Ethiopia is considered to be a landlocked country. The country does not have an outlet to a sea or ocean. Despite the absence of an outlet, the country has a significant number of rivers and lakes. Ethiopia is a source of the Nile River, the longest river in the world. This makes her the “Water Tower of East Africa’.
An International Maritime Exhibition will be held from July 10 to 16 this year in Ethiopia. Giving meaning and getting back to the true essence of the Maritime Festival – the common thread running through the 8th edition of the 2020 Brest International Maritime Festival.
José-Marie Bel (PhD), a French Ethnologist, Historian, Visual Artist, and Architect, told The Ethiopian Herald that Ethiopia is home to various lakes and rivers. Thus, the country has a huge potential of the marine-time economy. The rivers and lakes can be exploited for tourism, irrigation, transportation, recreation and source of food.
The exhibition includes a great circus tent: an exhibition of old Ethiopian civilization (lakes, historical Islands of Tana and over lakes of Chamo, and Zeway. The show will be accompanied by the Ethiopian Traditional Coffee ceremony. And photos narrating the historical attachment between coffee and the country will also be available, according to Bel.
In the creative and immersive scenography, visitors will explore the flotilla, gastronomy, music, and fishing techniques specific to each destination. The exhibition is expected to generate discoveries for total immersion in a unique atmosphere.
With creative and immersive scenography, each stopover will offer a real change of scenery. As soon as you enter, green areas will plunge you into the atmosphere of the maritime spaces. The voyage will continue with a discovery of the flotilla and the diversity of maritime traditions and construction methods. And to experience each port of call as if it were a real voyage, visitors will discover the music, songs, crafts, and local gastronomy.
He also added that partnerships will be set up with associations from all over the world. Besides, times for exchanges between the different ports of call will be organized so that the Maritime Festival will, as always, be guided by the theme of dialogue between maritime cultures.
At each port of call, you will discover the scientific, environmental and climatic challenges specific to each of these great maritime spaces. These are fun and festive opportunities to discover the interactions between sea and land and celebrate the sea as a link between peoples, he said.
Since 1996, Bel and his team have been hosting series of exhibitions at Queen of Sheba Center in Paris. The several exhibitions have revealed high potential of maritime in East Africa, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. In 2004, Ethiopia, Brazil, Switzerland, and Sweden were participants of the exhibition.
He uncovered that the exhibition had depicted animations of boats used on different lakes of Ethiopia such as Lake Tana, Zeway, Chamo, and others. The exhibition was visited by 2.5 million visitors including president Sahle-Work Zewde (the then Ethiopian Ambassador to France), a prominent Ethiopian singer Mahmoud Ahmed and the like.
The Ethiopian Herald February 25/2020
BY GETAHUN LEGESSE
