Response to Denden Hayelom
<
http://www.tesfanews.net/response-to-denden-hayeloms-open-letter-to-michael
-adonai/> 's Open Letter to Michael Adonai
By Bahri Tecle,
Posted on 12 September 2014.
I READ Denden Hayelom's
<
http://www.tesfanews.net/an-open-letter-to-michael-adonai/> open letter to
Michael Adonai with great interest.
As a committed follower of Eritrean news and affairs online, I was
pleasantly surprised to read such a balanced and reasoned criticism of an
issue at hand.
Commendably, after offering his genuine compliments to an Eritrean comrade
and extraordinary artist we have all appreciated over the years, Denden
Hayelom proceeds to make his point regarding Michael Adonai's recent
<
http://awate.com/presenting-master-painter-michael-adonai/> interview on
awate.com without veering off the subject and most notably without an ounce
of disrespect, name-calling and/or the wanton character assassination that
is so ubiquitous in other exchanges among Eritreans, and at times - even
more embarrassingly - statements directed at non-Eritreans.
Too often, rather than offering the reader basic irrefutable facts and/or
context-based analysis that allow one to make up one's own mind, we are
overwhelmed with slanderous and derogatory exchanges that take away from the
merit of the writer and diminish the value of the writing.
This unfortunate phenomenon is not unique to one camp or another - whether
pro or against the people and Government of Eritrea - and perhaps most
disappointing is when this type of obnoxious behavior in exhibited by
Eritreans we consider astute and politically conscious and who we know are
capable of delivering on much higher standards.
Political disagreements can still be had without resorting to childish
outburst and tasteless diatribes and by remaining loyal to the task at hand
- the overall national interest of Eritrea - and as Eritreans concerned with
the well-being of our country and people, it falls on us to positively and
genuinely reflect our society's admirable and exemplary norms and values at
any given time.
Hence, it is my sincere hope that Denden Hayelom's modest and composed style
can cause us all to think twice before the next time we respond - whether
online or in person. The ultimate objective must always remain Eritrea's
independence and sovereignty.
Having said all this, there is one point in the following paragraph of the
open letter that I would like to call Denden's attention to and correct:
"Nonetheless, upon completion of your paintings, you were requested to
present your work for selection. To the utter shock of those present at the
time, you demanded an exorbitant amount of money - amounting to millions of
Nakfa - for your creations. Seeing this act as completely unreasonable - and
very un-Eritrean - the Government of Eritrea decided to relieve you of this
task and asked that you (1) take all your paintings with you and (2)
reimburse all the expenses paid to you in advance - including travel/tour
expenses as well as painting material expenses."
The Government of Eritrea did not ask Michael Adonai to pay back travel and
tour expenses. It only requested that he reimburse the equivalent of the
painting material, which included canvases, brushes, paint, etc, worth tens
of thousands of dollars.
At this point, I would like to implore all Eritrean artists and musicians
who have - consciously or unconsciously - chosen to take a stand against the
people and Government of Eritrea to always remember the shoulders on which
they stood to reach stardom. In Denden Hayelom's own words: "your gift was
nurtured and encouraged inside Eritrea, amongst your people and comrades."
Received on Fri Sep 12 2014 - 14:33:37 EDT