Retracing ideas and history. Maaza Mengiste shared her vision and experience at Ca’ Foscari

Maaza Mengiste, American-Ethiopian writer, was a special guest of Ca’ Foscari International College within the Waterlines: writers in conversation project that for years now has invited artists from around the world to stay in our beautiful city.

In the four conferences she held the writer talked about historical memory, cultural heritage and personal identity - themes dear to the writer whose career started in 2010 when her first novel, Beneath the lion’s gaze, which mentioned the difficult Ethiopian cultural heritage from colonialism to civil war, was listed as one of the most important ten African books of the new millenium.

Journalist, columnist, essayist and writer, Mengiste has dedicated much of her time to the history of ideas. “I was born in Ethiopia and but emigrated to the United States after civil war started with my family. But I have never forgotten my origins. I spent long periods of time in Addis Abeba and in Rome, where I had the opportunity to further explore the relationship between Italy and the Horn of Africa.”

In her prolific international career Maaza Mengiste has written for prestigious newspapers and magazines (including The New Yorker, The guardian, The New York Times) and fought for human rights around the world.

Mengiste has always been reflecting on the destiny of her native land, Ethiopia, bringing her to Italy. “In Ethiopian families Italians are often mentioned, as well as the decades they spent in the Horn of Africa. Elderly have dozens of stories to share on those white men who came here” said Mengiste during her first Conference, on December 5th. “On the other hand I have noticed that this does not happen in Italy. It is part of a past people want to forget or at least not accept”. An illuminating remark that shows how controversial the legacy of colonialism is in Italy.

Her upcoming novel, The shadow King, will focus on with Italian colonial history. On the difficult relationship of Italy and Europe, Mengiste commented: “A relationship that concerns all of us, from grandparents who personally experienced colonialism to us who can only reconstruct it with pictures and shared stories”. Showing historical photographs Mengiste proved how an apparently innocent picture has subtle and precious subtext. For instance a picture of an Italian soldier and an Ethiopian child dressed up like a European suggests the “civilizational” activities carried out by the Italian Kingdom since the nineteenth century and later exported in Libya and in the Horn of Africa, as well as the balance of power between the two individuals, and the symbols that surround them in the urban landscape where the pictures was taken.

The power of photography is closely linked to to the power of ideas. Mengiste actively involved the audience and students of Ca’ Foscari International College by sharing personal experiences and stimulating debate reflections on the survival of ideas. The author, creative writing visiting professor at the Queen’s College in New York, encouraged writing from pictures: monuments, landscapes, portraits can inspire anecdotes and reflection. History and ideas absorb everything.

In the four conferences the author showed how it is possible to retrace ideas: from iconic to personal photographs, culture and identity are constantly transmitted “and we must retrace them and bring them back to light”.

Federico Sessolo