Beauty, Ritual, and a Hint of Critique
In the hushed foyer of the Hyatt Regency hotel in Ethiopia’s capital, one photograph commands attention. Amid a sea of vibrant images, a framed shot stands out — stark, arresting, and urgent. Scrawled on the wall of a third-grade classroom, the words leap from the image: “Stop Hate Speech.”
The image, part of a new exhibition titled Ethiopia Through the Eyes of Diplomats: Togetherness, Celebrating Diversity and Harmony, was captured by a foreign envoy. Its bleak composition — a weathered brown door, a child’s plea — contrasts sharply with the glossy optimism of surrounding photographs. Yet it may be the most honest frame in the room.
The exhibition opened Thursday evening with ceremony and sparkle, drawing a mix of ambassadors, government officials, photographers, and art lovers. The collection showcases the perspectives of diplomats posted in Ethiopia — a kaleidoscope of snapshots from across the country. Most capture joyful encounters: pastoral landscapes, ancient churches, bustling markets. But this one — raw and unfiltered — offers something different: a critique.
The words in the photograph are more than graffiti. They reflect a deep, ongoing concern that has plagued Ethiopia’s digital and social spaces in recent years.
Hate speech, often driven by ethnic and political tensions, has surged online — particularly on platforms like Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). According to multiple studies, such online rhetoric has had deadly consequences, contributing to outbreaks of violence, internal displacement, and deepened societal fractures. For instance, in October 2023, Amnesty International accused Meta, the parent company of Facebook, of contrbuting to violence during the Tigray war. It stated that the social media site “supercharged the spread of harmful rhetoric.”
Both global and domestic efforts have been mobilized. A United Nations task force has been working to counter misinformation and hate speech through training and partnerships. Ethiopia itself enacted legislation several years ago aimed at curbing incendiary online content and holding both individuals and platforms accountable.
Still, the issue persists.
Critics argue that while such laws are necessary, they risk being exploited by governments — not just in Ethiopia but across the African continent — as tools for censorship under the guise of regulation. The line between policing hate and silencing dissent remains perilously thin. The debate, unresolved, continues.
And yet, one diplomat’s lens has managed to cut through that complexity with a single image — simple, striking, and loaded with meaning. It is a testament to photography’s enduring power: to document, to provoke, and to question.
The photographs span a broad spectrum — from sweeping landscapes at sunrise to intimate glimpses of daily life — offering a patchwork portrait of Ethiopia as seen through foreign eyes. Images vary in size and subject: the shimmering surfaces of highland lakes at dawn and dusk, the jagged gorges of the north, and the surreal sulfuric formations of Erta Ale and Dallol — among the lowest and hottest points on Earth. There are caravans crossing salt flats, crater lakes, northern escarpments, and the gently undulating farmlands dotted with traditional tukuls, all rendered in the warm light of a traveler’s lens.
There are also human moments — a man in Harar feeding hyenas, children racing in open fields, an Ethiopian orchestra in full motion, mud homes under construction, and dancers in motion during vibrant cultural performances. One particularly arresting image captures a boy just breaking the finish line of a footrace, arms raised in triumph.
Cultural rituals from Ethiopia’s many ethnic groups are featured prominently. The Evangadi cattle-jumping rite of passage among the Hamar people of the southwest is captured with remarkable immediacy. Boys with painted faces walking on stilts, and sprawling open-air markets buzzing with trade and color, also feature among the diplomats’ visual discoveries.
Man-made wonders receive equal attention. There are the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, believed to date back to the 12th century; the castles of Gonder, with their medieval grandeur; and the obelisks of Axum, monumental relics of Ethiopia’s ancient past. Lake fishing in dugout canoes, bustling religious festivals, and public monuments round out the collection.
The exhibition, Togetherness: Celebrating Diversity and Harmony, organized by the Kingdom of Morocco in collaboration with the embassies of Romania, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, and the local UNESCO office, is framed as a tribute to Ethiopia’s cultural and ecological wealth. Proceeds from photo sales will benefit young Ethiopian artists, according to the organizers.
Yet, for all its color and energy, the exhibition has drawn criticism.
Many of the images, observers note, lean heavily on familiar visual tropes. The postcard-pretty vistas and sanitized scenes echo the official narratives promoted by Ethiopia’s tourism boards — beautiful, yes, but safe. Critics argue that the curation, while visually rich, plays it too safe, missing an opportunity to present a deeper, more nuanced view of life in Ethiopia beyond the tourist gaze.
