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Diasporic Heritage in Plural: Objects from ‘Home’ at the Greek Egyptian Associations in Athens

Eftychia Mylona & Irakleitos Souyioultzoglou

In 1933, the Greeks from Egypt and Sudan (Σύλλογος των εξ Αιγύπτου και Σουδάν Ελλήνων) founded their association in Athens. From its early years, the association collected objects from Egypt, and eventually became a custodian of memorabilia (photographs, documents, athletic trophies) of the once-flourishing Greek communities in the country. Over time, and as the collection expanded, its premises were transformed into a place of curated memory; entire walls are now covered with showcases, with separate compartments dedicated to a specific community in Egypt (Fig. 1). Within each, contents are carefully arranged to highlight historical transitions and cultural resilience:  in the background, photographs that depict athletic activities and Greek clubs in Egypt serve as symbolic foundations of the contemporary diasporic identity. As the visitor’s gaze shifts to the foreground, it captures more recent memorabilia, which stand as links between past and present, and indicators of a persistent social milieu that resisted displacement.

Fig. 1. Permanent display of sports memorabilia from the Port-Said and Port-Tawfiq communities at the premises of the Association of Greeks from Egypt. Photo: Irakleitos Souyioultzoglou, September 2024.

Following Timothy Mitchell’s conceptualisation of the exhibition as a symbolic space that (re)produces meaning and stereotypes within the collective imaginary (Mitchell, 1988), photographs and sports memorabilia are here examined as constitutive elements of an ad hoc sociocultural setting that conveys the prevailing narrative of the Greek communities in Egypt.

In February 2024, the Athletic Association of Greeks from Egypt (Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Αιγυπτιωτών Ελλήνων – ΑΣΑΕ) and the Association of Greeks from Port Said and Port Fuad organised an exhibition dedicated to the communal life of Greeks in the cities of the Suez Canal. Well before its opening, a series of social media posts advertised the exhibition as an opportunity for Greeks who had spent their childhood in the region to reunite and rekindle nostalgic memories—particularly memories related to their involvement in athletic clubs and participation in sporting events. This nostalgic framing extended into the event itself: in his opening speech, the president of the association introduced the interpretive lens through which visitors were invited to experience the exhibition: its purpose, he stated, was to “showcase the vitality of the Greek community in the past, in cities that are now in the hands of the Egyptians.”

Indeed, as the visitors walked past the displays, the room filled with nostalgic sighs, enthusiastic exclamations, recalling of names, and narratives from childhoods once lived in Egypt. Clearly, the event fulfilled its aim: by placing together and carefully arranging objects invested with symbolic meaning, it turned realia into a “lieu de mémoire” (Nora, 1989) that, beyond its material substance, stands as a container of the community’s collective memory — which, in turn, serves as a common denominator of the community’s persistent and distinct identity (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2. A glimpse into the exhibition celebrating the athletic performance of Greeks in Egypt. Photo: Irakleitos Souyioultzoglou, February 2024

The exhibition adheres to a symbolic pattern of rendering space into a heterotopic representation of the, by now shuttered, Greek communal space in Egypt. The lounge of the Association of Greeks from Egypt (Σύνδεσμος Αιγυπτιωτών Ελλήνων – ΣΑΕ) —where Greek objects from Egypt and Egyptian handcrafted objects have been carefully arranged together — stands as another example of the imaginary reconstruction of ‘home’.

Much like in temporary exhibitions, sports memorabilia displayed across two walls of the large hall serve as identifiers of a long-standing tradition—one that first emerged ‘at home’ and continues in Greece. They demarcate material identities and the ways in which Greeks conceptualise and perform their post-diasporic heritage after their departure from Egypt (Fig. 3).

Fig 3. Showcases from the permanent display of sports memorabilia at the premises of the Association of Greeks from Egypt. Photo: Irakleitos Souyioultzoglou, September 2024

Sports constitute a symbolic space where discourses on nationhood and cultural identities intersect (Lichtenstein, 2015). For the Greeks in Egypt, such activities encompassed collective conceptualisations that defined the essence and the boundaries of Greekness in diaspora. Sports (along with other communal activities, such as scouting and school excursions) aimed to reinforce community bonds, played a central role in sustaining a distinct “Greek identity” (Ελληνική Κοινότητα Αλεξανδρείας, Λογοδοσία έτους 1965, 25-26), and became part of a strategy to counter the gradual “egyptianisation” of social life and the subsequent fear of assimilation.

The first sports clubs in Egypt emerged in the early 20th century (Jacob, 2011). The Egyptian Yacht Club in Alexandria was established in 1901, followed by the creation of the Egyptian Athletic Federation in 1910. Around the same time, Greeks began forming their own associations: the Nautical Club of Alexandria (1909), and later those in Cairo and Port Said (1927). The Greek Athletic Associations of Port Fuad (1932) and Port Said (1949) developed a strong presence in football and basketball, enriching the community’s sporting life.

The establishment of athletic clubs was considered as a critical step towards communal coherence, and was strongly supported by the community leadership. Accordingly, athletic successes were interpreted as a proof of the community’s vitality and evidence of virtues supposedly embedded in the community itself—discipline, dedication, and persistence in the face of hardship. Thus, sports memorabilia substantiated metaphors of moral and physical strength. The abolition of Capitulations (1937) and, subsequently, the 1956 Suez Canal Crisis and the Arab–Israeli wars, placed foreign communities under a legal and social framework that stripped away their privileged status and gradually led to their displacement. After most Greeks left Egypt, sports memorabilia, as prominent symbols of achievement, were transported to Athens and housed in the associations they established there—the most prominent being the Hellenic Nautical Club of Greeks from Egypt (Ελληνικός Ναυτικός Όμιλος Αιγυπτιωτών – ΕΝΟΑ), and the Association of Greeks from Egypt.

As Anna Pechurina (2020, 67) observes, in the context of migration, objects play a vital role in (re)constructing and (re)inventing the feeling of being at home. Once removed from their original setting, use, and ownership, these so-called “diasporic objects” take on new layers of meaning and significance as they are re-situated within different social spaces. Therefore, sports memorabilia, as “victorious objects,” embody migrants’ connections to their communal heritage and distant homeland. They serve both as reminders of physical separation from these places and experiences (Pechurina), and as material instantiations of collective belonging that symbolically reproduce a sense of “home.”

In the sports clubs and associations founded in Greece, former athletes assumed new roles as trainers for younger generations, and new victories soon followed. Trophies and medals were conveniently placed and proudly displayed alongside those transported from Egypt. Their display constitutes a performative act of continuity, and reconstitutes communal life in a different social setting. These objects publicly affirm that the values and shared memories of the community were re-embedded in a new environment.

The replacement of diasporic objects into a new social setting and their blending with objects that do not share the same territorial or historical origin, contributes to the symbolic construction of a new “home,” through the creation of fresh layers of memory. By evoking collective memories and materialising a longstanding tradition of communal activities, the memorabilia stand as reminders of practices that forged a sense of belonging and a shared ethnic/social identity — recognisable both within and outside the boundaries of the community of Greeks from Egypt.

References

William C. Jacob, Working Out Egypt: Effendi Masculinity and Subject Formation in Colonial Modernity, 1870–1940, Cairo: AUC, 2011.

Tatjana Lichtenstein, “‘An Athlete Like a Soldier Must Not Retreat’: Zionists, Sport, and Belonging in Interwar Czechoslovakia.” Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 34, no. 1, 2015, p. 1-26

Timothy Mitchell,Colonizing Egypt. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988

Pierre Nora, “Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Mémoire,” Representations, no. 26, Special Issue: Memory and Counter-Memory, 1989, p.7-24.

Anna Pechurina. “Researching identities through material possessions: The case of diasporic objects,”  Current Sociology 68, no. 5, 2020, p. 669–683.

Ελληνική Κοινότητα Αλεξανδρείας. Λογοδοσία Έτους 1965. ELIA Archive.

The Journey of a Hanukkah Lamp

Odette Varon-Vassard

The research on this Hanukkah Lamp began in 2024 for a presentation at a commemorative day at the Musée d’art et d’histoire du judaïsme in Paris, dedicated to “Shmonzes: Objects of Memory”. It was part of an effort to reconstruct family history during the dark years of the Shoah. Initially, no recollection existed that an object in the Rousso family had truly played the role of shmonzes, a yiddish word for an often trivial but memory-laden object. However, a silver Hanukkah lamp (a menorah with eight branches) unexpectantly came to light (Fig. 1). It had long held a place on the top shelf of the living room cabinet in the family house where the author of this note grew up in Athens, and it kept that same place when the piece of furniture was passed down to the next generation.

A Hanukkah lamp on top of a cabinet in a family house in Athens.

Fig. 1. A Hannukah lamp on top of a cabinet in a family house in Athens (author’s photograph).

At first glance, this Hanukkah lamp may not qualify as a shmonzes. It didn’t play a role in the transmission of memory; nothing was ever shared about it with its inheritors. Moreover, it was far from “a trivial object”; rather it was a precious item. To light the Hanukkah candles, one had to use another lamp, simple, modern, metal one, brought from Israel in the 1960s. This lamp was practical and easy to clean after the candles had melted – since tradition requires the candles to burn completely.

But another reason prevented its use. Upon close inspection, it becomes clear that the lamp is severely damaged on the left side, with the shamash (the servant lamp) detached from the main body. As a result, it had to be hung to the side. During the eight nights of Hanukkah, an additional candle is lit each night –always beginning with the shamash, without which the ritual would be incomplete. No longer functional, the lamp became a decorative object. But unlike the rest of the silverware, it stood as the only visible sign of the family’s Jewish origins. It was a bearer of identity and memory at the same time, an object from another place and time that had shared the family’s history inscribed in its body.

One might wonder if it is becoming a shmonzes simply through the act of research and writing on it. For the first time, it is being reflected upon and connected to a deeper layer of another part of the family’s pre-war history, to old Salonika. It may have been originated from Spain, given the Sephardic origins of the Rousso family which possessed it. The elder generation of the Roussos spoke Judeo-Spanish, but did not have the legendary iron key to a house in Spain, an emblem many families carried with them on the road to exile. The large key was the quintessential shmonzes of Sephardic memory, to which Jorge Luis Borges dedicated a beautiful poem (Una llave en Salónica).

By chance, in a showcase at the Jewish Museum of Greece (Εβραϊκό Μουσείο της Ελλάδος, thereafter JMG), there is a very similar Hanukkah. It was a surprise to learn from curator Anastassia Loudarou that this lamp originates from Vienna, a type very common in Mitteleuropa! The description of the lamp at the JMG (Battinou, 2013, p. 88-89), reads :

Silver repoussé lamp, common Austro-Hungarian type in a Rococo revival style, characteristically decorated with motif of two rampant lions and the crowned Tablets of the Covenant, edged by rocaille pattern, provided with jug-form oil containers, probably from Vienna, late 19th – early 20th century. Used by a Corfiote family in Corfu, 1930s.

The lamp’s refillable reservoirs are shaped like oil containers, echoing the legend of the Maccabees. According to tradition, when searching through the ruins of the Old Temple, they found only one container of oil, barely enough to light the wick for one night. Yet a miracle occurred: the oil lasted for eight nights. This miracle is celebrated during Hanukkah by lighting one more wick each night for eight nights, or a candle in modern Hanukkah lamps.

It thus turned out that the Hanukkah lamp did not connect the Rousso family to its Spanish roots but to the Ashkenazim world, an unknown world for such a family. In a long interview with an elder member of the family, Louisa Rousso, frequent trips to Vienna were often recalled and everything became clearer.

Isac and Louisa Rousso, both natives of Bitola (Monastiri in Greek), a city in Serbia at the time and now in North Macedonia, married in 1925 and settled in Salonika, where they lived until 1940 (there was a wave of emigration of Jews from Monastir – the Monastirlis – to Salonika at that time). The railway connecting Salonika to Vienna since the late 19th century played a crucial role in opening the city to Central Europe. In the 1930s, Isac Rousso frequently traveled to import fabrics from Central Europe while his mother (or mother in law?) systematically went to Vienna for medical treatments, often accompanied by her children. It was likely during one of these trips that the Hanukkah lamp was brought back to Salonika. An identical model, originating from Berlin, and dated around 1890, can be found online (Fig. 2). This is what the lamp must have looked like when it proudly stood, unbroken, in the Rousso family’s salon in Salonika, an elegant marker of both cultural connection and personal history.

A German WMF silver plated Hanukkah Lamp Menorah circa 1890 the backplate embossed with two lions

Fig. 2. A German silver plated Hanukkah Lamp Menorah circa 1890, the backplate embossed with two lions (Dawsons Auctioneers).

When Italy declared war on Greece on October 28, 1940, the Rousso family fled in haste to Athens taking the first available train. They settled there with their two children, and after the occupation, they lived in Athens with false papers until Italy’s capitulation on September 8, 1943. It is supposedly during one of his later trips, that Isac must have brought more items. Perhaps in December 1940, as Hanukkah approached, he brought the Hanukkah lamp. Isac’s decision to leave Salonika was the reason for the family’s survival, as they avoided the deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau that 96% of Salonika’s Jews (47,000 people) suffered. However, when the Germans became the sole occupying forces in Athens after Italy’s surrender, they decided to leave again. From September 1943 to October 1944, the Rousso family survived an incredible odyssey across the Peloponnese, thanks to the solidarity of many. It is unlikely they took the Hanukkah lamp with them on this perilous journey. More plausibly, they entrusted it, along with other valuables, to neighbors for safekeeping. In 1945, after the war’s end, the family settled permanently in Athens and recovered the items entrusted to these honest neighbors, as recounted by Louisa Rousso in her oral testimony. Another era, another life began in Athens—the city that had saved them—leaving behind what historian Mark Mazower has called “the city of ghosts.” The Hanukkah lamp, therefore, bears the scars of the traumatic period, a time when it had to be hidden, like the family itself, packed away among other items, in neighbors’ storage (Fig. 3).

The surviving Hanukkah lamp in a lving room in Athens.

Fig. 3.  A closer look at the surviving Hanukkah lamp in an Athens’ living room (author’s photo).

Mutilated, it is not just a damaged object but a relic of an era from which neither people nor possessions emerged unscathed. It testifies to an entire past, being in a way a survivor of the Holocaust.

Bibliography

Mark Mazower, Salonica, City of Ghosts. Christians, Muslims and Jews 1439-1950, London, New York, Toronto, and Sydney: Harper Perennial, 2005.

Catherine Pinguet, Salonique 1870-1920, Photographies de la Collection Pierre de Gigord, préface by Paul Salmona, Paris : CNRS Éditions, 2023.

Odette Varon-Vassard, Des Sépharades aux Juifs grecs. Histoire, mémoire et identité, new augmented edition, Paris : éditions Le Manuscrit, 2021.

Zanet Battinou et al., Guide book of the Jewish Museum of Greece, Athens: The Jewish Museum of Greece, 2013.

A Modern Ethiopian Artwork in Contemporary Greece

Maria-Mirka Palioura

In 2003, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens received a significant donation from Aikaterini Exarchou-Gensonnet (1921-2005), an expatriate from Ethiopia. The collection included antiquities, jewelry and church paraphernalia from Ethiopia, alongside a small but notable collection of twenty paintings by Ethiopian artists. These paintings –tempera on parchment and processed textile– are probably dated to the second half of the 20th century. The artworks were incorporated into the Modern and Contemporary Art Collection of the University Museum and showcased in a 2005 exhibition at the Kostis Palamas University building in central Athens. The exhibition, titled “Ethiopian Folk Art: Painting – Handicraft, Donation of Aikaterini Exarchou” was curated by the late Art History professor, Nikos Zias (1939-2020), who also edited the accompanying Greek language catalogue (Λαϊκή Αιθιοπική Τέχνη: Ζωγραφική, 2005).

The collection’s artworks depict themes related to Christian faith and worship, historical memory and everyday life. Among these is a notable piece by Qengeta Jembere Hailu (Andabiet, 1913-Addis Ababa 1994), which portrays the First Italo-Ethiopian War of 1896, specifically Τhe Battle of Adwa (March 1, 1896) (Jonas, 2011) (Fig. 1). This decisive victory secured Ethiopia’s independence for several decades, lasting until 1935, when the second Italo-Ethiopian war began. The Battle of Adwa remains a significant historical reference point in the broader context of anti-colonial resistance, not only in Ethiopia but across Africa (The Adwa Victory Memorial, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia).

Qangeta Jembere Hailu, The Battle of Adwa

Fig. 1. Qangeta Jembere Hailu, The Battle of Adwa, 2nd half of 20th c., tempera on cloth, 76Χ129 cm. (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, University Museum, Modern and Contemporary Art Collection)

In this context, Hailu’s work is of particular interest due to its multi-layered narratives. It reflects an event from the history of Ethiopia while also engaging with its reception within collective memory. At the same time, as an artwork that was sold and transported beyond Africa, ending up in the museum of an educational institution in a European country which does not have a colonial past, it embodies the complexities of cultural circulation. Its inclusion in the museum’s collections marks a new chapter in its biography – where official history and individual stories intersect – creating a canvas of fragmented memories, connotations and fluid interpretations.

Qangeta Jembere Hailu, a priest and renowned painter of traditional art, trained under his uncle, who specialized in religious themes subjects for Ethiopian temples. Hailu adhered to the so-called “traditional” style of Ethiopian painting, characterized by religious iconography and historical narratives. His life was marked by resistance; he fought in the second Italo-Ethiopian war (1935-1936) and later during the Italian occupation (1936-1941). After settling in Addis Ababa in 1948, He took up the paintbrush and resumed his artistic practice sustaining himself through his artwork until his death in 1994. His career, however, was notably affected by the political shift in 1974 with the rise of the Derg junta. The regime’s establishment curtailed the interest of foreign tourists, who were looking for something local and exotic (Silverman and Fisseha 1999, 156-179). Through his depiction of The battle of Antowa, according to the contemporary pictorial language in Ethiopia, very different from the European naturalistic perception, Hailu contributed to the glorification of Ethiopia’s victorious past, particularly the reign of Emperor Menelik II (Atse Menilik) (r. 1889 -1913) (Fig. 2).

The Battle of Antowa: The Last Rally of General Dabormida,

Fig. 2. The Battle of Antowa: The Last Rally of General Dabormida, The Graphic, 11 April 1896 (Wikimedia Commons)

The abundance of pictorial parallel representations of the battle of Adwa testifies to the existence of a visual template established in the late 19th century. This template not only shaped artistic conventions but also resonated strongly with the buying public—a trend that persists to this day. The recurrence of almost identically painted renderings of the battle constitutes an intriguing subject for further scholarly investigation, offering insights into the dynamics of visual tradition, collective memory, and the commodification of historical narratives (Fig. 3 and 4).

Unknown, The Battle of Adwa, first half of 20th c.

Fig. 3. Unknown, The Battle of Adwa, first half of 20th c. (National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.)

Marcos Jembere (Qangeta Jembere’s son), Battle of Adwa

Fig. 4. Marcos Jembere (Qangeta Jembere’s son), Battle of Adwa, 1993, 293,91 by 150 cm (Michigan State University Museum)

Several versions of the subject preserved in different museums are available online: The Battle of Adwa, 1896 (Horniman Museum and Gardens, UK); three versions of The Battle of Adwa, first half of 20th c., Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of African Art; The Battle of Adwa, 1940-1949 (The British Museum)  ; The Battle of Adwa, 1975, by Shibru Nuru (Library of Congress, African and Middle Eastern Division, Ethiopian Collection) ; The Battle of Adwa, (Wereldmuseum, Amsterdam).

The Battle of Adwa is part of the secular themes that, as early as the 19th century, appeared in ecclesiastical murals depicting battles and portraits of local lords (Biasio 2009, 14-25). The composition is structured vertically and in overlapping zones, forming two distinct solid parts where the opposing camps are aligned with their respective flags symbolizing national identity. The Ethiopian tricolor flag, depicted twice, presents a visual anachronism as it was officially established by Emperor Menelik II in October 1897, a year after the battle.

Historical elements are evident in the composition (Fig. 1), such as the numerical superiority of the Ethiopian army with the suggestive presence of countless heads, and the obvious organized military formation of the Italian army behind low fortifications. The figures of Emperor Menelik II, his court dignitaries and the Ethiopian church, Empress Taitu, and Commander-in-chief Tafari (second zone left) embody the intersection of secular and religious authority in the struggle. The central placement of the onrushing Ethiopians in the center –amongst them the prominent hero general (Fitaurari) Gebeyehu– defines the battlefield and reinforces the heroic element. The depiction of fallen dead Ethiopians at the lower zone reinforces the connotations of heroic sacrifice for the country’s independence. Saint George, Ethiopia’s patron saint, is illustrated in the upper central part, haloed with the colors of the Ethiopian flag, symbolically assisting the Ethiopians by menacingly brandishing his spear toward the Italian army.

The austere design, absence of perspective, flatness, isocephaly, vivid colors, honesty, and balanced composition reflect the iconographic tradition of Ethiopia as well as of Coptic art. The intense narrativity is further enriched by explanatory inscriptions in the official Amharic script. The top left identifies the painter and his origin (Kegn Geta Jenbere Hailu from Gondar), the flags of the two enemies (Ethiopia, Italy) and Saint George. Below, an inscription records the defeat of the Italians (The Battle of Adwa, the victory of the Ethiopian army and the defeat of the Italian army). Notably, Ethiopian protagonists of the battle are distinctly highlighted, while the Italian side is noted once (left, among the Italian soldiers). Emperor Menelik (Atse Menilik) is depicted with a crown of feathers (top left), and Chief general (Fitaurari) Gebeyehu, dressed in green costume and wielding a bloody sword, is discernible at top center of the painting.

The Battle of Adwa aligns with the 20th-century Ethiopian artistic production, conventionally categorized as “traditional” art. Alternatively, it may be considered “non-Western art” (Davies 2000, 199-216), a term that better encapsulates works produced post-1930s for foreign markets. Stanislaw Chojnacki labeled such art as “degenerate” (Silverman and Fisseha 1999, 158) considering that “modernization” or “Europeanization” severed its ties with Ethiopian Christian painting traditions. This perspective reflects Western biases regarding “authenticity”, often overlooking the evolving dynamics of this artistic language.

Hailu’s painting related to traditional forms, categorized as “antika” or “airport art”, addresses the need to construct a “great tradition of a powerful state”; appealing to foreign visitors of the country seeking “authentic” Ethiopian artifacts (Rubinkowska-Anioł 2017, 114). The acquisition of The Battle of Adwa, by Aikaterini Exarchou, fits into this context. The painting idealizes historical and cultural values, expressing an objective truth through iconography.

Upon transfer to Greece and donation to the Museum of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the painting assumed a new semantic context. Approximately twenty years earlier, in the first exhibition held in 2005, the museum engaged with the Ethiopian community in Athens. Today, within the context of this collection’s imminent re-exhibition, the museum is facing the challenge of adopting new policies distinguishing this collection of paintings from Ethiopian antiquities, amassed through colonial-type practices. Amidst global discourse on decolonizing academic collections, the University Museum has an opportunity to reassess its approach, considering the historical Greek presence in Ethiopia.

The value of The Battle of Adwa extends beyond aesthetics to encompass Ethiopia’s collective memory. It also testifies to the personal aesthetic of A. Exarchou, who was an artist herself and acquired the painting, during her long stay in the country with her husband –an engineer– in the 1960s. The painting, a memorabilia of her life, holds multifaceted significance. Detailed documentation of this work and the rest of the paintings acquired by Exarchou ensures their proper future exhibition (Sfyroera 2013, 92) aligned with her intent to share her collection with the public, especially students and pupils. In Spring 2024, the University Museum took a preliminary step by exhibiting works from the collection alternately at the entrance of the library building of the Faculty of Philosophy (Fig. 5).

Qangeta Jembere Hailu, The Fest [in Gondar]

Fig. 5. Qangeta Jembere Hailu, The Fest [in Gondar], 2nd half of 20th c., tempera on cloth, 77 by 108 cm (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, University Museum, Modern and Contemporary Art Collection)

In addition, the museum can explore and incorporate connections between the Ethiopian community in Greece with their national past and culture. In this framework, The Battle of Adwa can serve as an idiosyncratic site of collective memory (lieu de mémoire), for Ethiopian immigrants in Greece, a cultural artifact fostering collective identity across generations. At the same time, the painting bridges past and present and future, by engaging with long-lasting issues regarding European perceptions of diverse historical and cultural experiences.

Many thanks to Assera Debele, the director of the Ethiopian Socio-Cultural Center “Aithiops” based in Athens, for his valuable assistance in translation, as well as to Prof. P. Petrides and Dr. M. Leontari.

References

Elisabeth Biasio, “Contemporary Ethiopian Painting in Traditional Style. From Church based to Tourist Art”, African Arts 42, no. 1, Spring 2009, p. 14-25.

Stephen Davies, “Non-Western Art and Art’s Definition” in Noël Carroll (ed.), Theories of Art Today, Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2000, p. 199-216.

Raymond Jonas, The Battle of Adwa, African Victory in the Age of Empire, Harvard University Press, Belknap Press, 2011.

Λαϊκή Αιθιοπική Τέχνη: Ζωγραφική – Χειροτεχνία. Δωρεά Αικατερίνης Εξάρχου [Ethiopian Folk Art: PaintingHandicraft, Aikaterini Exarchou Donation], Exhibition Catalogue, Athens: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 2005.

Alexandra S. Sfyroera, “Aikaterina Exarchou-Gensonnet and the Museum of Archaeology and History of Art. The chronicle of a ‘reciprocal relationship’ through the pages of her personal archive, Volume of Abstracts (Greek – English), Νinth Scientific Symposium, Excavation and research, IX: From the Research Work of the Archaeology Department and Art History, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 2013.

Raymond A. Silverman and Girma Fisseha, “Jembere and his son Marcos, Traditional Painting at the End of Twentieth Century” in Raymond A. Silverman (ed.), Ethiopia, Traditions of Creativity, East Lansing: Michigan State University Museum/Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1999, p. 156-181.

Hanna Rubinkowska-Anioł, “Antika – Ethiopian Airport Art as a Construction of Tradition”, in A. Pawłowska, A. Drozdowski and A. Kuczyńska (eds), The Artistic Traditions of Non-European Cultures, University of Warsaw, Polish Institute of World Art Studies, Vol. 5, 2017, p. 113-128.