Modernist Architecture (not Art Deco!) in Eritrea
July 10, 2017 8:28 PM Subscribe
Asmara Eritrea has one benefit from that Italian occupation: a collection of beautiful Modernist buildings. If all goes well, it'll be named a Unesco World Heritage Site very soon.
Mod note: Corrected post from Ethiopia to Eritrea; carry on.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 9:11 PM on July 10, 2017
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 9:11 PM on July 10, 2017
Well, foo, what an idiot thing to do. Thanks so much for the correction, LobsterMitten, and wreckingball for catching it.
posted by MovableBookLady at 9:48 PM on July 10, 2017
posted by MovableBookLady at 9:48 PM on July 10, 2017
Beautiful. It's sad that a lack of economic development is what it takes to keep these beauties intact
posted by srboisvert at 4:32 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by srboisvert at 4:32 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
These building are amazing. However, I feel like there has to be a flip-side to this story. How would an Eritrean feel about having the subject of their first World Heritage application being a symbol of Fascist colonialism, instead of something that is actually part of their cultural heritage?
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 6:14 AM on July 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 6:14 AM on July 11, 2017 [3 favorites]
Searching around, there do seem to be Eritrean members (leaders?) of the Asmaran Heritage Project, but none of their interviews are in English, so my monolingual self remains ignorant.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 6:30 AM on July 11, 2017
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 6:30 AM on July 11, 2017
Great post! (Another benefit from that Italian occupation is great Italian food, at least if the Eritrean restaurants I've eaten at are anything to go by. You haven't lived till you've had Eritrean spaghetti!)
> How would an Eritrean feel about having the subject of their first World Heritage application being a symbol of Fascist colonialism, instead of something that is actually part of their cultural heritage?
It is part of their cultural heritage. The road of "only certain parts of our heritage are our real heritage, and we will forget/expel/destroy anything that is alien" is a bad road to go down. For examples, see all of history. I mean, if an Eritrean wants to reject modern architecture (or spaghetti) because it reminds them of Fascist colonialism (though there probably aren't that many left who remember it), I'll respect their feelings, but non-Eritreans can safely let them deal with it themselves.
posted by languagehat at 6:54 AM on July 11, 2017 [6 favorites]
> How would an Eritrean feel about having the subject of their first World Heritage application being a symbol of Fascist colonialism, instead of something that is actually part of their cultural heritage?
It is part of their cultural heritage. The road of "only certain parts of our heritage are our real heritage, and we will forget/expel/destroy anything that is alien" is a bad road to go down. For examples, see all of history. I mean, if an Eritrean wants to reject modern architecture (or spaghetti) because it reminds them of Fascist colonialism (though there probably aren't that many left who remember it), I'll respect their feelings, but non-Eritreans can safely let them deal with it themselves.
posted by languagehat at 6:54 AM on July 11, 2017 [6 favorites]
[N]on-Eritreans can safely let them deal with it themselves.
Totally agree, I just wasn't seeing any Eritrean voices in the linked article. I wasn't trying to concern-troll; I'm honestly curious.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 7:12 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
Totally agree, I just wasn't seeing any Eritrean voices in the linked article. I wasn't trying to concern-troll; I'm honestly curious.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 7:12 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
But it might not be a cultural heritage that they want, languagehat. I know you're not advocating for colonial supremacy, but there are some parts of that heritage that we really need to make amends for: residential schools, the Clearances, slavery, to name but a few.
posted by scruss at 7:17 AM on July 11, 2017
posted by scruss at 7:17 AM on July 11, 2017
> But it might not be a cultural heritage that they want, languagehat.
Yes, I understand that. Here I am, on MetaFilter, where I've been for fifteen years—I know about that sort of thing! But I also know it's very easy to use it as a convenient hammer to attack everything with (though that's not what He Is Only The Imposter was doing), and I also know that the Eritreans I've known (not a huge sample, but >0) have not expressed concern about cultural remnants of Italian occupation, just about the politics of it. And that seems to me to be a common, and laudable, response in many places around the world—the more culture, the better! Just don't occupy and oppress us! I strongly deplore the idea (not often expressed openly in so many words, because when you do that it sounds stupid, but lurking behind many so-called progressive arguments) that each people has its own unique history/culture/language/etc. that it doesn't share with anyone else and nobody should try to share ("appropriate") and we should all just stick to our own cultural silos and engage everyone else with extreme caution, if at all. I'm exaggerating to make a point, and I'm not accusing anyone here of that, but it's definitely a thing (going back to Herder at least), and I don't like it. We're all mongrels, and all culture comes from sharing.
posted by languagehat at 7:31 AM on July 11, 2017 [9 favorites]
Yes, I understand that. Here I am, on MetaFilter, where I've been for fifteen years—I know about that sort of thing! But I also know it's very easy to use it as a convenient hammer to attack everything with (though that's not what He Is Only The Imposter was doing), and I also know that the Eritreans I've known (not a huge sample, but >0) have not expressed concern about cultural remnants of Italian occupation, just about the politics of it. And that seems to me to be a common, and laudable, response in many places around the world—the more culture, the better! Just don't occupy and oppress us! I strongly deplore the idea (not often expressed openly in so many words, because when you do that it sounds stupid, but lurking behind many so-called progressive arguments) that each people has its own unique history/culture/language/etc. that it doesn't share with anyone else and nobody should try to share ("appropriate") and we should all just stick to our own cultural silos and engage everyone else with extreme caution, if at all. I'm exaggerating to make a point, and I'm not accusing anyone here of that, but it's definitely a thing (going back to Herder at least), and I don't like it. We're all mongrels, and all culture comes from sharing.
posted by languagehat at 7:31 AM on July 11, 2017 [9 favorites]
These building are amazing. However, I feel like there has to be a flip-side to this story. How would an Eritrean feel about having the subject of their first World Heritage application being a symbol of Fascist colonialism, instead of something that is actually part of their cultural heritage?
I'm not sure if you're meaning to imply that colonialism in general was fascist, in which case I'm misinterpreting, but Eritrea was the part of land conquered and colonized well before fascist Italy invaded Ethiopia during* world war 2 and from what I understand, the cultural differences from that are why Eritreans don't particularly want to be part of Ethiopia despite having a lot of shared ethnic heritage.
*Herein I'm counting fascists militarily invading stuff as WW2 - counting Poland's invasion as the official start seems rather Eurocentric.
posted by Zalzidrax at 8:16 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm not sure if you're meaning to imply that colonialism in general was fascist, in which case I'm misinterpreting, but Eritrea was the part of land conquered and colonized well before fascist Italy invaded Ethiopia during* world war 2 and from what I understand, the cultural differences from that are why Eritreans don't particularly want to be part of Ethiopia despite having a lot of shared ethnic heritage.
*Herein I'm counting fascists militarily invading stuff as WW2 - counting Poland's invasion as the official start seems rather Eurocentric.
posted by Zalzidrax at 8:16 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
I appreciate the clarification, Zalzidrax. I was just being uninformed and a bit lazy in my sentence construction.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 8:23 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 8:23 AM on July 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
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posted by wreckingball at 8:30 PM on July 10, 2017