Adey Zeinab, Umyay Zeinab, Mama Zeinab
During the Jubilee year of Eritrea’s Independence, Farida and I had the great pleasure of contributing to a commemorative event of Zeinab Yassin Suleiman, whom was a great poet, feminist and campaigner of the revolutionary cause.
Adey Zeinab can be seen speaking in seminars and impromptu gatherings, inspiring people in Sudan, Nakfa and the areas in-between. Throughout it all she wore her Luiette, brightly coloured fabric wrapped around the body and head, a symbol of her culture and femininity. Coming from a conservative family its courageous how she smashed the concepts of what a woman should or shouldn’t do; in a culture where women rarely giggled in public to a woman who stirred the hearts of the masses, at home and abroad, with her words alone.
At Farida Designs we love Luiettes, we hope to see Eritreans of all ages and other nationalities embrace this beautiful form of clothing. It was an honour to design Luiettes for the event: for the special guests from Afa’abet, for singers and for those reciting poetry on stage. We also presented Hawa Hamid, Adey Zeinab’s daughter, with a commemorative Luiette named after her mother.
In this video clip of the event, Tegadalit, Hawa Hamid can be seen receiving the Luiette and thanking organsiers and audience members before the song is performed. Yosef, whom is from Afa’abet, sings a song especially written from her and can clearly be seen to mean every word of it. The clip ends with Ustaz Mohammed Al Haj reciting his own poem “Na’am Na’am”.
It seemed appropriate to publish this video of the event as many mediate on the battle of Nakfa, Adey Zeinab wrote on Nakfa and worked in it and the surrounding areas.
Event Details:
Conducted and Co-ordinated by Ministry of Justice
Poem Translation and content development
Ustaz Mohammed Saeed Osman (co-ordinated by a team at the Minstry of Education and National Eritrean Archive, Ustaz also used research from his upcoming book due to be published on Adey Zeinab)
Arabic Compère : Ustaz Mohammed Al Haj
Tigringa Compère : Weghata Fesehazion – Student of Law
Tigrigna recital : Weine Haile (Gual Enchayti) – Tegadalti (friend and comrade of Adey Zeinab
Tigre poem recital : Aisha Osman – Tigre Journalist Department
Tigre recital : Gual Mohammed Saeed – Student
Arabic recital : Selwa Alamin – National Service
English recital : Easter Lees
Special Guests :
Hawa Hamid : Daughter of Adey Zeinab
Maryam Ahmed : Comrade and friend of Adey Zeinab
Sitel Ahmed : Comrade and friend of Adey Zeinab
Musical Performances :
Hamid Yosef Afabecha – Tigre song ” Eahraykobelkee ”
Abeba Haile – Tigringa song “Eritrawet” + “Isi Men Yerukhbo”
Fatima Ibrahim – Bilen Song “LeLaLay” + Patriotic Tigre Song
Yosef – Specially wrote this song for the event, song soon to be released
DJ and technician : Nemo Grande
Video Produced by Eri-TV