The Kara people of Ethiopia are one of eight distinct indigenous communities of the Lower Omo valley in Ethiopia, whose lives and livelihoods are being threatened by agricultural plantations and the construction of the Gibe 3 hydroelectric dam. Once completed, the dam will disrupt fragile ecosystems in the region and threaten the Omo people’s way of life and culture, passed down generation to generation through oral tradition. Jane Baldwin’s exhibition, “Kara Women Speak”, is an account of the intricate ways in which Kara women have responded to the damming of the Omo River and the persistence of patriarchy in their lives, and finally, their resistance to an oppressive state, its machinery and foreign investments. Photo credit: Jane Baldwin
