Mit anderen Augen / With Different Eyes. Johannes Haile

Ein Äthiopier sieht Deutschland [An Ethiopian sees Germany] was the title of an exhibition that was shown in Addis Abeba in 1964. The show focused on the impressions of the young photographer Johannes Haile (1927–2016), who embarked on a 7-week journey through the Federal Republic of Germany in 1962. Haile's trip was commissioned by the German Embassy in Ethiopia and planned by the organization Inter Nationes. He was supposed to take pictures of post-war Germany which were to be circulated to improve perceptions of Germany abroad. His pictures bear witness to labour in industrial factories or to people's everyday lives. Through his contact with an Iranian cab driver, Johannes Haile also managed to travel to East Berlin for a day. The result is a large number of images, often taken from the perspective of the photographer in the car. They show impressions of a brief glimpse into the everyday life of the streets of East Berlin.

Only 60 years later were Haile's works shown again in Germany. This time, he asked his long-time acquaintance, the curator Meskerem Assegued, to set up an exhibition. It was shown at the ifa galleries in Berlin (29 September 2016 – 18 December 2016) and Stuttgart (13 January 2017 – 2 April 2017) and at the Grand Palace of the Unity Park in Addis Abeba (12 December 2019 – 8 March 2020). Meskerem Assegued is a curator at the Zoma Museum in Addis Abeba.