the duo artists Ocean & Wavz engaged in text, sound and image creation. Simona Dvorák is an interdependent curator based in Paris. She develops projects on territories as Ile de France or Central and Eastern Europe. In her practice, she employs performative, sound and video formats, specific to the territorial and temporary context with the valorization of long-term collective work. She questions how we can create spaces of “communality” in the cultural sphere, notably as a curator within Initiative for Practices and Visions of Radical Care (founded by Nataša Petresin Bachelez & Elena Sorokina). She works on creating frameworks for “exhibition processes” that allow us to share and generate knowledges to anticipate possible futures: antisexist, anti-racist, inclusive. These strategies are based on learning and unlearning as a decolonial methodology developed collectively in Nora Sternefeld’s doctoral research para-seminar at the HFBK in Hamburg, that she is part, as well as within CuratorLab dealing with practice of cultural “resistance”, a program led by Joanna Warsza at Konstfack in Stockholm. simona dvorák was also recently a fellow of program Art and Education in documenta fifteen in Kassel. She works now as a curatorial assistant on Walking with Water public program imagined by Biljana Ciric and Balkan Projects in relation to the Republic of Serbia Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale. Concurrently, she is in charge of programming at the Department of Cultural Development. Vladimir Radivojevic is street photographer from Bor. Passion towards photographic research he inherited from father. He is working with analog and digital photography since 2005. Vladimir participated in number of group exhibitions. Chef Qiu moved from Cambodia to Bor pursuing his ambition to open Chinese restaurant. Dr VišaTasić , engineer of electronics, employee of the Mining and Metallurgy Institute Bor. Miloš Božić , member of the local community in Krivelj. Katica Radojković , a producer and seller of cheese at the local market in Bor Nemanja Stefanović , a student of communication and a member of the local youth theatre in Bor. Nebojša Yamasaki Vukelić was born in 1986. in Belgrade, where he lives and works. He has received his MA in painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade in 2021. His work is mostly focused on drawing, through which he deals the question of personal and collective capacities for social imagination. The notion of the end of the world is an important aspect in his work, both as a marker of anxieties experienced by individuals in current contexts, and as an expression of resistance to existing social, economic and political conditions. He has exhibited in numerous group shows, as well as a solo show – Inside it will all be soft and tender , at X Vitamin Gallery. He is one of the recipients of the drawing award of the Vladimir Veličković Fund in 2021, as well as the painting award “Miodrag Janjušević – academic painter”, the same year. BILJANA CIRIC is an interdependent curator. Ciric is curator of the Pavilion of Republic of Serbia at 59th Venice Biennale in 2022 presenting with Walking with Water Solo exhibition of Vladimir Nikolic. She is conceiving inquiry for first Trans- Southeast Asian Triennial in Guang Zhou Repetition as a Gesture Towards Deep Listening (2021/2022). She was the co-curator of the 3rd Ural Industrial Biennale for Contemporary Art (Yekaterinburg, 2015), curator in residency at Kadist Art Foundation (Paris, 2015), and a research fellow at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (Høvikodden, 2016). Her recent exhibitions include An Inquiry: Modes of Encounter presented by Times Museum, Guang Zhou (2019); When the Other Meets the Other Other presented by Cultural Center Belgrade (2017); Proposals for Surrender presented by McAM in Shanghai (2016/2017); and This exhibition Will Tell You Everything About FY Art Foundations in FY Art Foundation space in Shen Zhen (2017). In 2013, Ciric initiated the seminar platform From a History of Exhibitions Towards a Future of Exhibition Making with focus on China and Southeast Asia. The assembly platform was hosted by St Paul St Gallery, AUT, New Zealand (2013), Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai (2018), Times Museum, Guang Zhou (2019). The book with the same name was published by Sternberg Press in 2019 and was awarded best art publication in China in 2020. Her research on artists organized exhibitions in Shanghai was published in the book History in Making; Shanghai: 1979-2006 published by CFCCA; and Life and Deaths of Institutional Critique, co-edited by Nikita Yingqian Cai and published by Black Dog Publishing, among others. In 2018 she established the educational platform What Could/Should Curating Do? She was nominated for the ICI Independent Vision Curatorial Award (2012). Currently she is developing a long-term project reflecting on China’s Belt and Road Initiative titled As you go . . . the roads under your feet, towards a new future . She is undertaking practice based PhD in Curatorial Practice at Monash University, Melbourne. For more info please contact us Monika Husar mokahusar@gmail.com Violeta Stojmenovic sloterdajk@gmail.com Previous Next

< Back Life ‘After’ the Pandemic: Ethiopia’s Response to COVID-19’s Paradoxical Effect 15 June 2021 Naol Befkadu It is a conspicuous fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in worldwide lockdowns. But before COVID-19 caused forced lockdowns, Ethiopia was already in a fragile economic state. Moreover, beneath its shaky economic state, the country was fracturing along ethnic and political lines. COVID-19 was not just bad news for the country, it was more like a typhoon or a thunderstorm fast destroying an already fractured building. Both as an ordinary Ethiopian and a medical professional, looking back at the effects of the pandemic on the country, I am left with conflicting views. One is that the supposedly coming typhoon did not happen as was expected, medically speaking, at least as compared to the West and now, the East. Intense restrictions did not last more than six months. Schools opened and government employees returned to their normal work schedules sooner than many nations. Ethiopians started talking about the lockdown as ‘during COVID-19’ and the current time as ‘after covid’ as in, a post-covid era. I work in Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, the largest hospital in the country, which returned to its full function long before vaccines arrived in Ethiopia. Just after the pandemic began, our wards were evacuated and we were told to treat patients via telemedicine. Our medical school, which is by far the largest medical school in the country in terms of both staff and students, was closed two weeks after the onset of the pandemic in the country. We expected nothing less than a plague. Fear and anxiety surfaced within the hospital leadership and our senior physicians. Well, this too didn’t last more than six months—from April to August 2020. Our hospital returned to its full function, the medical school was opened and life continued just as it had before the pandemic, only with a few measures such as wearing masks and using hand sanitizers. Life post-covid seemed to be happening. The other observation I would like to make is that in other aspects, the consequences of the pandemic on the country were astoundingly immense. Although the people did not feel the medical effect of the pandemic as in the Western world or in Asia, the effect of the pandemic was beyond description when other aspects of life are considered. We felt as if the pandemic had mercy on us, but ‘life post-pandemic’ was nothing but a defense mechanism to conceal the damage and the challenges the pandemic posed for the individual as well as for the socio-economic and political situation in the country. This article is a summary of how Ethiopia responded to the pandemic both from a medical perspective and from social, economic and political perspectives. The Ethiopian Ministry of Health and the COVID-19 Pandemic It was shortly after her appointment that Dr. Lia Tadesse, the State Minister of Health, was faced with one of the deadliest pandemics in history. Dr. Lia, specialist in obstetrics and gynecology, succeeded Dr. Amir Aman, at the time the youngest minister to lead Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health, which takes “Healthier Citizens for a Prosperous Nation” as its motto. When the first case was announced on March 13, 2020, Dr. Lia became the headline of local and national television news. Since then she and the office she runs have been updating the daily cases of COVID-19 in the country. [1] Tikur Anbesa Street, Addis Ababa When the first case was announced by the then mayor of Addis, Takele Uma, the news was disturbing to all of us, especially to the residents of Addis Ababa. The city was gripped by a huge fear and depression. Everyone started rushing home. Parents went to schools and nurseries to take their kids home. Government employees stopped their jobs and returned home. I remember being in a seminar with Professor Amha Mekasha at our hospital when the news of the pandemic was announced. Prof. Amha was presenting on the challenges of medical leadership and facilities in Ethiopia. Before he finished his presentation, he took questions from the podium. One of the participants raised his hand and said, “Sir, COVID-19 is in the country!” We all laughed but at the same time we were shocked by the alarm. COVID-19, as if a guest to be welcomed, was in the country already! Immediately on the same day, the prices of surgical masks rose from US$0.15 (5 ETB) to US$6.25 (208 ETB), a 4000% increase within hours. The situation was worrying after an image of people queuing to buy masks appeared on social media. With the rise in the price of medical equipment, economic inflation increased significantly in less than 24 hours. The value of vegetables and cereal showed 20% inflation. Increases are expected in such times, but not that high. The government immediately established a rapid COVID-19 Response Committee to quickly solve inflation and to distribute medical equipment. Within two weeks, schools were closed and working hours for government employees went from eight hours a day to six, with occasional days off and even whole weeks off. Initially, COVID-19 tests were administered at Bole airport after passengers arrived in Addis. That was how the first two cases were found. Testing was limited to the airport because it was thought that the only gateway for the virus was through air travel from countries that were already infected. A month after the first case was found, COVID-19 testing began in border areas, especially at the Djibouti-Ethiopian border where many cases were found. At the beginning, patients were admitted to Eka COVID-19 Hospital, which the Ministry of Health dedicated exclusively to COVID-19 cases. Later, Millennium Hall, the country’s largest public gathering place, was converted into a Covid center holding more than 1000 beds and an ICU with 10 mechanical ventilators. (Fascinating to many, the country had only 400 mechanical ventilators in total.) It is worth remembering that Ethiopia ranked 99 out of 103 on the UNDP Human Poverty Index. Ethiopia is one of Africa’s poorest states, with 45% of its 77 million people living below the poverty line. Hence, the only way the country could handle the crisis was through prevention. I believe that it is fair to conclude that the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) did an immense job in the health education and promotion, both in cities and rural areas in the country. Other health organizations also helped in educating people to prevent the disease. For example, the Oromia Physician Association (OPA) regularly held rallies (with social distancing) and other events to educate the people, especially those in the countryside, about how to prevent COVID-19 especially in Oromia, the largest region of the country where Addis Ababa, the capital city is located. In other parts of the country many public actors such as educators and influential people urged the people to take seriously the measures to prevent the disease. People Crossing the Roads in Addis Ababa The rapid response committee that was set up by the Prime Minister’s office soon established rules and restrictions that were supposed to be implemented by the police. Following the restrictions, all public gatherings of more than 50 people were banned. Nightclubs and public entertainment places were shut down (with religious people making an obvious commentary on this restriction as being ‘God’s hand’). Masks were mandatory outside of the house or there would be punishment. Religious gatherings were also prohibited. Mosques and churches were closed. Even the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the largest denomination in Ethiopia with over 40 million members, shut its cathedral in fear of the pandemic. Knowing the rules and regulations alone would not affect the population, many artists also gathered to make videos and music to teach people to prevent the virus and to stay at home. Religious singers also sang and taught people to stay at home. This is done mainly in Amharic language, the official Federal language of Ethiopia. But government officials, artists and other popular figures also regularly presented on television and on different media in Oromo and other languages to educate the people about the pandemic. The COVID-19 response team also managed and oversaw any unfair increase in the value of goods, especially in the city. The government was able to collect donations from local and international charity organizations. Religious ministries and parachurch organizations were able to collect cash and goods from their respective members and distribute them to the most vulnerable people and groups who were severely affected by the pandemic. While the health promotion and education was carried out by many public actors, as mentioned above, the country’s less than twenty thousand physicians were being trained online by the Ministry of Health in Covid Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) and clinical management of Covid cases. As the disease progressed, every region set up its own Covid center. For a better description of the effects of COVID-19 from a medical perspective, I will use figures related to COVID-19 cases during the initial months and in various places. Bear with me. On Sunday April 5, 2020, 23 days after the first case was announced, Dr. Lia announced the first Covid related deaths in the country. At that time Ethiopia’s testing was limited to travellers passing through Bole airport. Hence, almost all of the reported cases had a travel history to or from a country that had high Covid cases. Very few cases had no travel history. By the end of April there had been 105 new cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 131. The death toll was 3. The number of recovered patients increased to 59, leaving 69 active cases. [2] This was very low compared to other countries at that time. For example, in neighboring Kenya, the number of confirmed cases had reached 396 by the end of April. There had been 17 fatalities while 144 patients had recovered, leaving 235 active cases at the end of the month. One thing to note here is that there wasn’t a significant testing difference between Ethiopia and Kenya at that point. Ethiopia has the third busiest airport in Africa, with around 6 million passengers in 2020 alone, followed by Egypt and South Africa who registered 5,537 and 5,647 total Covid cases respectively at the end of April 2020. One can say Ethiopia did a very good job in preventing the disease during this phase of the pandemic. However, the testing abilities of both Egypt and South Africa were far better than Ethiopia during this time. For most of 2020, the medical burden of the pandemic was not as huge as was expected. At the end of December 2020, the total number of confirmed cases reached 124,264. The death toll rose to 1,923. The number of recovered patients increased to 112,096, leaving 10,245 active cases at the end of the month. Ethiopia’s testing ability had also grown to 7000 people daily. In total, 1.8 million people were tested by the end of December 2020. 10, 245 active cases were managed both at Addis Ababa’s largest Covid center at Millennium hall and Eka Hospital and also at regional hospitals. Private hospitals also offered Covid treatment with a cost that was 100 times higher than the government hospitals. For example, patients who were treated at Hallelujah Hospital, a well-known private hospital in Addis Ababa, were asked for as much as 200,000 ETB (around $5,000) for their hospital stay, while government hospitals charged not more than 1,000 ETB ($25) in total. Since the country follows a mixed economic system, private hospitals are free to charge any amount. Following the ‘low’ infection progress of the disease, schools and universities were re-opened in October and November 2020. Life ‘after’ COVID-19 seemed to be underway. Government employees’ working hours were back to normal by early September. Many restrictions that were imposed by the COVID-19 Response Committee were lifted. Masks became non-mandatory and even government officials stopped wearing masks at gatherings. Public gatherings with more than 50 people were allowed once again. Churches and Mosques were opened. Theatres and cinemas returned to their ‘normal’ state. Nightclubs and other restricted entertainment places opened up again. To many, it seemed that Covid was just flu. Life continued. 2021: What’s New? The infection was expected to follow a similar course in 2021. At the beginning of 2021, this seemed to be the case, with an average of 400 daily cases out of an average 5000 people tested. The number of new cases in January 2021 (13,386) was a little less than in December 2020 (14,190). However, from February to April 2021, the number of cases and COVID-19 related deaths peaked. The table below summarizes the total COVID-19 cases and deaths from February to May 2021. From February to May 2021, the average daily testing was around 5,000 people with daily cases on average 1,500 to 2000 people. The graph seems to go down once again in the month of May, returning to January levels. At the time of writing of this article (June 2021), the average daily testing was nearly the same (5,000 to 6,000) and daily recorded COVID-19 cases were between 300 and 500. Vaccination Campaigns On March 13, 2021, Ethiopia launched a COVID-19 vaccination campaign. [3] The Ministry of Health launched the COVID-19 vaccine drive in a high-level national event held at Eka Kotebe COVID-19 Hospital where frontline health workers were vaccinated to mark the beginning of the vaccination campaign. Following this, health professionals, government officials and influential people received the vaccine. [i] WHO Africa, 2020. https://www.afro.who.int/news/ethiopia-introduces-covid-19-vaccine-national-launching-ceremony (accessed on June 7, 2021) View of Addis Ababa from Mount. Entoto The AstraZeneca vaccine produced by Serum Institute of India (SII) arrived in Ethiopia on March 6, 2021, through COVAX, which facilitated the procurement and shipment of the vaccines. It has been said that in total 7.62 million doses will be shipped to Ethiopia. China also donated over 300,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Sinopharm to Ethiopia. It has been said that China has been donating vaccines to 80 developing countries in urgent need, and has provided support under the COVAX global vaccine-sharing scheme. The AstraZeneca vaccines were distributed to every region in the country since they arrived in huge numbers as compared to China’s Sinopharm. Although different studies surrounding the AstraZeneca vaccine say different things, the WHO has been recommending it. Hence, the Ministry of Health did not ban the vaccine from the country. The physicians and medical students at Tikur Anbessa Hospital were among the first groups in the country to take the vaccine. There was a fear as to how our bodies would react to the vaccine, due to a few people getting very sick after getting vaccinated. Myalgia (muscle pain), headache and other side effects were expected. However, thankfully we didn’t encounter severe reactions. In fact the huge challenge to the vaccination campaign did not come from medical studies related to the COVAX vaccines, but rather it originated in religious beliefs and conspiracy theories. Some believed that the vaccines had microchips inside of them which were thought to implant ‘the mark of the beast’. Other conspiracies include the belief that the vaccines were to be used by the West to enslave black people. Some are still saying that the vaccines were intended to limit the number of black people by causing infertility. Challenges to Full Scale Prevention and Control of the Pandemic Of course, since March 13, 2020, when the first positive case was announced, the pandemic has not been without its challenges. We can group the challenges faced in Ethiopia into three categories: the first is related to material and logistical issues. The second is related to the government’s implementation of the rules and restrictions set by the COVID-19 Response Committee. The third is related to popular beliefs and practices. With regards to the first challenge, as described earlier, Ethiopia is ranked among the countries with the worst medical resources. The country does not have the equipment to handle its 115 million citizens, who make it the second most populous country in Africa. The effect of this challenge was seen especially recently (Feb-April 2021) when there was a surge in COVID-19 cases. Critically ill patients were beyond the capabilities of the government hospitals and ICUs. Most patients couldn’t afford to be treated in private hospitals; hence, sadly the critically ill were left without help. Many deaths recorded in those three months have been attributed to this factor. Secondly, the government’s implementation of the COVID-19 related restrictions and laws did not have an entirely positive impact. For example, only a few months after the first COVID-19 cases were announced, the government postponed the election that was to take place in June 2020. This created huge doubts and concerns—especially among those in the countryside—that the disease was fabricated by the government so as to postpone the elections. This became a popular belief in rural areas especially in the Oromia region where a huge contest in the election was expected. On the other hand, the government also fell into the trap of immature and unscientific research, when it claimed through its Ministry of Science and Innovation that they had discovered the cure for COVID-19. [4] This was televised on national television channels and the people received the news gladly. However, the government couldn’t handle its findings leaving the people to take the ‘innovations’ as nothing more than a hoax. The other problem was that government officials themselves did not set good examples to their people with regards to keeping social distance and wearing masks. A photo of Takele Uma, the State Minister of Energy and Mines, went viral on social media. In the photograph, Takele Uma was the only person not wearing a mask, alongside five, mostly foreign nationals, who were all wearing masks. Other ministers and regional presidents appeared publicly without a mask or even held party rallies or meetings without social distancing measures. Thirdly, popular beliefs, originating in religion or myths, were also a hindrance to the collective effort of fighting against the pandemic. For example, in the earliest days most people believed that covid-19 was God’s punishment and if we returned to God the virus would disappear. The government gave free airtime to religious programs on national television every day. This is not just a spiritual explanation to a natural phenomenon, it was a spiritual solution to a natural phenomenon meaning that rather than believing in the preventive measures, people drew conclusions that religious dedications or other means would cure or keep the virus away. Incense was burnt on the streets and their smoke was delivered from trucks all over the city by Ethiopian Orthodox Church followers. Some protestant ministers especially those who claimed to be ‘faith healers’ sold ointments that would keep the virus away. Not only religious beliefs but also traditional myths were propagated by many people. Some believed that white onions would keep the virus away which resulted in the value of white onions skyrocketing. Further complicating the challenges were lower daily COVID-19 case numbers as compared to other countries. Everyone interpreted the lower cases and death rates in their own way. It is common to hear terms such as “government propaganda,” “God’s mercy,” and “God’s judgment” used to describe COVID-19. The Non-Medical Side Effects of COVID-19 in Ethiopia Alongside, or even more so than the medical burden, COVID-19 has affected the lives of Ethiopians in many other aspects. Just as it is true in many places around the world, COVID-19 affected Ethiopia in social, economic and political terms. Impact on Social Life Ethiopia is comprised of many ethno-linguistic groups most of whom can be described as having tight cultures. Mike Rainer, former Ambassador of the U.S.A to Ethiopia, described Northern Ethiopia’s culture as “uncompromising.” What he seems to be referring to is that societal ties and structures especially in Northern Ethiopia, which is dominated by Christians, do not easily welcome or adapt to the ‘foreign’ or the ‘strange’. The same is true for the Somali and other primarily Muslim cultures in Ethiopia who are characteristically described as having tight cultures. When the telephone was introduced in Ethiopia in the early 20th century, people denounced it saying it was a means of talking with Satan. Anyone who was seen talking on the telephone, including the then Emperor, was seen as talking with Satan. It took some time for the laymen and women to be convinced that telephones were not instruments of the devil. This is just one example. Many of our stories speak to the fact that Ethiopians are not early-adopters of a new thing, nor do we easily change our old traditions for something new. It is customary in Ethiopia, across its cultures, for people to hug one another when they greet. In some places, such as in Silte and Haddiyya, people hug more than three times in one greeting. While in the north they hug twice when they greet. Somalis and other Muslim cultures kiss each other’s hands. Touching one another during greeting is seen as honoring the other person. COVID-19 came to break this culture with social distancing. This cultural change was not accepted, as was to be expected. With conspiracies acting as fuel, many people in the countryside refused to give up this custom. People continued to shake hands and kiss cheeks and hands even after social distancing was announced. People waiting for bus in Addis AbabaPhoto by Medhanit A Moreover, social distancing did not seem realistic on some occasions. Looking at the cases of the polygamous groups in our country, social distancing was perceived not only as unrealistic but also offensive. 11% of married women in Ethiopia are involved in polygamous marriages, meaning their husbands have more than one wife. [5] A polygamous father could have as many as 50 children all mostly living under one roof. How can social distancing be implemented in such scenarios? How could a father be distanced from his children, or siblings distanced from each other? This might seem an exaggerated case but it is very real and was often faced. The case for the homeless is also another difficult sociological issue that was faced following the COVID-19 epidemic. There are more than 50,000 homeless people in Addis Ababa, most of whom are between the ages of 15 and 25. [6] Their lives are based on the streets where they beg and sleep. With the lockdown, the fate of these people was in question. The city mayor had already planned to move the homeless young people into a sanctuary where they would get the chance to get educated and trained in order to find a job. Some of those who passed through the process were able to find a job. However, treating all 50,000 homeless individuals, whose numbers increased daily, was a huge task for a country that ranks among the poorest on earth. Of all the groups that were affected by the pandemic, commercial sex workers based in Addis Ababa were the most severely affected. Prostitution is legal in Ethiopia and UNAIDS’s 2016 report revealed that there are around 19,000 commercial sex workers across major cities in Ethiopia, most of whom reside in Addis Ababa. [7] Following the pandemic many of those who work in prostitution lost their clients because of the lockdown. Charity groups, NGOs and FBOs were involved in reaching out to this population. However, since restrictions eased in September 2020, things seems to have returned to normal. At the time of writing this, the sex business in Addis Ababa is fully back with nightclubs, bars, restaurants and pensions once again fully functional. The commercial sex business also received many additional workers, with the return of many citizens who had migrated to Saudi Arabia. The returnees had lost their jobs because of the pandemic and most of the women were forced to enter into the commercial sex trade. [8] It seems that, foreseeing the huge economic crisis that was about to occur in a country of 115 million inhabitants, many chose to believe conspiracies, myths, pseudoscience or their traditions rather than committing themselves to the measures of prevention and control. This paved the way for the wrongly held, ‘life after COVID-19’ belief. The government’s mishandling of the issue also played an important role in aggravating this belief. The Economic Impact The other facet of the effect of Covid was economic. Ethiopia has been among the fastest growing countries in the world for the past decade. Even during the climax of the countrywide protests, Ethiopia maintained a growth rate of 7.7 as per the report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). [9] That seems to account for why the United Nations report on the impact of the pandemic on Ethiopia starts by acknowledging the country’s ability to maintain economic stability in spite of different challenges encountered over the years. [10] Practically speaking, the pandemic did hurt the country’s economy, and different groups were hit by the pandemic to different extents. The first days of the pandemic showed a marked increase in the value of goods. The Addis Ababa city government as well as the COVID-19 Response Committee tried to stabilize the inflation by taking several measures, the main one being penalizing stores that unfairly increased prices. Since the country follows a mixed economic model, the government had the mandate and the right to stabilize and set market values. This went in favor of the masses in most cases. During inflation seasons, the government intervenes to maintain the economy. Nonetheless, the government’s intervention does not reach all groups. The government’s economic interventions mostly focus on the urban areas particularly Addis Ababa, which has the lion’s share of the country’s market. While Addis Ababa was getting the government’s help over unfair increases of necessary goods by some business owners, other cities and rural areas did not get the government’s help immediately. This was because Addis Ababa took all the attention in the country because of the high rate of COVID-19 cases compared to other towns, with the exception of Dire Dawa, which had also displayed a higher infection rate due to migrants returning home from the nearby Djibouti city. Even in Addis Ababa, not all groups were affected by the pandemic similarly. While the government tried to maintain the economy for working class citizens, the jobless, immigrants and other businesses such as the commercial sex business and entertainment businesses were also highly affected. In order to maintain employment levels, the government’s COVID-19 Response Committee passed a regulation that prevented business owners from firing any of their employees until the COVID-19 State of Emergency was lifted. The State of Emergency (SOE), overseen by the COVID-19 Response Committee, lasted from April to August, totaling five months. This helped citizens working for private companies. The regulations also included the prohibition of rent increases and evictions until the end of the SOE. In the meantime, Ethiopia faced not only the pandemic in 2020 but also a desert locus invasion. The locust invasion has been the worst in 25 years, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It damaged an estimated 200,000 hectares (490,000 acres) of land between January and October 2020, threatening food supplies. To better understand the significance, a single square-kilometer swarm can eat as much food in a day as 35,000 people. It was no less than a miracle to read the World Bank’s report on Ethiopia’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth, which had slowed down to 6.1% in 2019/20 due to the pandemic. However, the country was still among the top growing economies in Africa and in the world. The World Bank’s account states that industry, mainly construction, and services accounted for most of the growth. In the meantime agriculture was not affected by the pandemic and, astoundingly enough, its contribution to growth slightly improved in 2019/20 compared to the previous year. At the time of this writing, the value of some goods have increased, or in some instances doubled, compared to just over a year ago. For example, one pack of pasta was 20 Birr when the pandemic began and for most of 2020. However, now it costs 41 Birr in Addis Ababa market. The recent rise in the value of goods can be attributed to many factors including the devaluation of the country’s currency which caused the value of imported products to increase. A year ago $1 was worth 35 Birr, but now it is around 43 Birr. Another reason for the recent increase in the value of goods is the ongoing war in Tigray and the conflicts that are happening in different parts of the country. IMF’s analysis seems also to side with this. [11] More or less, Ethiopia tried to maintain its economy amidst difficult situations with the pandemic, the desert locust plague and the humanitarian crisis that is happening in the country following different conflicts, including the Tigray war. No wonder the government has the power to dissect and heal the economy as well as control most of the aspects of the livelihood of its citizens. This leads us to the final impact of the pandemic on Ethiopians. Impact on Politics COVID-19 has been the most politically abused disease. The political issues relating to the disease have been manifesting in many distinct ways. From the controversial international tension between China and the rest of the developed world, particularly the U.S.A, to the ways in which national and local politics in almost every country have been both affected by the pandemic and used it to fulfill political agendas. Ethiopia was no different. In August 29, 2020, Ethiopia had planned to conduct its sixth national and regional election. It was the most anticipated event in the country, which according to Jawar Mohammed, the politician turned media guru, could make or break the country. Jawar’s analysis could be an underestimation of the situation that would follow the election. At this stage it would be necessary to give a little background on the recent political climate of the country before the pandemic. Covid-19 safety billboard in front of a condominium in Addis AbabaPhoto by Medhanit A In April 2018, Abiy Ahmed Ali, the current Prime Minister of Ethiopia, rose to power through popular struggle that forced former Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn to resign. Abiy Ahmed represented the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO), the Oromo faction of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary and Democratic Front (EPRDF). After he came to power Abiy Ahmed made huge promises, most of which were fulfilled by him or his administration subsequently. He released imprisoned political figures. He allowed exiled political parties and figures to return to the country. Most of all, he vowed to undergo a free and fair election. Ethiopia has seen five national elections since the downfall of the military junta in 1991. All five elections were described as not credible, free or fair by the participants. The most notable being the 2005 election in which it was concluded that the ruling party EPRDF, committed voter fraud. The Coalition for Unity and Democracy party (CUD, ‘Kinijit’ in Amharic) won the election in the capital by a large margin, but the ruling party was not willing to give up power. Hence, some leaders were thrown in jail while others were exiled. Abiy Ahmed vowed to reverse this history by preparing a free and fair election in 2020. Many political parties including the Ethiopian Citizen’s Social Justice Party (EZEMA), the National Movement of the Amhara (NAMA), the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and the Prosperity Party (the reformed ‘EPRDF’) were making preparations for the elections. However, Abiy Ahmed faced huge challenges ahead of the election. The first was from his constituency, the Oromo people, because of other competing political parties who were thought to be on track to comfortably win the election, while Abiy’s reformed ‘Prosperity Party’ did not seem to be favored by the Oromo people. Secondly, the TPLF were also preparing to make a comeback using a loophole after they were pushed from power following the ascension of Abiy Ahmed into the premiership. Thirdly, the rise of the Amhara nationalist parties such as the NAMA, increased the tension between the Amhara and the Oromo, the two largest ethnic groups in the country. Fourthly, Abiy’s Prosperity Party (PP) was immature and not well established and clearly needed some time until a true ideological unity was formed. All these challenges made the sixth national election highly anticipated on one hand, and haphazard on the other. After the first COVID-19 case was announced on March 13, 2020, political parties were warning of a possible postponement of the election if necessary preventive measures were not taken. The government on the other hand, weighed up the necessity of taking preventive measures rather than focusing on the election. However, the issue of postponing the election was not an easy matter. The country did not have a history of postponing national polls. Moreover, the constitution said nothing regarding the authority and assumption of the governing body in the period between the original election date and the date to which it was postponed. Hence, the Council of Constitutional Inquiry (CCI) was established by the House of People’s Representatives (HPR). The Council of Constitutional Inquiry (CCI) is a body of legal experts the HPR established to make recommendations on constitutional interpretation requests to the lower chamber of parliament, the House of Federation (HoF). The CCI made an unprecedented public announcement on May 11, inviting qualified experts to submit to the House of People’s Representatives (HoPR) written opinions regarding the interpretation of Article 54(1), Article 58 (3) and Article 93 of the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE Constitution), in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the scheduled national election. Accordingly, many legal experts submitted their amicus curiae. [12] The submitted papers were presented to the CCI during a live broadcast. Different arguments were presented in the available time. However, with the election certainly postponed, none of the papers in support of an interim or transitional government ‘convinced’ the CCI. Hence, in May the sitting House of Representatives voted to postpone the election until 2021 and the House of Federation allowed the ruling government to continue in power until then. The ramifications of this decision is a huge topic of study on its own. As of the time of writing, the consequences of that decision is still not fully understood. Many political figures that were getting ready for the election a year ago including Jawar Mohammed and Eskendir Nega are now behind bars. The election is not as excitedly anticipated as it was a year ago. A billboard in Minnesota, USA, reads ‘Free Jawar Mohammed’ Meanwhile, it is also worth noting that Ethiopia was not the only country whose election was affected. According to IDEA, from February 2020 to June 2021 at least 78 countries and territories across the globe have decided to postpone national and subnational elections due to COVID-19, out of which at least 41 countries and territories have decided to postpone national elections and referendums, Ethiopia included. Hence, Ethiopia’s case is not unique. Despite the COVID-19 health education by the Ministry of Health, both the ruling party and other competing parties have held rallies and mass gatherings without the necessary COVID-19 protective measures. It seems Ethiopia has passed the COVID-19 season, living in a ‘post-pandemic’ state, although medical and other ongoing effects of the pandemic say otherwise. Naol Befkadu , MD, is a physician based in Addis Ababa. [1] Wuilbercq, E. (2020, May 4). Q&A: How Ethiopia’s health minister is preparing for coronavirus. Thomson Reuters Foundation. https://news.trust.org/item/20200504172943-5mjaz (accessed on June 7, 2021) [2] All covid-19 related data are taken from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/ethiopia/ (accessed on June 7, 2021) [3] WHO Africa, 2020. https://www.afro.who.int/news/ethiopia-introduces-covid-19-vaccine-national-launching-ceremony (accessed on June 7, 2021) [4] Ethiopia announced that it found traditional medicine for covid 19. Capital News. (2020, March 27) https://www.capitalethiopia.com/capital/ethiopia-announced-that-it-found-traditional-medicine-for-covid-19/ (accessed on June 7, 2021) [5] Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey, 2016. [6] International Journal of Gender and Women’s Studies June 2015, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 42-50 ISSN: 2333-6021 (Print), 2333-603X (Online) Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. Published by American Research Institute for Policy Development [7] “Sex workers: Population size estimate (2016, November). UNAIDS. http://www.aidsinfoonline.org/ (accessed on June 7, 2021) [8] Wuilbercq, E. (2021, March 3). Thomson Reuters Foundation. FEATURE-Ethiopia’s migrants turn to sex work as pandemic sends them home. (accessed on June 7, 2021) [9] International Monetary Fund: The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia: IMF Country Report No. 18/354 [10] United Nations Ethiopia: One UN Assessment: Socio-Economic Impact of Covid-19 in Ethiopia. May 2020, Addis Ababa. [11] International Monetary Fund: The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia: IMF Country Report No. 18/354 [12] Kidanemariam, Mulu & Ghebregergs, Mehreteab & Hadush, Gebrehiwot & Hailu, Gebremeskel & Messele, Abraha & Weldeselassie, Gebreabeggi. (2020). Amicus Curiae on Election, COVID-19, and Constitutional Interpretation in Ethiopia (May 15, 2020). Previous Next