Beloved
Friends:
Welcome to the
celebration of Sofie's life and work. A year ago most of
you were with us mourning her passing on. Today we are
together to celebrate the creation of her wonderful hand
and brain manifested by some of her work in clay, glass,
metal, and twigs shown here in the lobby of this august
building. Though physically distant, now resting
peacefully in a crypt at Qeraneo Medhane Alem Gedam in
Ethiopia, Sofie is with us in spirit. As you will witness
her work is unique and all of it is a "thing of
beauty." Her imprint in this world we live on
forever.
We, members of
Sofie's family, are establishing an organization to be
known as "Sofia T. Gobena Foundation for the
Arts" in order to encourage and promote ceramic art
and related education. You will note from the
handout you have that we are offering as a gift some of
her unique work to raise fund for this organization. Any
donation that you make will be used to help acquire
equipment for ceramic art for the School of Fine Arts and
Design of Addis Ababa University as well as subsidize
students with financial needs at the School. Our family
has pledged 50,000 Birr for that purpose.
On behalf my family,
I thank you all for being with us this evening. I would
also like to have it registered that we are deeply touched
by and highly indebted to our friends in the Washington,
DC, area for their support in time of our sorrow and
grief. A special thanks goes as well particularly to
members of the Debre Genet Medhane Alem Ethiopian Orthodox
Tewahido Church who have been with us through thick and
thin.
Further, I would
like to thank the WorldSpace Corporation for its
generosity to have this show in here.
Thank you all, once
again. Let you eyes feast on Sofie's creations. Enjoy the
evening! Now, I ask Mr. Mamo Tessema, the first
professionally trained and leading Ethiopian ceramist to
say a few words.
