Symbolic Confusion, continued

Marx, Engels, Lenin, Siad

Expanding on my previous post, more conflicting imagery:

Wall painting of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Somali president Siad Barre, from formerly socialist Somalia, apparently photographed in Mogadishu in 1991. Socialist Somalia and Socialist Ethiopia fought a short but brutal war, 1977-1978, as the US and USSR abruptly switched clients.

Marx, Engels, Lenin as Trinity

Painting of Marx, Engels and Lenin done in traditional Ethiopian style, source of this photo suggests it was done this way to mimic Ethiopian paintings of the Christian Holy Trinity.

Marx and Engels in Amharic translation.

Ethiopia-printed version of Marx and Engels. Source suggests this is Capital, I'm thinking "The Communist Manifesto" is more likely. Lifegoal: visit the International Institute of Social History collection in Amsterdam. From the same source, a Derg/Workers Party magazine features the familiar silhouettes on a flag:

Stamps from the Derg regime commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, picturing Lenin, issued in 1977.

Symbolic Confusion 1

A set of postage stamps from Ethiopia in 1978 shows how thoroughly the Derg co-opted the visual language of the revolution. These stamps mark "The Call of the Motherland," part of a general mobilization and militarization of society as conflict intensified with Ethiopia's neighbors because of a combination of cold-war tensions and national liberation struggles.