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Activists Around the World: Aida Muluneh · Stuff Mom Never Told You

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  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Anny and Samantha. I'm not going to
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  Speaker 1: stuff I ever told your production of My Heart.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Radio and welcome to activist around the world. And to
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  Speaker 2: close out Black History Months, but not to say we
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  Speaker 2: won't continue to talk about the many people from the
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  Speaker 2: black community who haven't continued to use their art and
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  Speaker 2: activism and voice to do so much and improve the world,
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  Speaker 2: because you know we will. But to close out for
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  Speaker 2: this specific timeframe, we are finishing up with artists, activists.
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  Speaker 2: Ida Mullinae who is an Ethiopian photographer, educator, and so
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  Speaker 2: much more. Though born in Addis Adaba, Ethiopia, Mullinee has
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  Speaker 2: been a traveler around the world, spending a chunk of
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  Speaker 2: our childhood in Cyprus, Greece, UK Yemen, and eventually in Canada,
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  Speaker 2: where she would attend high schoo Except this time in
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  Speaker 2: high school she first starts her adventure in photography. She
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  Speaker 2: would then go on to Howard University in Washington, d C.
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  Speaker 2: Where she would major in film. From there, she went
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  Speaker 2: on to work for the Washington Post as a photojournalist.
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  Speaker 2: Now not really talking much about her time there, but
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  Speaker 2: apparently according to the mini articles, she would use black
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  Speaker 2: and white photography for photojournalism, but would later go on
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  Speaker 2: to all of her exhibits with being a very colorful
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  Speaker 2: and vibrant And she did say at one point that
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  Speaker 2: she just felt like when she was a photojournalist, she
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  Speaker 2: was seeing in black and white and then the chance.
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  Speaker 2: So I just thought that was an interesting little tidbit.
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  Speaker 2: But that In her Wikipedia article, they write that she
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  Speaker 2: was encouraged by her grandfather to step fully into her artwork. Quote.
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  Speaker 2: Although Mulaney began shooting photographs in high school, she did
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  Speaker 2: not imagine it as a career until her grandfather, who
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  Speaker 2: lived in Ethiopia, came to visit her family. He had
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  Speaker 2: served in the Ethiopian Air Force and enjoyed pain in
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  Speaker 2: his spare time. He saw something in her work and
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  Speaker 2: told her to continue work as an artist rather than
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  Speaker 2: putting off her passion as a hobby. I love that sentiment,
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  Speaker 2: like you don't see that contact or conversation often being like, no,
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  Speaker 2: this is not a hobby. This should be your passion,
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  Speaker 2: This should be your job. And she was like, oh, okay,
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  Speaker 2: you're right. So her photography caught people's attention pretty quickly.
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  Speaker 2: I believe she graduated college in two thousand went to
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  Speaker 2: work at the Washington Post and in two thousand and
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  Speaker 2: seven she was awarded the European Union Prize for African
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  Speaker 2: Photography Encounters. So already getting those accolades, and here's what
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  Speaker 2: she said about her works that earn her this award.
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  Speaker 2: The work that I do is a visual diary of
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  Speaker 2: my experiences and thoughts over the years. Hence I choose
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  Speaker 2: portraits because it is a journey exploring various topics through
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  Speaker 2: each model. I want to share humanistic stories, to find
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  Speaker 2: things that create communality as opposed to differences, and to
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  Speaker 2: share a perspective that questions our own humility, regardless of
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  Speaker 2: our backgrounds. And a part of her experience includes traveling
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  Speaker 2: and being around the world, a lifestyle she has said
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  Speaker 2: has been lonely, but with that she has fully understood
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  Speaker 2: the importance of representing communities as they are seeking to
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  Speaker 2: go beyond an idea or a theme, but to truly
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  Speaker 2: represent the land in area. She has had several exhibitions
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  Speaker 2: that feature locations or areas, including the UK and Ethiopia,
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  Speaker 2: so her work featuring her country Ethiopia was something really
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  Speaker 2: important to her, something that would help her to reconnect
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  Speaker 2: with her Ethiopian heritage. In twenty eighteen, her work was
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  Speaker 2: shown at MoMA, or Museum of Modern Art in New
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  Speaker 2: York City, and she created the Attis Photus Festival, which
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  Speaker 2: was held in East Africa, the first one ever in
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  Speaker 2: twenty ten, and in an interview with NPR, she said
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  Speaker 2: this about her work. I'm trying to share my heritage,
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  Speaker 2: but also to show the universality of people around the world.
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  Speaker 2: I've gone from looking at body paint around Ethiopia to
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  Speaker 2: looking across the continent to looking around the world. I
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  Speaker 2: realized from looking at all these different kinds of body
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  Speaker 2: painting that there are all these lines of connection between
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  Speaker 2: different societies. Whatever our struggle, there's something that we share.
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  Speaker 2: The whole collection isn't a matter of looking at our differences,
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  Speaker 2: it's a matter of looking at the similarities that we share.
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  Speaker 2: So she was specifically talking about the different indigenous cultures
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  Speaker 2: who used art like this and body paint. So if
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  Speaker 2: you go and look at her artwork, you will see
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  Speaker 2: a feature of her usage of body paint, Like how
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  Speaker 2: important art like this painting isn't her photography and the
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  Speaker 2: landscape it is gorgeous. Of course, if you have a
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  Speaker 2: fear of polka dots. Like me, some of the can
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  Speaker 2: be triggering, so watch it. I had to like bypass
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  Speaker 2: some photos. I'm okay. And she said this when asked
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  Speaker 2: her how she hoped people would react to her art.
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  Speaker 2: When you see my images in any show, you can
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  Speaker 2: see my work from a mile away. The colors are
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  Speaker 2: so striking you can't miss it. I hope people google
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  Speaker 2: my name and google Ethiopia and see something completely different
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  Speaker 2: that they haven't seen in international meta. So she was
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  Speaker 2: really talking about how the media portrays African countries like Ethiopia,
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  Speaker 2: and she wanted to show that it's not like that.
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  Speaker 2: I will say, with artwork like hers, it does prove
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  Speaker 2: so much and how gorgeous the culture really is, and
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  Speaker 2: how we don't give enough credit to how they influenced
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  Speaker 2: art and even clothing and design in general. So I
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  Speaker 2: do live seen that. And last year she did one
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  Speaker 2: focused on the UK where she was quote capturing the
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  Speaker 2: UK's contradictions. So this was from a Guardian article and
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  Speaker 2: I'm going to read some more from that. More than
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  Speaker 2: forty years later, Mulaney, who had left the UK, returns
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  Speaker 2: to the UK invited by Impression Gallery to make new
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  Speaker 2: work across Bradford, Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow to this year's
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  Speaker 2: UK City of Culture program, comprising twenty two images. The
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  Speaker 2: Necessity of Seeing was made over a month long road trip.
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  Speaker 2: She crammed all her equipment into two cars in a minivan,
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  Speaker 2: along with a mobile studio, painted backdrops and clothing brought
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  Speaker 2: over from Africa and five core crew members. It was
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  Speaker 2: basically like getting a crash course in the UK History
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  Speaker 2: and Contemporary Life snsed Mulonnaise and in that she was
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  Speaker 2: able to incorporate the city's landscapes and landmarks at the
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  Speaker 2: same time embracing things of gender, religion and different parts
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  Speaker 2: of the diaspora. And from that same article they write
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  Speaker 2: this Mulinae connects historic wounds with contemporary struggles, the decline
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  Speaker 2: of industry, the history of labor union movements, women's rights,
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  Speaker 2: and the exploitation of immigrants in these images, as in reality,
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  Speaker 2: everything is connected. So she has this amazing ability to
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  Speaker 2: bring in again that beauty of vibrant colors, but a
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  Speaker 2: story behind those images. So it's definitely something you need
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  Speaker 2: to take time to look at. She told The Guardian,
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  Speaker 2: I'm creating my universe within an existing reality. And reshaping
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  Speaker 2: it to reflect how I was feeling at the time.
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  Speaker 2: The title the Necessity of Seeing is emblematic of the
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  Speaker 2: deep political awareness driving Molinai's work. She says, growing up
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  Speaker 2: displaced has given me a kind of anger that feels
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  Speaker 2: my work. I've always been drawn to communities dealing with
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  Speaker 2: division and cultural identity. My aim wasn't to come here
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  Speaker 2: and try to reflect something I don't fully understand. I
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  Speaker 2: can only reflect my experiences of trying to understand the
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  Speaker 2: complexity of the UK, what I saw, witnessed, and felt again.
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  Speaker 2: Take the time go look her up, and you should
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  Speaker 2: definitely look at her work. It is beautiful and stunning
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  Speaker 2: and like a little bit haunting. But when you see
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  Speaker 2: and she mainly focuses on women and she talks about
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  Speaker 2: that's what she knows, that that's how she knows, that's
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  Speaker 2: what's reflected in her work. But like the women stare
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  Speaker 2: into the camera, it's intense. I like it and with
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  Speaker 2: all of this. In twenty nineteen, Molonaie became the first
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  Speaker 2: black woman to co curate the Nobel Peace Prize exhibition.
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  Speaker 2: And here's what her site idammolonae dot com says about
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  Speaker 2: the exhibit. Her Commission projects use creativity to educate and
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  Speaker 2: advocate on topics related to the environment and health. Her
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  Speaker 2: work has been exhibited globally in published and key publication
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  Speaker 2: were worldwide. As a leader in her film that she's
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  Speaker 2: been recognized as a change maker in Africa, shifting perceptions
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  Speaker 2: of the continent. Yes, y'all, and I will say she
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  Speaker 2: has a lot in talking about environmental issues, talking about
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  Speaker 2: climate justice, talking about gender issues like she's as many
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  Speaker 2: of our features, is very versed in activism in itself,
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  Speaker 2: but uses her passion and talent to talk about all
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  Speaker 2: of those issues. And yes, of course she has several
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  Speaker 2: accolades for her work, as in fact, in twenty twenty three,
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  Speaker 2: she was the one hundred most Influential Africans by New
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  Speaker 2: African Magazine. She was a Royal Photographic Society Curatorship Award
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  Speaker 2: in twenty twenty. She is actually a candidate ambassador. You
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  Speaker 2: can go look her up Catchlight Fellowship Grant. She was
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  Speaker 2: ordered that in twenty eighteen and she won the CRAF
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  Speaker 2: International Photography Award in Italy in twenty ten. Again, there's
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  Speaker 2: so much more to our work. You should go and
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  Speaker 2: look at what she is doing. What she's continuing doing
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  Speaker 2: She is all her social medias again. Her website as
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  Speaker 2: Adam all A was just A I D A l
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  Speaker 2: U l U n e H dot com. Go and
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  Speaker 2: check her out.
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  Speaker 1: Well as always listeners, If you would like to suggest
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