Years ago, I watched this short film on Gobelins called Duo. I was obsessed with animation those days. And I loved many of the works students at Gobelins did. They were short animation films and simply powerful. I think I love short things a lot. Short stories, short films. Short trips. Short meetings. Short lectures. Things are better when short. They become precise.

Anyways this one is… 3 minutes and 31 seconds.

It is about two acrobats… circus performers. You see them performing and they are marvelous. Just beautiful.

It goes back and forth in time showing the stage and backstage. Behind the stage, we learn that they are breaking the duo and this is their last night.

The music & their performance (they use two red robes that they intricately sew together as they go on in their performance. The performance ends with a drop down of the second artist while the first one holds the robe while she is split and above) creates such a tension of the duo.

You just can feel two people’s relationship which is very much strained. A lot of hurt and disappointment that is just there and unspoken.

I didn’t need to know anything else. I didn't need to know why one is leaving the duo or how the other feels about it. I felt the replaced estrangement of the familiarity. awkwardness .

It is a curse, isn’t it? That you are not the same person with the person you love. That a person you love no matter how much you mean to one another remains another person.

And in reality, you really don’t have much say?

@coffeeandscribblings

Leaving this here.
Rest in peace, Nikki Giovanni
@coffeeandscribblings

ወፎች የሚሰሩት ስራ ሁሉ የሚገርም እንጂ የማይገርም አይደለም። ተመልከቷቸው። ትማሩባቸዋላችሁ። ቁጭ ብሎ ሩቅ ሩቅ ማየትን ጨምሮ።
@coffeeandscribblings

Some writers are
just insanely good. Okay that is not a good description . Rather, they take notice of the most trivial things and what is fascinating is that they actually remember them when they sit down to write.
"She was struggling to push a trolley cursed with an inclination to steer right"
"... saying one should remain loyal to trolleys'.
" ... we made it to the Paris carousel, already crowded with faces grown involuntarily familiar sonce boarding"

This is just paragraph playing little role in the actual thing the guy is trying to tell us. But it just instantly takes us back to airports and the hustle of travelling.

I think that is what good writers do. Take back. Remind you.
I am reading essays in love' by Alain de Botton.
@coffeeandscribblings

ቤት የሚያውቁት እና የሚታወቁበት ቦታ ነው። ሲመለሱበት የተለዩት አይመስልም። እንደጣፋጭ ፍቅረኛ... እንደማትለዋወጥ... እንደክዳን... ድስቱን እንዳገኘ... ቤት ግራ አይገባም።
እጆቼ የሚሰነዘሩበትን ያውቃሉ። እግሮቼ አይደናቀፉም። ምላሴን የሚያንቀው የለም። አልደክምም። አውቀዋለሁ። አወቀችው... አወቃት... የሚሉት እንዲህ ያለውን ፍቅር ሳይሆን አይቀርም።
On coming home

@coffeeandscribblings

Share your thoughts on waiting for Godot adaptation ጎዶን ጥበቃ at the national theater?

ማክሰኞ የዋህ ሰው ይመስለኛል። የሰኞ ፍዳ የለበትም። የረቡዕ ግራ አጋቢ አሰልቺነት የለበትም። (ሲጀመር ረቡዕ ነው ወይስ እሮብ? ለአንድ ቀን ሁለት ስም ምን ያደርጋል? እንደሚጽፉት የማይሉት ለምን ነው?)

ማክሰኞ... ማክ እንደተለጠፈበት ሰኞ አይደለም። ኩል ነው።
@coffeeandscribblings

I was having a conversation with my friends about the classification of generations. I suggested that an entirely different classification should be put in place for Africa if not for each nation.
Like how Gen Z is defined with the use of smartphones and social media but how internet penetration and social media use in African countries may have a different timeline (They didn't take it well). Here is the thing though.

Because we have an entirely different history, this classification some people seem to swear by may not apply for us. If I were to take it to my country, I would divide the Ethiopians entirely differently.

Because some people knew and lived under the regime of the king; the french speaking, the educated, the lion of Judah king. It does something to you, right?( Your first generation)

And then there is the generation that lived under military regime. In socialist Ethiopia. (It pains me to realize not many people know we lived under socialist regime. Not many know the global and regional implications of the revolution) So many ideas were raised. So many debates were had. So many people died. It does something to you. (Your second generation).

Others lived after derg was overthrown. During discussions of nations, nationalities, democracy and constitution. Eritrea was leaving Ethiopia. It does something to you.

And the election generation of 1997/2015? Doesn't the idea of multi-parties and ballot change something in you?

Talk about the ones that are the Gen alpha equivalents. In addition to COVID 19 was war, ethnic tensions and major shifts in the economy. Even the floating currency does something to
you.
I sincerely do wish they were better studied and classified. The strength, the mark up and the ideology of different generations who lived under a significant political reality is truly interesting.

My limited understanding and knowledge on the matter limited me to political matters but even social and economic matters go beyond.

Send me to sociology school to write a closer look.

@coffeeandscribblings

እንደአፈቀረ ሰው ጥሩ ጸሀፊ የለም። ከፍቅር ቀናቶቼ የተረፉኝ ጥሩ ጽሁፎችን ትቋደሱ ዘንድ ጻፍኹላችሁ።
በቁጥርም በርካታ ናቸውና እየቀነጨብሁ አካፍላችኋለሁ።

1. እንደአልዐዛር የሞትን ከንፈር አስቀምሶ ቢመልሰኝ ብዬ እመኛለሁ።
በሶስቱ ቀናት ስትፈርጥ ስትነሳ፣ ሀይ እንዲህ ይወዳት ነበር እንዴ እንዲሉህ። እንዲህ እወዳት ነበር እንዴ እንድትል ራስህ።

2.ፈጣሪ ፍጡራኑን ይቅር ሊል እንደሚቸኩል፣ በትንሽ ነገር ልምርህ እጓጓለሁ። ግን ያልተጠየቀ ምህረት አይሰጥም። የልብህን ጓዳ ጎድጓዳ የሚያውቅ ፈጣሪ፣ የጸጉርህን ቁጥር የሚያውቀው አምላክ እንኳ ያለፈቃድህ አይምርህም።
ታዲያ እኔ የምድር ምርጊቷ...

3. ሎጋ ለሎጋ ሲያወጋ ነጋ።
እውነት ለመናገር...
እኔም ሎጋ አይደለሁ... አንተም ሎጋ አይደለህ
ስናወጋም አልነጋ
ብቻ ሎጋ ለሎጋ ሲያወጋ ነጋ

4. ከውስጤ ለአንተ ያለኝን ነገር ሁሉ ጎትቼ ባወጣው ነፍስ ያለው የሚንፈራገጥ ነገር የሚሆን ይመስለኛል። ከዚያ ምን አደርገዋለሁ? ግንባሩን ፈጥፍጬ አልገድለው? በመንገድ ዳር አልጥለው? መልሼ እውጠዋለሁ ይ። ጊዜ የሚያደርገውን ያደርገዋል።

@coffeeandscribblings

@coffeeadscribblings

Photo credit: Afomia Admasu

I just learnt something: that one has to take one's art very seriously.
Painstakingly seriously. Insanely seriously.
Do the most difficult work and go the farthest miles for one's art.
I am watching a documentary on Klimt's the kiss and the guy actually went through the most insanely difficult job of spreading Gold, Silver and platinum sprinkles over his painting.
Masterpieces are not accidents!
Maybe you didn't need this. But I did. @coffeeandscribblings

These are four different paintings of the same story: Judith and Holofernes.
You want to read or listen about it?

If you have not yet visited this exhibition, please do and share your thoughts!

Time is running out to witness the groundbreaking exhibition Impression of Africa: Jean-Michel Basquiat at the Alliance Ethio-Française! With over 11,440 visitors already stepping into this powerful cross-cultural journey, you don’t want to miss your chance to experience Basquiat’s revolutionary artistry alongside contemporary Ethiopian expressions of identity, resistance, and spirituality.

This immersive exhibition is more than just an art display—it’s a dialogue between past and present, a celebration of heritage, and a testament to the universality of artistic rebellion.

Closing Date: March 14, 2025
Open Tuesday - Sunday | 1 PM - 6 PM (Closed on Mondays)
Entrance is free!

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