Haile Selassie I

OPINIONS may differ on who the most photographed Head of State might be, but be that as it may, a photographic exhibition is to be mounted this weekend, which will feature a large assortment of pictures of former Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie I.

Mounted by well- known spoken word exponent, Mutabaruka, the exhibition, dubbed 'The Most Photographed Head of State', opens tomorrow, Good Friday, at his "Books About Us" bookstore at 2 Hillview Avenue, at the corner of Eastwood Park Road.

Mutabaruka

The exhibition, which will feature over 200 rare, as well as familiar, photographs of Selassie, collected by Mutabaruka over a period of time, runs until Easter Sunday, and will also include posters which have been printed over the years with pictures and quotations of the monarch, who is an icon of the Rastafarian faith.

The exhibition will be declared open by four Rastafarian sisters, who will speak on Selassie's significance to Rastafarianism. The speakers will be Imani Tafari, Barbara Blake-Hannah, Denise Miller and Mitzie Williams.

"I would just like to show the different aspects of Haile Selassie's life," explained Mutabaruka, promoter of the exhibition.

The popular poet told Splash that ever since he first announced his intention to mount the event, on his weeekly Cutting Edge night talk show on Irie FM, over a year ago, he has been getting a tremendous response from all over the world, from people who listen to him on the internet. The response has also had the effect of enlarging his collection of photographs and pictures of Selassie, as listeners have sent him scores of photographs.

The exhibition will be closed on Easter Sunday and at that time, the first in a series of events to be held to officially launch the book, Rastafari in Transition by Dr Ikael Tafari, will be held. That function will be held under the theme "Stoking the embers of Rastafari and the Rodney Groundings."

Dr Ikael Tafari is a Rastafari elder, a University of the West Indies' political sociologist, and deputy director of the Commission for Pan-African Affairs at the UWI's Cave Hill campus in Barbados, where he lectures.

There will also be a book signing by the author, who offers a welcome addition to the increasing number of publications by Rastafari about Rastafari and events and issues related to the movement.

The official launch of the exhibition on Good Friday begins at 3:00 pm and will be opened from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm daily. The exhibition will also be mounted at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus, in May and in Montego Bay in July.

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