Uncertain States Poetry Jazz: Wax and Gold
“Poetry Jazz” is the name for a particular style of performance poetry in Ethiopia fusing poetry and jazz, recitation and improvisation. The film A-B-A-B-A : from here to hear presents the eponymous experimental project series with artists from Berlin and Addis Abeba. Working together, they have created contemporary expressive styles in this tradition: Amharic, German and English poetry is combined with traditional Ethiopian music, jazz beats and contemporary electronic music. The film follows the participating artists and traces their various influences as well as the challenges of reacting with the “Wax and Gold” principle of the spoken word to the issue of the free expression of opinion.
In addition to project, the work of exhibition artist Robel Temesgen (Visual Arts Fellow, Junge Akademie 2016) is taken as the basis of a discussion of the “Wax and Gold” approach. Presentation: Olafur Eliasson; demo performance of “poetry jazz”: Rike Scheffler, Robel Temesgen; Film: Clara Jo.