Tuesday 2 September 2008

ERITREA CULTURAL FESTIVAL UK 2008


“… Once there was a wedding ceremony at a village and the hosts’ in-laws journeyed to take part in the celebration. As it is customary in the rural areas to praise the hosts with a poetic rhetoric, the elders, who are usually those with the ability to instantly come up with the words, rose and praised the host family. “… Once there was a wedding ceremony at a village and the hosts’ in-laws journeyed to take part in the celebration. As it is customary in the rural areas to praise the hosts with a poetic rhetoric, the elders, who are usually those with the ability to instantly come up with the words, rose and praised the host family. This anecdote was told by Ms. Tsigehana Bokre herself, who came from the Gala-Nefhi sub zone of the Central Region for the oral traditions contest at the festival this year.Mase (an expression of admiration or disapproval in a poetic form) is one type of Eritrean oral traditions. It is usually presented by elderly men, but quite a number of women are also getting the spotlight nowadays, especially in such occasions as the annual festival. Ms. Tsigehana is an example.

For a 76-years-old woman Ms. Tsigehana is still a strong woman with an acute memory. She flawlessly recited the Mase she had presented at that wedding, plus what she responded to what they told her.
One of the orators then sarcastically said that since women had begun performing Mases, the men should then rather resort to cooking and cleaning,” she went on saying and humored the audience with what she had responded back then to the sarcasm:

“… As we women have now started talking,You men might as well do the cleaning,You men might as well do the cooking,We’ll give you the necessary utensils…”

Octogenarian men also presented rhetoric they heard or recited decades back. 84-years-old Mr. Werede Haile from Adi Hargets, in the Southern Region, said that in the earlier days people resolved conflicts and disputed with wise and carefully chosen words. He then recited a Mase he had preformed some fifty years ago.The contest was accompanied with traditional refreshments and traditional plays.




During the contest in question for instance, guests were served with kolo sghem (fried barley) and Suwa (traditional beer) by attendants dressed in typical Tigrigna traditional clothes; while during pauses groups of performers from the South and Gash Barka regions presented impressive traditional plays.

The Eritrea ambasador addressinh his people at the event


Apart from its educative and entertaining feature, the core objective of holding such an event is to record the rich oral traditions and ensure the transfer of the skills to the younger generation.





LOCATION OF ERITREAN EMBASSY:
96 White Lion StreetLondon N1 9PF Tel: 020 7713 0096 Fax: 020 7713 0161 Street Map of Eritrean Embassy

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