In this area of Colombia around the city of Chia , the original indigenous inhabitants the Muisca people referred to the area as the land of dreams.
The mural ” Ethiopia The Journey” came about because of a dream that took place in Chia. Someone in IR dreamt where they saw the artwork for the new Jah9 album and they had a conversation with Jah9 where she was talking about and thanking IR for a mural. Somehow it seemed to be referencing something in the future, so at that moment IR decided to make a new mural.The concept would be a visual presentation of the spiritual dub of Ethiopia as expressed in the new IR book ” Ethiopia The Journey”.
Like the book the mural also incorporates imagery and philosophy from indigenous peoples from North & South America. For example we have words of philosophy from the indigenous activist and philosopher John Trudell.
Like the mountains of Colombia ,the mountains of Ethiopia have a magnificent spiritual power and tucked away in the mountains are ancient buildings used for spiritual worship.
The languages that are painted on the mural are in two Ethiopian languages Geez and Amharic.
Geez is the most ancient Ethiopian language and the oldest language in the world still being written.The ancient manuscripts like the Kebre Negast were written in Geez . Geez from IR perspective is a language of code and this mural truly contains a lot of code.
The other language the mural is written in is Amharic which is one of the principle language of Ethiopia. The phrase ‘Elevate Oneself ” has been translated and written in Amharic and GEEZ as well as other codes.The mural also incorporates some philosophy from a local Colombian activist that are a reflection on political realities of Colombia.All these different themes are connected and complimented by the artwork for the new Jah9 album ” 9″ that IR saw in a dream. The soundtrack for this video is provided by Jamaican musician ,composer and dub parent Sawandi and a special mix he did for IR of his track ,”Reverse” taken from his recent release “Beats,Child,Life Vol 1 “For those interested in more about the book “Ethiopia The Journey ” from where most of the images of this mural are from; the National Museum Of Ethiopia will be holding an exhibition on the book in 2017. There will also be a Dub version of the book “Ethiopia Dub Journey II”with a special mix by Dubdem.Dubdem was also responsible for the design of the original version of the book and the posters you see on the mural that are from the book.Dubdem designs beautifully compliments the Jah9 artwork done by Joavan Puran.
The final completed mural weaves together all these different elements and influences from dub sources like Ethiopia,Brazil,Colombia,Jamaica and Turtle Island.
This video was filmed and edited by Colombian visual artist Dub Code II and documents the creative process and context of the mural as it was painted in Chia, Colombia by Rebel Youth.Special thanks to the dub people of Chia.
The Caleta Dub and Dub Code II designs you see on this post was created by Tapedave.The UP design and various Ethiopian Journey posters were created by Dubdem.The poster which was a glossary of the text found in the mural and which also listed the various artistic contributors was created by Ana A Secas.Special thanks to Ethiopian grafitti artist Yodit D. for her stencil art contribution and to Paaula & A ^a.S for their work on the wall and Dub Code II for the special tranquilo visual dub feeling.
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