Censored  
2013
Netsa Art Village, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 

This performance was realized as part of Wax and Gold, a project developed by Netsa Art Village in Addis Ababa. The initiative sought to stimulate dialogue on freedom of artistic expression and the influence of censorship in Ethiopian society. Within this framework, Berhane’s performance focused on censorship in both printed and electronic media, questioning the disproportionate allocation of resources to censorship rather than to social programs.

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The performance unfolded across four different public locations in Addis Ababa. In each setting, Berhane stands silently on the streets holding an electric bug zapper mounted on a long stick. Inside the device, he placed small pieces of newspaper bearing censored words, fragments once deemed too politically sensitive for publication. The bug zapper, a device designed to destroy small living things, thus became a striking metaphor for the systematic elimination of words, ideas, and voices from public discourse, and how such control limits public access to knowledge and restricts political consciousness.

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This object also carried broader geopolitical implications. As a mass-produced consumer product imported from China and sold widely in Ethiopia, the bug zapper symbolized the growing technological and economic influence of China in the region. Through this connection, the performance pointed to how global interests, particularly in digital infrastructure, can shape national policies on information control. Although the zapper is inexpensive compared to the vast costs of developing and maintaining digital censorship systems, it remains a luxury for the average Ethiopian household, highlighting the economic inequalities embedded within technological dependence.

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Standing in public spaces with the device raised like a protest banner, Berhane enacted a quiet yet potent form of dissent. His silence amplified the tension between visibility and voicelessness, between presence and erasure. The performance invited passersby to confront the unseen mechanisms that govern what can be said, read, or known.