From Warriors to Urban Dwellers

Voices That Shaped a Nation

What happens when the most influential voices of a nation emerge from places society dismissed? In this episode of the Eritrawi Podcast, we explore Christine Matzke's groundbreaking research on the women who transformed Eritrean music, theatre, and national culture. From the humble suwa houses of Asmara to the grand stages of the city's theatres, women such as Amleset Abay, Tsehaitu Beraki, Lemlem, and Hiwet challenged social conventions and reshaped Eritrea's artistic landscape. We examine how suwa houses became more than places to relax—they were vibrant centres of music, storytelling, political expression, and community life. Performers used layered lyrics, satire, and metaphor to communicate ideas that audiences understood long before they could be openly spoken. These spaces nurtured musicians whose voices would later dominate national singing competitions and inspire generations of Eritrean performers. The episode also traces the evolution of Eritrean theatre, from the era when young men played female roles, to the arrival of women on stage in the 1950s, and the courage required to defy family expectations and societal taboos. Drawing on academic research and historical sources, we reveal how these remarkable women preserved Tigrinya culture, expanded opportunities for future performers, and laid the foundations of modern Eritrean theatre. Join us as we uncover a chapter of Eritrean history where music, performance, and quiet acts of courage became powerful expressions of identity, resilience, and cultural survival. Source: Christine Matzke, Extraordinary Women? The Urban Performance of Eritrean Women. #Eritrea #Asmara #Tigrinya #EritreanHistory #EritreanTheatre #AmlesetAbay #TsehaituBeraki #Suwa #AfricanHistory #HornOfAfrica #OralHistory #PerformingArts #MusicHistory #ColonialHistory #EritrawiPodcast

Looking for Eritrea's Past Property

What happens when a society's most important stories survive not in archives, but in memory? In this episode of The Other Side of Eritrea, we explore the history of Eritrean theatre, performance, and cultural memory through the groundbreaking research of Christine Matzke. At the center of the discussion is Zehaleve (1947), one of the most important early Tigrinya plays, produced during a period of profound political change and growing national consciousness. The episode examines how Eritrean playwrights, actors, and audiences used theatre to navigate colonial rule, foreign administration, and emerging anti-colonial sentiment. More importantly, it asks how these histories survived when manuscripts were lost, hidden, confiscated, buried, or destroyed. Drawing on oral testimony, personal archives, interviews, and performance studies, we explore the concept of the "embodied archive", the idea that songs, gestures, performances, and living memory can preserve history when written records disappear. In a world where digital records seem permanent, this story reminds us that for much of Eritrea's past, a single notebook, a remembered line, or a re-enacted performance could be the only proof that a work of art ever existed. This is a story about theatre, memory, survival, and the ongoing search for Eritrea's cultural past. #Eritrea #EritreanHistory #EritreanTheatre #AfricanHistory #OralHistory #PerformanceStudies #TheOtherSideOfEritrea #Tigrinya #AfricanTheatre #CulturalMemory #HistoryPodcast #EritrawiPodcast

Missionaries and the Making of Colonial Notables

Missionaries and the Making of Colonial Notables How did institutions created to strengthen colonial rule help lay the foundations of Eritrean national consciousness? In this episode of The Other Side of Eritrea, we explore the unexpected intellectual legacy of European Catholic and Protestant missions in colonial Eritrea. Mission schools were designed to produce skilled workers, translators, clerks, teachers, and loyal intermediaries capable of helping administer a growing colonial state. Instead, they helped create a new generation of educated Eritreans who would use literacy, multilingualism, historical research, and critical thinking to shape their own understanding of the past and their place in the world. At the center of this story is Gabre Mikā’ēl, a mission-educated scholar whose life reflects the complex relationship between colonial service, cultural identity, and patriotic thought. Through his writings, we examine how Eritrean intellectuals employed the very tools introduced by missionaries, reading, writing, translation, publishing, and historical inquiry to reclaim their own history and challenge dominant narratives. The episode explores the rise of Eritrea’s colonial notables, the contrasting educational philosophies of the Italian Capuchins and Swedish Evangelical Mission, the growth of literacy and printing, and the emergence of an intellectual class that bridged the worlds of the colonizer and the colonized. Far from passive recipients of European influence, these men and women transformed education into a vehicle for historical recovery, cultural preservation, and political consciousness. Missionaries came to educate. The colonial state sought administrators and skilled workers. What emerged instead was a generation of thinkers who helped lay the intellectual groundwork for Eritrea’s future. #Eritrea #EritreanHistory #AfricanHistory #ColonialHistory #Missionaries #GabraMikael #HornOfAfrica #Education #Nationalism #HistoryPodcast #TheOtherSideOfEritrea #Colonialism #AfricanStudies #EritreanStudies #HistoricalPodcast

Massawa The History and the Earthquake That Nearly Erased The Red Sea City

In August 1921, a devastating earthquake struck the Red Sea port city of Massawa, damaging large sections of one of Eritrea's most historic urban centers. For a moment, it seemed possible that centuries of architectural and cultural heritage might disappear forever. This episode explores the history of Massawa before the earthquake, from its distinctive Red Sea architecture and coral-stone buildings to its shaded alleyways, carved balconies, and centuries-old urban fabric shaped by climate, trade, and local craftsmanship. Drawing on research presented at the International Conference on Eritrean Studies, we follow the city's dramatic reconstruction after the disaster. We examine the ambitious plans to replace the historic city with a modern colonial grid, the debates surrounding preservation and redevelopment, and the unexpected circumstances that ultimately helped save Massawa's heritage. We also explore how local artisans, property owners, engineers, and government authorities worked together to rebuild the city, preserving its unique character while improving its resilience against future earthquakes. This is the story of destruction and recovery, of tradition and modernization, and of how one of the Red Sea's most remarkable cities survived a disaster that nearly erased it from history. #Massawa #Eritrea #RedSea #Architecture #Earthquake #UrbanHistory #Heritage #Conservation #HistoryPodcast #HornOfAfrica #CulturalHeritage #TheOtherSideOfEritrea

The Difficult Years: Eritrea and the Great War (1914–1922)

This episode of the Eritrawi Podcast explores the profound socioeconomic transformation of Eritrea during and after the First World War between 1914 and 1922. Although far from the European frontlines, Eritrea was deeply affected by the war as Italy extracted livestock, labor, and resources for its colonial campaigns in Libya. The episode examines the devastating impact of wartime requisitions, inflation, food shortages, disrupted trade routes caused by the British naval blockade, and the collapse of local agriculture during years of drought and locust invasions. It also explores how certain wartime industries such as hides, salt, and potassium generated immense profits for a small group of merchants while much of the population endured severe hardship. As the postwar recession of 1920–1921 struck Eritrea, bankruptcies, unemployment, and social frustration intensified among Italian settlers. The episode traces how these crises contributed to the rapid rise of fascism in Eritrea and the formation of the Fascio d’Eritrea in 1922. Drawing from historical research and archival material, this episode examines how war, economic collapse, colonial extraction, and political radicalization reshaped Eritrean society during one of the most turbulent periods of the colonial era. #Eritrea #WW1 #WorldWar1 #ItalianColonialism #Asmara #Massawa #EritrawiPodcast #AfricanHistory #ColonialHistory #Fascism #HornOfAfrica #RedSeaHistory #ItalianEritrea #HistoryPodcast #EastAfrica #Colonialism #EritreanHistory #HistoricalResearch #AfricaHistory #LibyaCampaign