Ethiopian Art from the Nina Seferović collection

ETIOPSKA UMETNOSTIZ POKLON ZBIRKE NINE SEFEROVIĆ

ETHIOPIAN ARTFROM THE NINA SEFEROVIĆ COLLECTION

MUZEJ AFRIČKE UMETNOSTI THE MUSEUM OF AFRICAN ART

2011 / 2012

CONTENTS

FOREWORDNarcisa Knežević Šijan

WORD FROM THE BENEFACTOR Nada Seferović

THE CONTINUITY OF ETHIOPIAN TRADITIONAL PAINTING FROM PAST TO PRESENT Nina Seferović

AT THE CROSSROADS OF ETHIOPIAN ROUTES Dragan Mišković

THE SEFEROVIĆ PAINTINGS COLLECTIONAn Exemplary of Ethiopian Contemporary Art in Traditional StyleNataša Njegovanović Ristić

CERAMIC FIGURINES OF THE BETA ISRAEL Emilia Epštajn

THE ART OF METALWORKINGEthiopian Crosses and Jewellery from the Nina Seferović CollectionAleksandra Prodanović Bojović

REVIEWER'S NOTE Mileta Prodanović

CATALOGUE OF THE NINA SEFEROVIĆ COLLECTION

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PREDGOVORNarcisa Knežević Šijan

REČ POKLONODAVCA Nada Seferović

ETIOPSKO TRADICIONALNO SLIKARSTVO U KONTINUITETU IZMEĐU PROŠLOSTI I SADAŠNJOSTI Nina Seferović

NA RASKRŠĆU ETIOPSKIH PUTEVADragan Mišković

KOLEKCIJA SLIKA SEFEROVIĆReprezent etiopske savremene umetnosti u tradicionalnom stiluNataša Njegovanović Ristić

KERAMIČKE FIGURE BETA IZRAELEmilia Epštajn

UMETNOST OBRADE METALAEtiopski krstovi i nakit iz zbirke Nine Seferović Aleksandra Prodanović Bojović

REČ RECENZENTAMileta Prodanović

KATALOG POKLON ZBIRKE NINE SEFEROVIĆ

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THE CONTINUITY OF ETHIOPIAN TRADITIONAL PAINTING FROM PAST TO PRESENT Nina Seferović

AT THE CROSSROADS OF ETHIOPIAN ROUTES Dragan Mišković

THE SEFEROVIĆ PAINTINGS COLLECTIONAn Exemplary of Ethiopian Contemporary Art in Traditional StyleNataša Njegovanović Ristić

CERAMIC FIGURINES OF THE BETA ISRAEL Emilia Epštajn

THE ART OF METALWORKINGEthiopian Crosses and Jewellery from the Nina Seferović CollectionAleksandra Prodanović Bojović

REVIEWER'S NOTE Mileta Prodanović

CATALOGUE OF THE NINA SEFEROVIĆ COLLECTION

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84

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SADRŽAJ


REČ POKLONODAVCA Nada Seferović

ETIOPSKO TRADICIONALNO SLIKARSTVO U KONTINUITETU IZMEĐU PROŠLOSTI I SADAŠNJOSTI Nina Seferović

NA RASKRŠĆU ETIOPSKIH PUTEVADragan Mišković

KOLEKCIJA SLIKA SEFEROVIĆReprezent etiopske savremene umetnosti u tradicionalnom stiluNataša Njegovanović Ristić

KERAMIČKE FIGURE BETA IZRAELEmilia Epštajn

UMETNOST OBRADE METALAEtiopski krstovi i nakit iz zbirke Nine Seferović Aleksandra Prodanović Bojović


KATALOG POKLON ZBIRKE NINE SEFEROVIĆ

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bjects from the Seferović collection convey to us time and space – the constants of a great world civilization, which continued to develop over a long period of history. The O

displayed objects, both of a sacred and profane nature, judging by the importance they held within traditional Ethiopian communities, have permanently and profoundly expanded our museum collection. The gesture made by Ambassador Nusret Seferović and his family: his wife Emilija, daughter Nada and grandson David who bequeathed this collection to our Museum in memory of Nina Seferović will, we are convinced, be an incentive for many known and unknown future benefactors that might step forward in the coming decades.

Fortunately, we are witnesses to the fact that the vitality of our Museum has, in the past years, been reflected in the interest the public has shown to museum exhibitions, scientific, educational and experimental artistic programs. However, at the same time, an inevitable sign of the vitality of a museum is the enlargement of its collections. By observing the Seferović collection, we are impressed by the sheer variety of art forms of the anonymous Ethiopian artist-craftsmen. It is precisely this manifold, multifarious aspect of African art that transforms the museum into a possible laboratory for researching African art.

And so, as in the case of the first benefactor-founder, the family of Ambassador Zdravko Pečar, a journey is completed: the fascination with a continent – the object – the systematic acquisition in the field – the Museum bequest. Finally, as a result: a collection of 210 new objects for the Museum of African Art in 2011.

The systematisation of the Seferović collection in its entirety, alongside its specialized assessment, was a big challenge for the curators – authors of studies that deal with specific topics within the Seferović collection. The work will be continued by future researchers, masters and doctors of the Faculty of Philosophy and Faculty of Art who have already, in this short period 2011-2012, shown interest in this field. The attention coming from the academic circles is an echo of the researching and collecting work of anthropologist Nine Seferović (1947-1991).

Nina Seferović was among those intellectuals who persevered in their mission to carefully study and document the world around them. Through the process of discovering little known cultures of Ethiopia and also through her work and the objects that she brought back with her, she initiated a new wave of interest in the ancient civilizations of Africa. It is to this passionate and tireless activism that we owe the formation of the core of today's Ethiopian collection at the Museum of African Art, the regional centre for the research and representation of African cultures in southeast Europe.


6 FOREWORD

redmeti zbirke Seferović, prenose nam vreme i prostor, konstante jedne velike svetske civilizacije koja se kontinuirano razvijala u dugom istorijskom periodu. Prezentovani P

predmeti, i oni sakralnog i oni profanog karaktera, svojim su značajem koji su imali u tradicionalnim zajednicama Etiopije, izuzetno i trajno obogatili i proširili našu muzejsku kolekciju. Gest ambasadora Nusreta Seferovića i njegove porodice: supruge Emilije, ćerke Nade i unuka Davida, koji su ovu zbirku poklonili našem Muzeju kao uspomenu na Ninu Seferović, ubeđeni smo, biće podstrek mnogim znanim i neznanim budućim darodavcima koji će se pojaviti u narednim decenijama.

Na sreću, svedoci smo da se vitalnost našeg Muzeja odražavala poslednjih godina u značajnom interesovanju publike za muzejske izložbe, naučne, edukativne, ali i eksperimentalne umetničke programe. Međutim, istovremeno nezaobilazna naznaka vitalnosti jedne muzejske kuće jeste i popunjavanje njenih zbirki. Posmatrajući zbirku Seferović, rad anonimnih etiopskih umetnika-zanatlija impresionira nas spektakularnim varijetetom umetničkih formi. Upravo to – taj aspekt mnogostranosti, polivalentnosti u afričkoj umetnosti, pretvara Muzej u moguću laboratoriju za istraživanje afričke umetnosti.

I tako će se kao i u slučaju prvog donatora-osnivača, porodice ambasadora Zdravka Pečara, završiti jedan specifičan put: fascinacija kontinentom – predmet – sistematska nabavka na terenu – legat Muzeju. I kao rezultat: zbirka od 210 novih predmeta u beogradskom Muzeju afričke umetnosti 2011. godine.

Sistematizovanje zbirke Seferović i stručna obrada kompletnog materijala, predstavljali su veliki izazov kolegama kustosima, autorima studija o pojedinim tematima unutar zbirke Seferović. Rad na zbirci će nastaviti budući istraživači, magistri i doktoranti, filozofskog i fakulteta umetnosti koji su i u ovom kratkom periodu 2011-2012 već iskazali zanimanje za nju. Zainteresovanost koju stručna javnost iskazuje je odjek istraživačkog i kolekcionarskog rada antropologa Nine Seferović (1947-1991).

Nina Seferović pripada onoj grupi intelektualaca koji su istrajavali u svojoj misiji da pažljivo prouče i dokumentuju svet oko sebe. Otkrivajući malo poznate kulture Etiopije ona je radom kao i donetim predmetima izazvala jedan novi talas interesovanja za drevne civilizacije Afrike. Tom njenom pasioniranom i neumornom aktivizmu dugujemo i formiranje jezgra Etiopske zbirke današnjeg Muzeja afričke umetnosti, regionalnog centra za proučavanje i prezentovanje afričkih kultura u jugoistočnoj Evropi.


5 PREDGOVOR

bjects from the Seferović collection convey to us time and space – the constants of a great world civilization, which continued to develop over a long period of history. The O

displayed objects, both of a sacred and profane nature, judging by the importance they held within traditional Ethiopian communities, have permanently and profoundly expanded our museum collection. The gesture made by Ambassador Nusret Seferović and his family: his wife Emilija, daughter Nada and grandson David who bequeathed this collection to our Museum in memory of Nina Seferović will, we are convinced, be an incentive for many known and unknown future benefactors that might step forward in the coming decades.

Fortunately, we are witnesses to the fact that the vitality of our Museum has, in the past years, been reflected in the interest the public has shown to museum exhibitions, scientific, educational and experimental artistic programs. However, at the same time, an inevitable sign of the vitality of a museum is the enlargement of its collections. By observing the Seferović collection, we are impressed by the sheer variety of art forms of the anonymous Ethiopian artist-craftsmen. It is precisely this manifold, multifarious aspect of African art that transforms the museum into a possible laboratory for researching African art.

And so, as in the case of the first benefactor-founder, the family of Ambassador Zdravko Pečar, a journey is completed: the fascination with a continent – the object – the systematic acquisition in the field – the Museum bequest. Finally, as a result: a collection of 210 new objects for the Museum of African Art in 2011.

The systematisation of the Seferović collection in its entirety, alongside its specialized assessment, was a big challenge for the curators – authors of studies that deal with specific topics within the Seferović collection. The work will be continued by future researchers, masters and doctors of the Faculty of Philosophy and Faculty of Art who have already, in this short period 2011-2012, shown interest in this field. The attention coming from the academic circles is an echo of the researching and collecting work of anthropologist Nine Seferović (1947-1991).

Nina Seferović was among those intellectuals who persevered in their mission to carefully study and document the world around them. Through the process of discovering little known cultures of Ethiopia and also through her work and the objects that she brought back with her, she initiated a new wave of interest in the ancient civilizations of Africa. It is to this passionate and tireless activism that we owe the formation of the core of today's Ethiopian collection at the Museum of African Art, the regional centre for the research and representation of African cultures in southeast Europe.


6 FOREWORD

redmeti zbirke Seferović, prenose nam vreme i prostor, konstante jedne velike svetske civilizacije koja se kontinuirano razvijala u dugom istorijskom periodu. Prezentovani P

predmeti, i oni sakralnog i oni profanog karaktera, svojim su značajem koji su imali u tradicionalnim zajednicama Etiopije, izuzetno i trajno obogatili i proširili našu muzejsku kolekciju. Gest ambasadora Nusreta Seferovića i njegove porodice: supruge Emilije, ćerke Nade i unuka Davida, koji su ovu zbirku poklonili našem Muzeju kao uspomenu na Ninu Seferović, ubeđeni smo, biće podstrek mnogim znanim i neznanim budućim darodavcima koji će se pojaviti u narednim decenijama.

Na sreću, svedoci smo da se vitalnost našeg Muzeja odražavala poslednjih godina u značajnom interesovanju publike za muzejske izložbe, naučne, edukativne, ali i eksperimentalne umetničke programe. Međutim, istovremeno nezaobilazna naznaka vitalnosti jedne muzejske kuće jeste i popunjavanje njenih zbirki. Posmatrajući zbirku Seferović, rad anonimnih etiopskih umetnika-zanatlija impresionira nas spektakularnim varijetetom umetničkih formi. Upravo to – taj aspekt mnogostranosti, polivalentnosti u afričkoj umetnosti, pretvara Muzej u moguću laboratoriju za istraživanje afričke umetnosti.

I tako će se kao i u slučaju prvog donatora-osnivača, porodice ambasadora Zdravka Pečara, završiti jedan specifičan put: fascinacija kontinentom – predmet – sistematska nabavka na terenu – legat Muzeju. I kao rezultat: zbirka od 210 novih predmeta u beogradskom Muzeju afričke umetnosti 2011. godine.

Sistematizovanje zbirke Seferović i stručna obrada kompletnog materijala, predstavljali su veliki izazov kolegama kustosima, autorima studija o pojedinim tematima unutar zbirke Seferović. Rad na zbirci će nastaviti budući istraživači, magistri i doktoranti, filozofskog i fakulteta umetnosti koji su i u ovom kratkom periodu 2011-2012 već iskazali zanimanje za nju. Zainteresovanost koju stručna javnost iskazuje je odjek istraživačkog i kolekcionarskog rada antropologa Nine Seferović (1947-1991).

Nina Seferović pripada onoj grupi intelektualaca koji su istrajavali u svojoj misiji da pažljivo prouče i dokumentuju svet oko sebe. Otkrivajući malo poznate kulture Etiopije ona je radom kao i donetim predmetima izazvala jedan novi talas interesovanja za drevne civilizacije Afrike. Tom njenom pasioniranom i neumornom aktivizmu dugujemo i formiranje jezgra Etiopske zbirke današnjeg Muzeja afričke umetnosti, regionalnog centra za proučavanje i prezentovanje afričkih kultura u jugoistočnoj Evropi.


5 PREDGOVOR

... with these words Dr Zdravko Pečar dedicated the exquisite Museum of African Art monograph, which he gave to my sister Nina upon her transfer to this Museum, from the Ethnographic museum where she previously worked. Unfortunately, not only was she not able to achieve all the hopes implied by the founder of this museum, but neither was she able to do so with her own professional visions that were not far from his. Moreover, the latter were the ones that made her decide to accept the offer and move to this, at the time, still very young Museum, which was bravely building its complex identity and mapping its important position in the culture of the capital city of the then still large Yugoslavia. She did not have time to do so, despite all her valiant efforts, because she was soon defeated by a ruthless illness. It is as part of at least a fraction of these hopes towards accomplishing a vision, which the two of them shared at the time, that my son David and I decided to try to contribute to by bequeathing to the Museum of African Art in Belgrade all those objects that my sister, his aunt, alongside the limitless intellectual support, help and love of our parents Emilija – Mila and Nusret, collected with such dedication and erudition.

In our multiethnic family which, due to my father's professional career as diplomat, led a nomadic life across three continents, the worldview of each individual from whichever of the numerous environments and regions that we came across was respected and this implied getting to know them, making the effort to understand, comprehend them, as well as take a critical and active stance towards them. Culture and art in particular, and in all their varying forms, strongly consumed our parents, so that they, understandably, from our earliest age coloured our interests and then, as expected, our life callings. In this and such a family milieu, my sister and I had the unbelievable luck to meet a great number of extraordinarily interesting and important people – thanks to our parents who, each in their own way, were interesting enough to entice them into their private and not only professional midst – into their home. All those people, in different ways – as intellectuals, artists or politicians and fighters for a better and more just world – strongly influenced the shaping of their surroundings and, many of


“To the new member of our small MAA team,Nina Seferović, in whom I personally invest much hope for the future and

the new ways of achieving this vision.”

8 WORD FROM THE BENEFACTOR

REČ POKLONODAVCANada Seferović

... reči su koje je dr Zdravko Pečar napisao u posveti na početnoj strani izvanredne monografije o Muzeju afričke umetnosti poklonivši je mojoj sestri Nini prilikom njenog prelaska u ovaj Muzej, iz Etnografskog, u kojem je do tada radila. Na žalost, ona ne samo što nije stigla da ispuni sve nagoveštene nade za budućnost osnivača ovog Muzeja, već ni svoje profesionalne vizije koje svakako nisu bile daleko od njegovih. Šta više, upravo one su bile te koje su je i opredelile da prihvati ponudu i pređe u ovaj, u to vreme, još uvek mlad Muzej, koji je hrabro gradio svoj kompleksan identitet i mapirao svoje značajno mesto u kulturi glavnog grada, tada još uvek velike Jugoslavije. Nije stigla jer ju je nemilosrdna bolest, uprkos svim hrabrim naporima da joj se odupre, ubrzo pobedila. Upravo jednom deliću tih nada u realizaciju vizije koju su oni tada delili, moj sin David i ja, smo odlučili da pokušamo da doprinesemo poklanjanjem Muzeju afričke umetnosti u Beogradu, svih onih predmeta koje je moja sestra, a njegova tetka, uz beskrajnu intelektualnu podršku, pomoć, i ljubav naših roditelja, Emilije – Mile i Nusreta, sa toliko posvećenosti i znanja sakupljala.

U našoj multietničkoj porodici koja je, usled profesije mog oca – karijernog diplomate – vodila nomadski život na tri kontinenta, poštovan je bio svetonazor svakog pojedinca, iz svake od onih brojnih sredina i podneblja sa kojima smo se susretali, što je samim tim podrazumevalo i upoznavanje sa njima, nastojanje da se oni razumeju, shvate, kao i da se zauzme kritički i aktivan stav prema njima. Posebno su kultura i umetnost, u različitim vidovima, snažno ispunjavali naše roditelje, pa su, razumljivo, od najmanjih nogu bojili i naša interesovanja, a potom, razumljivo, i naša životna opredeljenja. U tom i takvom porodičnom miljeu, moja sestra i ja smo imale neverovatnu sreću da upoznamo ogroman broj izvanredno interesantnih i značajnih ljudi – upravo zahvaljujući našim roditeljima koji su, svaki ponaosob, bili dovoljno zanimljivi da ih privuku u svoje privatno, a ne samo profesionalno okruženje, u svoj dom. Svi ti ljudi su na različite načine – kao intelektualci, umetnici ili pak političari i borci za bolji i pravedniji život – snažno uticali na oblikovanje svoje sredine, a mnogi od njih i na svet u celini, pa tako razume se i na nas. U toj i takvoj, stoga neminovno multikulturalnoj

„Novom članu našeg malog kolektiva MAU, Nini Seferović, u koju lično

polažem mnogo nade za budućnost i nove realizacije ove vizije.“

7 REČ POKLONODAVCA

* This article was published in the journal Ethno-anthropological problems, notebook 6 (1989), pp. 107-118,75 (63)

uthentic or acultural? The fallacy of this dichotomous divide: authentic = original = traditional and acultural = artificial = contemporary is, according to F. Willet, an A

1“oversimplification”. This until recently, generally accepted dichotomy, which rather dogmatically divided African art objects into original (those that were to an extent romantically perceived as products of “unaltered” or “unspoiled” traditional African communities created before the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century) and artificial (those artefacts that are the result of fundamental changes that took place in Africa at about the time of the 1930s and which are the aftermath of the inevitable impact of colonial penetration, imported, inflicted technology and the pressures of growing urbanisation), with the development of African studies and the rise of our tolerance with relation to the “Other”, has finally been resolved by taking a more liberal and wise stance that accepts as a fact that African culture (and more narrowly, art) undoubtedly has an apparent developmental continuity in which the traditional and contemporary inevitably intertwine.

The careful observer will see that traditional Africa has been shattered irrevocably and that it was and still is subjected to continuous change. However, while certain environments show signs of asphyxiation and cultural involution, others have become the stage for exciting evolutions and unusual hybrid inventions. Nevertheless, considering that art does not tolerate superficiality it is impossible to claim that every authentic art is “unadulterated”, that is, that every acculturated work is “fake”. This is because as categories, “authentic” and “acculturated” cannot be absolute. It is the least that can and should be done upon approaching African art from an anthropological standpoint. Contrary to this, our approach must accept the fact that each work is authentic, because: “as a cultural artefact, to a certain extent, it is an expression of

2value, feelings, perception, the Weltanschauung of a particular culture.”By giving a short overview of Ethiopian traditional painting we will attempt to illustrate

what are the possibilities of Africa maintaining its cultural continuity, despite it all and by means of overcoming, at the same time, destructive changes. From the sacred, by enduring a

Nina Seferović

THE CONTINUITY OF ETHIOPIAN TRADITIONAL PAINTING FROM PAST TO PRESENT*

14 THE CONTINUITY OF ETHIOPIAN TRADITIONAL PAINTING FROM PAST TO PRESENT

utentično ili akulturirano? Lažnost ove dihotomne podele na autentično = izvorno = tradicionalno i akulturirano = patvoreno =savremeno, predstavlja, po F.Willettu A

1„prenaglašenu simplifikaciju“. Ova, doskora opšteprihvaćena dihotomija, koja je prilično dogmatski delila predmete samosvojne afričke umetnosti na izvorne (one koji su pomalo romantičarski percipirani kao proizvodi „nedirnute“, „neiskvarene“ tradicionalne afričke zajednice i koji su nastali pre kraja XIX i početka XX veka) i patvorene (ona artefakta koja su rezultat pretrpljenih dubokih promena koje se u Africi događaju tridesetih godina ovoga veka, a posledica su neumitnih uticaja kolonijalne penetracije, uvezene, nametnute tehnologije i pritisaka narastajuće urbanizacije), sa razvojem afrikanistike i povećavanjem stope naše tolerantnosti u odnosu na „Drugog“, razrešena je zauzimanjem liberalnijeg i mudrijeg stava, koji je prihvatio kao činjenicu da afrička kultura (i uže, umetnost) nesumnjivo poseduje sasvim jasan kontinuitet razvoja u kom se tradicijsko i savremeno neminovno prepliću.

Pažljivi posmatrač videće da je tradicionalna Afrika zaista nepovratno razbijena i da je nužno pretrpela i trpi još danas stalne promene. Ali, dok će neke sredine pokazivati znake jasne umetničke asfiksije i kulturne involucije, druge će biti pozornica uzbudljivih evolucija i neobičnih hibridnih invencija. No, kako umetnost ne trpi površne parcijalizacije, nemoguće je reći da je svaka autentična umetnost „čista“, odnosno, da je svako akulturirano delo „lažno“. Kategorije „autentično“ i „akulturirano“ ne mogu biti apsolutne. Najmanje na taj način može i sme da bude izražen antropološki pristup afričkoj umetnosti. Naprotiv, on mora da prihvati činjenicu da je svako delo autentično – pošto „kao kulturni artefakt na neki način izražava

2vrednost, osećanja, percepcije, Weltanschauung određene kulture“.Kako Afrika uspeva, i pored svega, da održi svoj kulturni kontinuum, preživljavajući pri

tom, razarajuće mene, pokušaćemo da pokažemo veoma svedeno, kroz kratki pregled etiopskog tradicionalnog slikarstva. Iz sakralnog, trpeći fazu sekularizacije, ono će preći u narodno – da bi vremenom degeneriralo u tzv. „turističku“, „aerodromsku“ umetnost i, kao što

ETIOPSKO TRADICIONALNO SLIKARSTVO U KONTINUITETU IZMEĐU PROŠLOSTI I SADAŠNJOSTI*

Nina Seferović

* Članak objavljen u časopisu Etnoantropološki problemi, sv.6 (1989), str. 107-118, 75 (63)

13 ETIOPSKO TRADICIONALNO SLIKARSTVO U KONTINUITETU IZMEĐU PROŠLOSTI I SADAŠNJOSTI

ntil recent times, most research on Ethiopian culture was written from the perspective of its imperial past and Christian tradition. However, from the middle of the last century and U

the fall of colonialism in Africa, following the revolution of 1974 and the demise of the Ethiopian Empire, the situation changed significantly. The limelight was cast on those ethnic groups that played a secondary role and, in turn, the cultural situation turned more complex. In a set of new circumstances among different ethnic groups and in the midst of their traditions merging, new approaches to the study and interpretation of this original and distinctive culture started appearing.

Ethiopian studies were, until the revolution, mainly focused on the most developed and most mature culture and tradition: the Christian Amhara and Tigray peoples. These ethnic groups inhabit the north-western and central zones of Ethiopia, the regions of Tigray, Begemder, Goyam, Wollo and Shewa – areas that are in the most direct way linked to the ancient Axum Empire. Axum appeared several hundred years B.C. gaining its power in Antiquity as a maritime, commercial force that traded with the great centres of Alexandria, Byzantium and Southern Europe, and lasted until the Islamic conquest in the 7th century. However, even after its demise, the Empire continued to live on in the memories of many Ethiopian Christians. Immediately after the overthrow of the Zagwe dynasty in 1270, which had ruled over Ethiopia at the time, Ethiopian emperors started building its legitimacy on the heritage of the Axum Empire following male descent. What is even more important, its legitimacy was built on the legacy of the legend of king Solomon, the Queen of Sheba and their son Menelik, who as the mythical emperor of Ethiopia and the founder of the Solomonic dynasty, brought the Ark of the Covenant from the Judaic Temple to Ethiopia, Axum, making it from that day forth the second Jerusalem. Accordingly, the shared name of Ethiopian Habesha Christians (Abyssinians) is linked to the name Abyssinia – the name that from the Middle Ages in the Moslem world and Europe was used for Ethiopia. At its prime, Abyssinia also included parts of east Sudan, Yemen and western Saudi Arabia, north Somalia and Djibouti.

AT THE CROSSROADS OF ETHIOPIAN ROUTES

Dragan Mišković

24 AT THE CROSSROADS OF ETHIOPIAN ROUTES

straživanja etiopske kulture sve donedavno polazila su od njene carske prošlosti i hrišćanske tradicije. Promena je nastupila u drugoj polovini prošlog veka, nakon pada I

kolonijalizma u Africi, revolucije 1974. i sloma etiopskog carstva. Narodi koji su u etiopskoj istoriji imali sporednu ulogu od tada sve više dobijaju na značaju, kulturna scena postaje znatno složenija i u tom spletu novih odnosa različitih naroda i njihovih tradicija nastaje pogodno tle za nove pristupe u istraživanju i tumačenju te originalne i samosvojne kulture.

Etiopske studije do revolucije u najvećoj su se meri odnosile na najrazvijeniju i najzreliju kulturu u Etiopiji, onu hrišćanskih naroda Amhara i Tigrej. Zahvaljujući ozbiljnom i sistematskom proučavanju, danas postoji značajan fond vrednih istorijskih podataka o tim narodima. Oni naseljavaju severozapadne i središnje zone Etiopije, oblasti Tigrej, Begemder, Gojam, Volo i Šoa, to jest teritoriju na kojoj se nekada nalazilo staro Aksumsko carstvo. Aksum je nastao nekoliko stotina godina pre nove ere, da bi u antičko doba kao pomorska trgovačka sila stekao moć zahvaljujući velikim tržištima Aleksandrije, Vizantije i južne Evrope. Hrišćanstvo se vrlo rano, između 340. i 346. godine, raširilo u carstvu, koje je opstalo sve do islamskog osvajanja u 7. veku. Ipak, i posle propasti carstvo je nastavilo da živi u sećanju mnogih etiopskih hrišćana. Etiopski carevi su još u 13. veku, odmah nakon zbacivanja dinastije Zagve, svoj legitimitet počeli da zasnivaju na nasleđu Aksumskog carstva po muškoj liniji. Što je još važnije, zasnivali su ga na nasleđu iz legende o Solomonu, kraljici od Sabe i njihovom sinu Meneliku, koji je, kao mitski vladar Etiopije i osnivač solomonske dinastije, preneo Zavetni kovčeg iz Jerusalimskog hrama u Etiopiju, u Aksum, od tada smatran drugim Jerusalimom. Zajednički naziv Habeša (Abisinci) za Etiopljane hrišćane vezuje se za Abisiniju, ime koje je još od srednjeg veka u Evropi i islamskom svetu upotrebljavano za Etiopiju. Abisinija je u najboljim danima carstva obuhvatala i delove istočnog Sudana, Jemen i zapadnu Saudijsku Arabiju, severnu Somaliju i Džibuti.

Etiopijom je vladao car koji je bio posmatran kao sveta ličnost. Smatralo se da je, isto kao i car u Vizantiji, izabran od Boga. Stoga se on nikom nije obraćao neposredno, već samo preko

NA RASKRŠĆU ETIOPSKIH PUTEVA

Dragan Mišković

23 NA RASKRŠĆU ETIOPSKIH PUTEVA

who were considered to be the most eminent members of the community together with the two opposing parties. This pattern has not changed since the 7th century and many Somalis like to emphasize that language is not what holds their people in unity and enables their survival and longevity, but the her. The her is not a kind of penal, but rather a compensational law. The offender is not punished, but he is subjected to felony charges such as theft, murder or rape. The penalty charges are then given to the victim or the victim's relatives. There is no previously determined sanction or set price for the wrongdoing – it is decided upon in the dialogue itself. For instance, if a camel is stolen, the compensation may be two camels. Also, the imposed sanctions are not the same for every offender, for instance, for an ordinary man and one that does public work such as a policeman or judge. For the latter, the punishment is doubled. In the her system anyone can be a judge if he is respectable enough within the family or clan, and if he is elected through the traditional system of election; on the other hand he is not allowed to be someone who is a member of ruling or religious order.

As in other traditional societies, religion in Ethiopia played an important role. Ethiopian Christians were the ones who really stood out for their religious fervour. Fasting was one of the most important tests of hard Amhara religiosity. It was practiced rigorously and with great devotion. Meat, milk, butter or eggs were forbidden, and only fish and vegetables allowed. The priests were obliged to fast for two hundred and fifty days per annum; the laymen one hundred and sixty five. This meant that they fasted each Wednesday and Friday of the year, two whole months for Easter and twenty days for Ascension. The fasting was so rigorous that not even children or the ill were excluded. The fast before Easter was so strict, that Muslim tribal chiefs in the eastern lowlands of Ethiopia chose this period to attack Christians living in the hills.

The monks had a particularly strict and rigorous regime of repentance. They lived in forests and caves in the mountains and expressed their faith and devotion by torturing their bodies in different ways. They would boil in water a very small amount of herbs like marshmallow, nettles, kale or parsnips and wore bristle shirts and belts with thorns. It was not only the monks and nuns who submerged their bodies in cold water and slept in it, but also priests and their wives who sat for hours on rocks in cold water that reached their shoulders and necks.

The layman's practice of religion differed significantly to that of the monks, especially among farmers who kept many old, pre-Christian beliefs. These old beliefs for which the most commonly used term is animism, have survived, it may be stated, over a large area of Ethiopia and among all peoples, including those whose official religions are monotheistic (like Christianity and Islam). The imminent living surroundings of these peoples, settlers or nomads, were filled with demons that inhabit rivers and streams, woods and caves, fields and barns. Among Amhara farmers, regardless of their official Christian faith, life was lived

34 AT THE CROSSROADS OF ETHIOPIAN ROUTES

Selo na istoku EtiopijeVillage in eastern EthiopiaPhoto / Foto: Nina Seferović

Hrišćanski praznik Christian festivityPhoto / Foto: Nina Seferović

Emilija Seferović na pijaci u HararuEmilija Seferović at the market in HararPhoto / Foto: Nusret Seferović

An Exemplary of Ethiopian Contemporary Art in Traditional Style

Nataša Njegovanović Ristić

istorical manuscripts, icons as well as personalised magic scrolls produced by the Ethiopian Christian church, became the wider focus of interest for art historians, H

scientists and collectors as late as the 1970s, at a time when they began to circulate as objects of art in museums, galleries and private collections. Contemporary art production contributed in large to the “discovery” of the art of Ethiopia – exhibitions of contemporary Ethiopian artists in Europe and in America and the works of “contemporary painting in traditional style” that had crossed Ethiopian borders at a much earlier date.

Museums of African art that started opening during 20th century across the world, collected, studied, exhibited and published catalogues, studies and books which dealt with the three-dimensional forms of Africa, thus evaluating them within the framework of the artistic heritage of the world. The Museum of African Art in Belgrade, alongside the mentioned museums of African art worldwide, based on the material in its collections, as well as the concept of its permanent exhibition, primarily represented the wider area of western and central Africa – regions south of the Sahara. Considering the importance of Africa's entire artistic expression and aiming towards a more complex consideration of its production, it was necessary to focus on other parts of the African continent as well, especially the entirely different and distinctive Ethiopian culture and civilisation. Due to the lack of representative Ethiopian art objects, the Museum organised exhibitions that were mostly based on private collections. The first exhibition of this kind was organised in 2003 and titled “Ethiopia – Splendour of Kings, Testimony of Faith”, and it presented Ethiopian Christian art. The second, “Jewellery of Ethiopia” was organised in 2010 and provided insight into the jewellery production of different ethnic communities in Ethiopia. During that time, the Museum managed, through purchases and gifts, to collect approximately a hundred new pieces: paintings, jewellery, everyday objects; these, alongside the Nina Seferović donation containing two hundred pieces, form a starting point for new exhibitions of Ethiopian art.

The Nina Seferović paintings collection holds twenty eight paintings which can

THE SEFEROVIĆPAINTINGS COLLECTION

48 THE SEFEROVIĆ PAINTINGS COLLECTION

storijski rukopisi, manuskripti, ikone i lični magični svici iz produkcije hrišćanske etiopske crkve ušli su u širi fokus interesovanja istoričara umetnosti, naučnika i kolekcionara tek u I

ranim sedamdesetim godinama prošlog veka, kada počinje njihova cirkulacija kao umetničkih dela u muzejima, galerijama i privatnim zbirkama. „Otkrivanju“ etiopske umetnosti, u velikoj meri, doprinela je i savremena likovna produkcija – izložbe savremenih etiopskih umetnika u Evropi i Americi i dela „savremene umetnosti u tradicionalnom stilu“ koja su mnogo ranije prešla granice Etiopije.

Muzeji afričke umetnosti koji su se tokom 20. veka otvarali u svetu, sakupljali su, proučavali, eksponirali i publikovali kataloge, studije i knjige koje problematizuju trodimenzionalne forme Afrike, vršeći na taj način njihovu valorizaciju unutar svetske umetničke baštine. Muzej afričke umetnosti u Beogradu, kao i pomenuti muzeji, na osnovu materijala koji poseduje u svojim zbirkama, kao i na osnovu koncepcije stalne postavke, prvenstveno je predstavljao široki pojas zapadne i centralne Afrike – oblasti južno od Sahare. S obzirom na značaj celokupnog umetničkog stvaralaštva Afrike, a u cilju kompleksnijeg sagledavanja ove produkcije, pokazalo se neophodno da se pažnja usmeri i na druge delove afričkog kontinenta, posebno na potpuno različitu i samosvojnu etiopsku kulturu i civilizaciju. Zbog nedostatka relevantnih predmeta iz etiopskog stvaralaštva, Muzej je priredio izložbe koje su uglavnom bile bazirane na predmetima iz privatnih zbirki. Prva izložba, realizovana 2003. godine pod nazivom „Etiopija: sjaj kraljeva, svedočanstva vere“, predstavila je etiopsku hrišćansku umetnost, dok je druga, „Nakit Etiopije“ 2010. godine, dala uvid u produkciju nakita različitih etničkih zajednica Etiopije. U tom periodu Muzej je putem otkupa i poklona uspeo da kolekcionira približno sto dela –slike, nakit, predmete svakodnevne upotrebe, što sveukupno sa donacijom zbirke Nine Seferović koja obuhvata više od dvesta predmeta, predstavlja polazište za nove izložbe umetničkog stvaralaštva Etiopije.

Kolekcija slikarstva zbirke Nine Seferović sadrži dvadeset osam slika koje po svom tematskom i formalnom izrazu pripadaju savremenom etiopskom stvaralaštvu baziranom na

Reprezent etiopske savremene umetnosti u tradicionalnom stilu


KOLEKCIJA SLIKASEFEROVIĆ

47 KOLEKCIJA SLIKA SEFEROVIĆ

An Exemplary of Ethiopian Contemporary Art in Traditional Style


istorical manuscripts, icons as well as personalised magic scrolls produced by the Ethiopian Christian church, became the wider focus of interest for art historians, H

scientists and collectors as late as the 1970s, at a time when they began to circulate as objects of art in museums, galleries and private collections. Contemporary art production contributed in large to the “discovery” of the art of Ethiopia – exhibitions of contemporary Ethiopian artists in Europe and in America and the works of “contemporary painting in traditional style” that had crossed Ethiopian borders at a much earlier date.

Museums of African art that started opening during 20th century across the world, collected, studied, exhibited and published catalogues, studies and books which dealt with the three-dimensional forms of Africa, thus evaluating them within the framework of the artistic heritage of the world. The Museum of African Art in Belgrade, alongside the mentioned museums of African art worldwide, based on the material in its collections, as well as the concept of its permanent exhibition, primarily represented the wider area of western and central Africa – regions south of the Sahara. Considering the importance of Africa's entire artistic expression and aiming towards a more complex consideration of its production, it was necessary to focus on other parts of the African continent as well, especially the entirely different and distinctive Ethiopian culture and civilisation. Due to the lack of representative Ethiopian art objects, the Museum organised exhibitions that were mostly based on private collections. The first exhibition of this kind was organised in 2003 and titled “Ethiopia – Splendour of Kings, Testimony of Faith”, and it presented Ethiopian Christian art. The second, “Jewellery of Ethiopia” was organised in 2010 and provided insight into the jewellery production of different ethnic communities in Ethiopia. During that time, the Museum managed, through purchases and gifts, to collect approximately a hundred new pieces: paintings, jewellery, everyday objects; these, alongside the Nina Seferović donation containing two hundred pieces, form a starting point for new exhibitions of Ethiopian art.

The Nina Seferović paintings collection holds twenty eight paintings which can

THE SEFEROVIĆPAINTINGS COLLECTION

48 THE SEFEROVIĆ PAINTINGS COLLECTION

storijski rukopisi, manuskripti, ikone i lični magični svici iz produkcije hrišćanske etiopske crkve ušli su u širi fokus interesovanja istoričara umetnosti, naučnika i kolekcionara tek u I

ranim sedamdesetim godinama prošlog veka, kada počinje njihova cirkulacija kao umetničkih dela u muzejima, galerijama i privatnim zbirkama. „Otkrivanju“ etiopske umetnosti, u velikoj meri, doprinela je i savremena likovna produkcija – izložbe savremenih etiopskih umetnika u Evropi i Americi i dela „savremene umetnosti u tradicionalnom stilu“ koja su mnogo ranije prešla granice Etiopije.

Muzeji afričke umetnosti koji su se tokom 20. veka otvarali u svetu, sakupljali su, proučavali, eksponirali i publikovali kataloge, studije i knjige koje problematizuju trodimenzionalne forme Afrike, vršeći na taj način njihovu valorizaciju unutar svetske umetničke baštine. Muzej afričke umetnosti u Beogradu, kao i pomenuti muzeji, na osnovu materijala koji poseduje u svojim zbirkama, kao i na osnovu koncepcije stalne postavke, prvenstveno je predstavljao široki pojas zapadne i centralne Afrike – oblasti južno od Sahare. S obzirom na značaj celokupnog umetničkog stvaralaštva Afrike, a u cilju kompleksnijeg sagledavanja ove produkcije, pokazalo se neophodno da se pažnja usmeri i na druge delove afričkog kontinenta, posebno na potpuno različitu i samosvojnu etiopsku kulturu i civilizaciju. Zbog nedostatka relevantnih predmeta iz etiopskog stvaralaštva, Muzej je priredio izložbe koje su uglavnom bile bazirane na predmetima iz privatnih zbirki. Prva izložba, realizovana 2003. godine pod nazivom „Etiopija: sjaj kraljeva, svedočanstva vere“, predstavila je etiopsku hrišćansku umetnost, dok je druga, „Nakit Etiopije“ 2010. godine, dala uvid u produkciju nakita različitih etničkih zajednica Etiopije. U tom periodu Muzej je putem otkupa i poklona uspeo da kolekcionira približno sto dela –slike, nakit, predmete svakodnevne upotrebe, što sveukupno sa donacijom zbirke Nine Seferović koja obuhvata više od dvesta predmeta, predstavlja polazište za nove izložbe umetničkog stvaralaštva Etiopije.

Kolekcija slikarstva zbirke Nine Seferović sadrži dvadeset osam slika koje po svom tematskom i formalnom izrazu pripadaju savremenom etiopskom stvaralaštvu baziranom na

Reprezent etiopske savremene umetnosti u tradicionalnom stilu


KOLEKCIJA SLIKASEFEROVIĆ

47 KOLEKCIJA SLIKA SEFEROVIĆ

Introduction

The collection containing fifty-one handmade ceramic figurines of birds, animals and anthropomorphic forms, baring biblical motifs reminiscent of the Queen of Sheba, King Solomon and the Lion of Judah, was created in the mid 1980s, at a time when the ethnologist and museologist Nina Seferović was in Ethiopia. For the Beta Israel community who are the creators of these decorative ceramic figurines, that decade was a historical milestone.

The Beta Israel, as a very poor Ethiopian community which had been living on the highlands of north-western Ethiopia and making its subsistence through professions considered socially marginal, was also a religious group with deeply ingrained, it is not an exaggeration to say, “Old Testament” beliefs. Living their lives primarily under the wing of the dominant Orthodox Christian Ethiopian community, their contacts with the outer world were minimal and, therefore, knowledge of Jewry outside the boundaries of their inhabiting territories in Ethiopia, were unheard of. With time and recurring contacts with Christian missionaries from Europe and the even more frequent missions of European Jews, such as

1those conducted by the famous Jacques Faitlovitch at the beginning of the 20th century, the Beta Israel were irreversibly exposed to the modern Western world. Beta Israel encounters with European Jews did not solely open the doors to the world outside the borders of Ethiopia, but also brought knowledge of a real, geographically located, socially and culturally existing place of return – Israel.

The many names – Beta Israel, Falasha, or as they are also known in popular science and culture, Ethiopian Jews or Black Jews, suggest different aspects of their ethnic and religious identity, that is Jewish identity, however at the same time they reveal the ways in which this “unexpected” Jewish community on the African continent, was approached in literature and research. Part of the identity of the Beta Israel was formed as the result of the first Jewish missionaries' encounters with them, as well as the heated academic and theological debates

CERAMIC FIGURINESOF THE BETA ISRAEL

Emilia Epštajn

84 CERAMIC FIGURINES OF THE BETA ISRAEL

Uvod

Zbirka sastavljena od pedeset jedne ručno izrađene keramičke figure ptica, životinja i antropomorfnih oblika, koje nose biblijske motive sa reminiscencijama na kraljicu od Sabe, kralja Solomona i Lava plemena Juda, nastala je tokom boravka etnologa i muzeologa Nine Seferović u Etiopiji sredinom 1980-ih godina. Za zajednicu Beta Izrael koja je tvorac ukrasnih keramičkih figura, ta decenija je predstavljala istorijsku prekretnicu.

Beta Izrael, kao veoma siromašna etiopska zajednica koja je vekovima živela na visoravnima severozapadne Etiopije, ostvarujući svoju egzistenciju kroz poslove koji su smatrani socijalno marginalnim, bila je verska grupa sa duboko ukorenjenim, nije preterano reći “starozavetnim“ uverenjima. Kreirajući svoj život pre svega u okrilju dominantne pravoslavno-hrišćanske etiopske zajednice, njihovi kontakti sa spoljnim svetom bili su minimalni i, samim tim, nije im bilo poznato postojanje jevrejstva izvan granica Etiopije. Vremenom, usled sve učestalijih kontakata sa hrišćanskim misionarima iz Evrope, ali i sve

1češćim misijama evropskih Jevreja, poput one koje je sproveo čuveni Žak Faitlovič početkom 20. veka, Beta Izrael biće bespovratno izloženi vetrometini savremenog Zapadnog sveta. Kroz kontakte Beta Izraela sa evropskim Jevrejima, nisu se samo otvorila vrata svetu izvan granica Etiopije, već i saznanju o realnom, geografski lociranom i kulturno-istorijski određenom postojanju mesta povratka – Izraelu.

Mnogostrukost naziva za zajednicu o kojoj je ovde reč – Beta Izrael ili Falaša, u popularnoj nauci i kulturi takođe i Etiopski Jevreji ili Crni Jevreji – upućuje na različite aspekte njihovog etničkog i verskog, odnosno jevrejskog identiteta, ali takođe otkriva na koji način se u literaturi i istraživanjima pristupalo ovoj „neočekivanoj“ jevrejskog zajednici na afričkom kontinentu. Deo identiteta Beta Izrael zajednice, formirao se kao posledica susreta koji su sa njima imali prvi jevrejski misionari, ali i usled žučnih akademskih i teoloških rasprava, kako

KERAMIČKE FIGUREBETA IZRAEL

Emilia Epštajn

83 KERAMIČKE FIGURE BETA IZRAEL

Introduction

The collection containing fifty-one handmade ceramic figurines of birds, animals and anthropomorphic forms, baring biblical motifs reminiscent of the Queen of Sheba, King Solomon and the Lion of Judah, was created in the mid 1980s, at a time when the ethnologist and museologist Nina Seferović was in Ethiopia. For the Beta Israel community who are the creators of these decorative ceramic figurines, that decade was a historical milestone.

The Beta Israel, as a very poor Ethiopian community which had been living on the highlands of north-western Ethiopia and making its subsistence through professions considered socially marginal, was also a religious group with deeply ingrained, it is not an exaggeration to say, “Old Testament” beliefs. Living their lives primarily under the wing of the dominant Orthodox Christian Ethiopian community, their contacts with the outer world were minimal and, therefore, knowledge of Jewry outside the boundaries of their inhabiting territories in Ethiopia, were unheard of. With time and recurring contacts with Christian missionaries from Europe and the even more frequent missions of European Jews, such as

1those conducted by the famous Jacques Faitlovitch at the beginning of the 20th century, the Beta Israel were irreversibly exposed to the modern Western world. Beta Israel encounters with European Jews did not solely open the doors to the world outside the borders of Ethiopia, but also brought knowledge of a real, geographically located, socially and culturally existing place of return – Israel.

The many names – Beta Israel, Falasha, or as they are also known in popular science and culture, Ethiopian Jews or Black Jews, suggest different aspects of their ethnic and religious identity, that is Jewish identity, however at the same time they reveal the ways in which this “unexpected” Jewish community on the African continent, was approached in literature and research. Part of the identity of the Beta Israel was formed as the result of the first Jewish missionaries' encounters with them, as well as the heated academic and theological debates

CERAMIC FIGURINESOF THE BETA ISRAEL

Emilia Epštajn

84 CERAMIC FIGURINES OF THE BETA ISRAEL

Uvod

Zbirka sastavljena od pedeset jedne ručno izrađene keramičke figure ptica, životinja i antropomorfnih oblika, koje nose biblijske motive sa reminiscencijama na kraljicu od Sabe, kralja Solomona i Lava plemena Juda, nastala je tokom boravka etnologa i muzeologa Nine Seferović u Etiopiji sredinom 1980-ih godina. Za zajednicu Beta Izrael koja je tvorac ukrasnih keramičkih figura, ta decenija je predstavljala istorijsku prekretnicu.

Beta Izrael, kao veoma siromašna etiopska zajednica koja je vekovima živela na visoravnima severozapadne Etiopije, ostvarujući svoju egzistenciju kroz poslove koji su smatrani socijalno marginalnim, bila je verska grupa sa duboko ukorenjenim, nije preterano reći “starozavetnim“ uverenjima. Kreirajući svoj život pre svega u okrilju dominantne pravoslavno-hrišćanske etiopske zajednice, njihovi kontakti sa spoljnim svetom bili su minimalni i, samim tim, nije im bilo poznato postojanje jevrejstva izvan granica Etiopije. Vremenom, usled sve učestalijih kontakata sa hrišćanskim misionarima iz Evrope, ali i sve

1češćim misijama evropskih Jevreja, poput one koje je sproveo čuveni Žak Faitlovič početkom 20. veka, Beta Izrael biće bespovratno izloženi vetrometini savremenog Zapadnog sveta. Kroz kontakte Beta Izraela sa evropskim Jevrejima, nisu se samo otvorila vrata svetu izvan granica Etiopije, već i saznanju o realnom, geografski lociranom i kulturno-istorijski određenom postojanju mesta povratka – Izraelu.

Mnogostrukost naziva za zajednicu o kojoj je ovde reč – Beta Izrael ili Falaša, u popularnoj nauci i kulturi takođe i Etiopski Jevreji ili Crni Jevreji – upućuje na različite aspekte njihovog etničkog i verskog, odnosno jevrejskog identiteta, ali takođe otkriva na koji način se u literaturi i istraživanjima pristupalo ovoj „neočekivanoj“ jevrejskog zajednici na afričkom kontinentu. Deo identiteta Beta Izrael zajednice, formirao se kao posledica susreta koji su sa njima imali prvi jevrejski misionari, ali i usled žučnih akademskih i teoloških rasprava, kako

KERAMIČKE FIGUREBETA IZRAEL

Emilia Epštajn

83 KERAMIČKE FIGURE BETA IZRAEL

Aleksandra Prodanović Bojović

Ethiopian Crosses and Jewellery from the Seferović Collection

THE ARTOF METALWORKING

ifteen items made of bronze and copper alloys form part of the Ethiopian collection donated by Nina Seferović. Among them there are four Christian crosses, two of which F

belong to the type of processional crosses, while the other two are the examples of hand-held crosses, carried by priests. The other eleven items from this donation contain necklaces, bracelets and simple circular anklets. The Seferović family obtained these along with the other items from the donated collection, such as ceramics, paintings, cloths and wooden combs, during their stay in Ethiopia in the 1980s. While the crosses originate from the long Christian tradition of the Amhara and Tigre people, used as part of church rites paraphernalia, metal jewellery that the Seferović collection contains represents personal ornaments of nomads and cattle-breeders of southern Ethiopia (Oromo, Dinka, Hamar, etc.), whose life style has to this age remained almost intact by civilization and technological progress.

The Christian crosses and jewellery from the Nina Seferović collection reflect the different cultural contexts in which the production of decorative metal objects takes place in Ethiopia, the different artistic sources that influence the shaping of these objects, as well as the belief systems related to the meaning and role of metal objects.

Metalworking as Decorative Art in Ethiopia

Metal started being used in Ethiopia more than 2,500 years ago. From early on, technological knowledge was spread from the developed metallurgy centres– Egypt and Nubia – upstream the Nile River, all the way to the Ethiopian Highlands. The craft of metallurgy had also been

1brought from the Middle East penetrating thus from the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea. The earliest evidence of metalworking (of iron and copper) in Ethiopia was found among the Pre-Axumite cultures in the northern part of Ethiopia, while the use of precious metals was mentioned in the early centuries of the Common Era, in the Axum state, which was formed

114 THE ART OF METALWORKING

okviru etiopske poklon-zbirke Nine Seferović nalazi se petnaest predmeta načinjenih u bronzi i drugim legurama bakra. Među njima su četiri hrišćanska krsta: dva pripadaju tipu U

procesijskih krstova, dok su druga dva primeri ručnih krstova sveštenika. Ostalih jedanaest predmeta čine ogrlice, narukvice i grivne jednostavnog kružnog oblika. Porodica Seferović nabavila je ove krstove i nakit, zajedno sa drugim predmetima iz poklonjene zbirke (keramikom, slikama, tkaninama i drvenim češljevima) tokom boravka u Etiopiji 1980-ih godina. Dok krstovi potiču iz duge hrišćanske tradicije naroda Amhara i Tigre, gde se koriste kao deo opreme u crkvenim obredima, metalni nakit obuhvaćen zbirkom Seferović predstavlja lične ukrase nomada i stočara južne Etiopije (Oromo, Dinka, Hamar itd.), čiji način života je i u našem dobu skoro nedirnut civilizacijom i tehnološkim progresom.

Hrišćanski krstovi i nakit iz zbirke Nine Seferović odražavaju različite kulturne kontekste u kojima se odvija proizvodnja dekorativnih metalnih predmeta u Etiopiji, različite umetničke izvore koji utiču na oblikovanje tih predmeta, kao i sisteme verovanja povezane sa značenjem i ulogom metalnih predmeta.

Obrada metala kao dekorativna umetnost u Etiopiji

U Etiopiji se metal počeo upotrebljavati pre više od dve i po hiljade godina. Od najranijih vremena, tehnološka znanja širila su se iz razvijenih centara metalurgije - Egipta i Nubije, prenoseći se do Etiopske visoravni uzvodnim tokom Nila. Metalurško umeće je takođe doneto

1sa Bliskog istoka, dopirući preko Arabijskog poluostrva i Crvenog mora. Najstariji dokazi o obradi metala (gvožđa i bakra) pronađeni su među preaksumskim kulturama u severnom delu Etiopije, dok se upotreba plemenitih metala pominje u prvim vekovima nove ere, u okviru države Aksum, koja se formirala na temelju ranijih kultura.

Pojava civilizacijskih centara u Etiopiji, kao i širenje velikih religija – hrišćanstva i islama pospešili su razvoj zanata i umetnosti, doprinoseći uspostavljanju obrade metala kao zanata i


Etiopski krstovi i nakit iz zbirke Seferović

UMETNOSTOBRADE METALA

113 UMETNOST OBRADE METALA


Ethiopian Crosses and Jewellery from the Seferović Collection

THE ARTOF METALWORKING

ifteen items made of bronze and copper alloys form part of the Ethiopian collection donated by Nina Seferović. Among them there are four Christian crosses, two of which F

belong to the type of processional crosses, while the other two are the examples of hand-held crosses, carried by priests. The other eleven items from this donation contain necklaces, bracelets and simple circular anklets. The Seferović family obtained these along with the other items from the donated collection, such as ceramics, paintings, cloths and wooden combs, during their stay in Ethiopia in the 1980s. While the crosses originate from the long Christian tradition of the Amhara and Tigre people, used as part of church rites paraphernalia, metal jewellery that the Seferović collection contains represents personal ornaments of nomads and cattle-breeders of southern Ethiopia (Oromo, Dinka, Hamar, etc.), whose life style has to this age remained almost intact by civilization and technological progress.

The Christian crosses and jewellery from the Nina Seferović collection reflect the different cultural contexts in which the production of decorative metal objects takes place in Ethiopia, the different artistic sources that influence the shaping of these objects, as well as the belief systems related to the meaning and role of metal objects.

Metalworking as Decorative Art in Ethiopia

Metal started being used in Ethiopia more than 2,500 years ago. From early on, technological knowledge was spread from the developed metallurgy centres– Egypt and Nubia – upstream the Nile River, all the way to the Ethiopian Highlands. The craft of metallurgy had also been

1brought from the Middle East penetrating thus from the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea. The earliest evidence of metalworking (of iron and copper) in Ethiopia was found among the Pre-Axumite cultures in the northern part of Ethiopia, while the use of precious metals was mentioned in the early centuries of the Common Era, in the Axum state, which was formed

114 THE ART OF METALWORKING

okviru etiopske poklon-zbirke Nine Seferović nalazi se petnaest predmeta načinjenih u bronzi i drugim legurama bakra. Među njima su četiri hrišćanska krsta: dva pripadaju tipu U

procesijskih krstova, dok su druga dva primeri ručnih krstova sveštenika. Ostalih jedanaest predmeta čine ogrlice, narukvice i grivne jednostavnog kružnog oblika. Porodica Seferović nabavila je ove krstove i nakit, zajedno sa drugim predmetima iz poklonjene zbirke (keramikom, slikama, tkaninama i drvenim češljevima) tokom boravka u Etiopiji 1980-ih godina. Dok krstovi potiču iz duge hrišćanske tradicije naroda Amhara i Tigre, gde se koriste kao deo opreme u crkvenim obredima, metalni nakit obuhvaćen zbirkom Seferović predstavlja lične ukrase nomada i stočara južne Etiopije (Oromo, Dinka, Hamar itd.), čiji način života je i u našem dobu skoro nedirnut civilizacijom i tehnološkim progresom.

Hrišćanski krstovi i nakit iz zbirke Nine Seferović odražavaju različite kulturne kontekste u kojima se odvija proizvodnja dekorativnih metalnih predmeta u Etiopiji, različite umetničke izvore koji utiču na oblikovanje tih predmeta, kao i sisteme verovanja povezane sa značenjem i ulogom metalnih predmeta.

Obrada metala kao dekorativna umetnost u Etiopiji

U Etiopiji se metal počeo upotrebljavati pre više od dve i po hiljade godina. Od najranijih vremena, tehnološka znanja širila su se iz razvijenih centara metalurgije - Egipta i Nubije, prenoseći se do Etiopske visoravni uzvodnim tokom Nila. Metalurško umeće je takođe doneto

1sa Bliskog istoka, dopirući preko Arabijskog poluostrva i Crvenog mora. Najstariji dokazi o obradi metala (gvožđa i bakra) pronađeni su među preaksumskim kulturama u severnom delu Etiopije, dok se upotreba plemenitih metala pominje u prvim vekovima nove ere, u okviru države Aksum, koja se formirala na temelju ranijih kultura.

Pojava civilizacijskih centara u Etiopiji, kao i širenje velikih religija – hrišćanstva i islama pospešili su razvoj zanata i umetnosti, doprinoseći uspostavljanju obrade metala kao zanata i


Etiopski krstovi i nakit iz zbirke Seferović

UMETNOSTOBRADE METALA

113 UMETNOST OBRADE METALA

The Museum of African Art in Belgrade is one of those institutions which constitutes that which gives our city – Belgrade, a true cosmopolitan dimension. The Museum was established in a way similar to many museums across the world – through bequeathal, that is, through the act by which the material dimension of a private collection is transformed into public good. The Zdravko and Veda Pečar collection is the nucleus of this very specific, and in the region, unique museum that has, throughout its by now long-standing work, been expanded with various valuable gifts from numerous benefactors. One donation that adds to the Museum collection in a significant way, at the same time opening yet another level, is most certainly the gift from Nada Seferović and her son David, in memory of the prematurely deceased sister and aunt, Nina. Nina Seferović's links to the Museum of African Art were manifold, however as a trained ethnologist she spent the last days of her working life in this institution.

The exhibition “Ethiopian Art from the Donated Nina Seferović Collection” offers our public a commendably researched collection containing 210 artefacts from Ethiopia, collected by the Seferović family during the 1980s. At the same time, the publication and exhibition pay homage to Nina Seferović's professional work. An important part of the presentation is dedicated to the formation of the collection, which is complemented with her original photographs from Ethiopia.

Ethiopian art and its civilisation, have already been the subject of exceptional exhibitions by the Museum of African Art on two occasions, therefore there is an existing audience in Belgrade that knows and particularly loves the art of this country. The exhibitions in question were “Ethiopia: Splendour of Kings and Testimonies of Faith” in 2003, followed by the catalogue by Nataša Njegovanović Ristić and the 2010 exhibition “Jewellery of Ethiopia” accompanied with the study written by Aleksandra Prodanović Bojović.

It was through these exhibitions that objects which are the subject of the "Ethiopian Art form the Donated Nina Seferović Collection" exhibition were announced as a bequest to the Museum, and now after their assessment, the public is presented with the accompanying catalogue with texts written by Nataša Njegovanović Ristić, Aleksandra Prodanović Bojović, Dragan Mišković and Emilia Epštajn. The text written by Nina Seferović: “The Continuity of Ethiopian Traditional Painting from Past to Present” is particularly valuable because through it, light is cast on the personality of the collector based on her theoretical and scientific approaches.

Richly illustrated, the “Ethiopian Art from the Donated Nina Seferović Collection” catalogue offers texts by exceptional experts in this area, curators nurtured by the Museum of African Art who have made it what it is today – an institution of reference acknowledged far beyond the borders of our country. The addition of the Nina Seferović collection and its adequate publication additionally reinforces such a position that the Museum of African Art holds.

REVIEWER'S NOTEMileta Prodanovićpainter and writer

142 REVIEWER'S NOTE

Muzej afričke umetnosti u Beogradu jedna je od onih institucija koje čine da naš grad, Beograd, ima istinski kosmopolitsku dimenziju. Nastao je na način na koji su stvoreni mnogi muzeji u svetu, poklonom, to jest gestom kojim se materijalna dimenzija jedne privatne kolekcionarske strasti pretvara u javno dobro. Zbirka Zdravka i Vede Pečar čini jezgro ovog specifičnog i u regionu jedinstvenog muzeja koji je tokom svog, sada se već može reći i dugog trajanja, dopunjavan raznovrsnim dragocenim poklonima mnogih darodavaca. Jedna od donacija koja u značajnoj meri upotpunjuje kolekciju Muzeja i dodaje mu još jedan sloj, svakako jeste dar Nade Seferović i njenog sina Davida učinjen u spomen na rano preminulu sestru, odnosno tetku Ninu. Vezanost Nine Seferović (1947-1991) za Muzej afričke umetnosti bila je višestruka; po profesiji etnolog, ona je poslednje godine svog profesionalnog rada provela u ovoj instituciji.

Izložbom „Etiopska umetnost iz poklon zbirke Nine Seferović“ našoj javnosti se predočava uzorito obrađena zbirka od 210 predmeta iz Etiopije, koju je sakupila porodica Seferović tokom 1980-ih godina. Ujedno se pratećom publikacijom i izložbom daje mali omaž profesionalnom radu Nine Seferović. Važan deo prezentacije čini i prikaz nastanka zbirke praćen autorskim fotografijama iz Etiopije.

Umetnost i civilizacija Etiopije već su, u dva navrata, bile predmet izuzetnih izložbi Muzeja afričke umetnosti, tako da u Beogradu već postoji publika koja poznaje i posebno voli umetnost ove zemlje. To su bile izložbe „Etiopija – Sjaj kraljeva, svedočanstva vere“ 2003. godine, sa kataloškom studijom Nataše Njegovanović Ristić, i „Nakit Etiopije“, sa studijom Aleksandre Prodanović Bojović, održana 2010. godine.

Već tada je materijal koji je predmet izložbe „Etiopska umetnost iz poklon zbirke Nine Seferović“ bio najavljen kao legat, a sada se, nakon muzeološke obrade, javnosti prikazuje uz dostojan propratni katalog sa tekstovima Nataše Njegovanović Ristić, Aleksandre Prodanović Bojović, Dragana Miškovića i Emilije Epštajn. Posebnu dragocenost kataloga čini i tekst Nine Seferović „Etiopsko tradicionalno slikarstvo u kontinuitetu između prošlosti i sadašnjosti“ kojim se ličnost kolekcionara osvetljava i sa strane njenog teorijsko-naučnog aspekta.

Bogato ilustrovan, katalog „Etiopska umetnost iz poklon zbirke Nine Seferović“ donosi tekstove izuzetnih poznavalaca ove oblasti, kustosa koje je odnegovao Muzej afričke umetnosti i koji su od ovog muzeja učinili ono što on jeste danas – a to je referentna institucija prepoznata daleko van granica naše zemlje. Uključenje zbirke Nine Seferović i njeno adekvatno publikovanje dodatno učvršćuju Muzej afričke umetnosti na toj poziciji.


slikar i pisac

141 REČ RECEZENTA

The Museum of African Art in Belgrade is one of those institutions which constitutes that which gives our city – Belgrade, a true cosmopolitan dimension. The Museum was established in a way similar to many museums across the world – through bequeathal, that is, through the act by which the material dimension of a private collection is transformed into public good. The Zdravko and Veda Pečar collection is the nucleus of this very specific, and in the region, unique museum that has, throughout its by now long-standing work, been expanded with various valuable gifts from numerous benefactors. One donation that adds to the Museum collection in a significant way, at the same time opening yet another level, is most certainly the gift from Nada Seferović and her son David, in memory of the prematurely deceased sister and aunt, Nina. Nina Seferović's links to the Museum of African Art were manifold, however as a trained ethnologist she spent the last days of her working life in this institution.

The exhibition “Ethiopian Art from the Donated Nina Seferović Collection” offers our public a commendably researched collection containing 210 artefacts from Ethiopia, collected by the Seferović family during the 1980s. At the same time, the publication and exhibition pay homage to Nina Seferović's professional work. An important part of the presentation is dedicated to the formation of the collection, which is complemented with her original photographs from Ethiopia.

Ethiopian art and its civilisation, have already been the subject of exceptional exhibitions by the Museum of African Art on two occasions, therefore there is an existing audience in Belgrade that knows and particularly loves the art of this country. The exhibitions in question were “Ethiopia: Splendour of Kings and Testimonies of Faith” in 2003, followed by the catalogue by Nataša Njegovanović Ristić and the 2010 exhibition “Jewellery of Ethiopia” accompanied with the study written by Aleksandra Prodanović Bojović.

It was through these exhibitions that objects which are the subject of the "Ethiopian Art form the Donated Nina Seferović Collection" exhibition were announced as a bequest to the Museum, and now after their assessment, the public is presented with the accompanying catalogue with texts written by Nataša Njegovanović Ristić, Aleksandra Prodanović Bojović, Dragan Mišković and Emilia Epštajn. The text written by Nina Seferović: “The Continuity of Ethiopian Traditional Painting from Past to Present” is particularly valuable because through it, light is cast on the personality of the collector based on her theoretical and scientific approaches.

Richly illustrated, the “Ethiopian Art from the Donated Nina Seferović Collection” catalogue offers texts by exceptional experts in this area, curators nurtured by the Museum of African Art who have made it what it is today – an institution of reference acknowledged far beyond the borders of our country. The addition of the Nina Seferović collection and its adequate publication additionally reinforces such a position that the Museum of African Art holds.

REVIEWER'S NOTEMileta Prodanovićpainter and writer

142 REVIEWER'S NOTE

Muzej afričke umetnosti u Beogradu jedna je od onih institucija koje čine da naš grad, Beograd, ima istinski kosmopolitsku dimenziju. Nastao je na način na koji su stvoreni mnogi muzeji u svetu, poklonom, to jest gestom kojim se materijalna dimenzija jedne privatne kolekcionarske strasti pretvara u javno dobro. Zbirka Zdravka i Vede Pečar čini jezgro ovog specifičnog i u regionu jedinstvenog muzeja koji je tokom svog, sada se već može reći i dugog trajanja, dopunjavan raznovrsnim dragocenim poklonima mnogih darodavaca. Jedna od donacija koja u značajnoj meri upotpunjuje kolekciju Muzeja i dodaje mu još jedan sloj, svakako jeste dar Nade Seferović i njenog sina Davida učinjen u spomen na rano preminulu sestru, odnosno tetku Ninu. Vezanost Nine Seferović (1947-1991) za Muzej afričke umetnosti bila je višestruka; po profesiji etnolog, ona je poslednje godine svog profesionalnog rada provela u ovoj instituciji.

Izložbom „Etiopska umetnost iz poklon zbirke Nine Seferović“ našoj javnosti se predočava uzorito obrađena zbirka od 210 predmeta iz Etiopije, koju je sakupila porodica Seferović tokom 1980-ih godina. Ujedno se pratećom publikacijom i izložbom daje mali omaž profesionalnom radu Nine Seferović. Važan deo prezentacije čini i prikaz nastanka zbirke praćen autorskim fotografijama iz Etiopije.

Umetnost i civilizacija Etiopije već su, u dva navrata, bile predmet izuzetnih izložbi Muzeja afričke umetnosti, tako da u Beogradu već postoji publika koja poznaje i posebno voli umetnost ove zemlje. To su bile izložbe „Etiopija – Sjaj kraljeva, svedočanstva vere“ 2003. godine, sa kataloškom studijom Nataše Njegovanović Ristić, i „Nakit Etiopije“, sa studijom Aleksandre Prodanović Bojović, održana 2010. godine.

Već tada je materijal koji je predmet izložbe „Etiopska umetnost iz poklon zbirke Nine Seferović“ bio najavljen kao legat, a sada se, nakon muzeološke obrade, javnosti prikazuje uz dostojan propratni katalog sa tekstovima Nataše Njegovanović Ristić, Aleksandre Prodanović Bojović, Dragana Miškovića i Emilije Epštajn. Posebnu dragocenost kataloga čini i tekst Nine Seferović „Etiopsko tradicionalno slikarstvo u kontinuitetu između prošlosti i sadašnjosti“ kojim se ličnost kolekcionara osvetljava i sa strane njenog teorijsko-naučnog aspekta.

Bogato ilustrovan, katalog „Etiopska umetnost iz poklon zbirke Nine Seferović“ donosi tekstove izuzetnih poznavalaca ove oblasti, kustosa koje je odnegovao Muzej afričke umetnosti i koji su od ovog muzeja učinili ono što on jeste danas – a to je referentna institucija prepoznata daleko van granica naše zemlje. Uključenje zbirke Nine Seferović i njeno adekvatno publikovanje dodatno učvršćuju Muzej afričke umetnosti na toj poziciji.


slikar i pisac

141 REČ RECEZENTA

Documents

Ethiopian Art from the Nina Seferović collection