Yekatit 12: The Addis Ababa Massacre

Gibbi is a new virtual reality experience that transports viewers into the American compound in 1937, where Ethiopian civilians sought refuge as Italian forces turned their city to fire and ash.

From within a simulated shelter, you’ll look out through shattered windows and see your neighbors’ world collapse — a haunting immersion in a story history tried to erase.

After the VR experience, join a powerful conversation with artist Ezra Wube, historian Dr. Angelo Caglioti, and neuroscientist Mulugeta Abebe, as we uncover the politics of silence surrounding the massacre — and draw connections to today’s battles over truth, revisionism, and resistance.

Presented by: Zuckerman Institute

Please note: Children accompanied by an adult are welcome; however, the program includes mature themes, including discussions of violence and content of an adult nature. Parents and guardians are encouraged to use their discretion.

Ezra Wube (born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) is a cross-disciplinary artist who lives and works in New York. His works encompass video, drawing, painting, and installations, and explores experiences of mobility, the malleability of time and place, and the dialogical tensions between "here" and "there", a confluence of prior and current influences on social idealism, pluralism, and autonomy. 

Ezra received the 2024-2025 Art in the Education Lab commission from the Zuckerman Institute (ZI), for which he produced , an original piece which explores experiences of consciousness and is informed by interviews with neuroscience researchers at ZI as well as with members of the local community.

His exhibitions include the 21st Contemporary Art Biennial. Sesc_Videobrasil, Brazil; The 2nd edition of the Biennale d’Architecture d’Orléans, France; “Gwangju Biennale”, Gwangju, South Korea; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, Art in General, Kim? Contemporary Art Centre, Riga, Latvia; The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY; “Dak’Art Biennale”, Dakar, Senegal, The High Line, and Time Square Arts Midnight Moment, NY. His residencies, commissions, and awards include Michael Richards Visual Arts Award, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, NY, NY, Smack Mellon Studio Program, Brooklyn, NY; Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY; Work Space, LMCC Residency Program, New York, NY; Open Sessions Program, The Drawing Center, New York, NY; The Africa Center, NY; The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, NY; Museum of the Moving Images, Queens, NY; Rema Hort Mann Foundation; the Triangle Arts Association Residency, Brooklyn, NY and The Substation Artist Residency Program, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. 

Dr. Angelo Caglioti joined the Department of History at Barnard in 2020. His scholarly interests intersect environmental history, history of science, and late modern European history, with a particular focus on nineteenth and twentieth century Italy. In European history, his research and teaching deal with the history of European imperialism and Italian Fascism. In environmental history, his work is concerned with climate history and the history of the climate crisis, as well as with the management of water resources. In history of science, his research deals with the history of climate science and meteorology, eugenics and racial science, and the relationship between science and colonialism.

Angelo Caglioti received his PhD in History with a Designated Emphasis in Science and Technology Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He holds a M.A. from Berkeley and a Laurea Specialistica from the University of Padova (Italy). He has been a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, a visiting Lecturer at UC Berkeley, a Carson Fellow at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society at the Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München (Munich, Germany), and a Rome Prize Fellow at the American Academy in Rome.

Angelo Caglioti is currently working on a book manuscript titled “The Climate of Fascism. Science, Environment, and Italian Colonialism (1860-1960)” that will reconstruct the environmental history of Italian colonialism in Libya and the Horn of Africa from the perspective of Italian colonial experts. He is particularly interested in the rise of Fascist imperialism in the twentieth century.

is an Ethiopian-born neuroscientist and multidisciplinary researcher who until recently served as an Associate Research Scientist in the Department of Neuroscience at Columbia University’s Zuckerman Institute, where he contributed to advancing the understanding of brain function and behavior. At Columbia, he also played a leadership role in the postdoctoral community as editor-at-large and chairman of the Columbia University Postdoctoral Society newsletter. Beyond his neuroscience research training, Abebe has built a strong track record in machine learning, software engineering, and data science — transitioning his PhD expertise in neural systems into applied computation and data-driven research, including work as an ML software engineer and data scientist focusing on complex biomedical and analytical problems. His interdisciplinary background positions him to bridge cutting-edge neuroscience with computational innovation, making him an insightful moderator for panels at the crossroads of science and technology. 

Info: There will be light refreshments, and guests will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the virtual reality piece, Gibbi.
It takes 10 minutes to view the piece in its entirety. We will have several VR headsets available to guests on a first come, first served basis.

Info: Conversation with the artist Ezra Wube and historian Dr. Angelo Caglioti, moderated by neuroscientist Dr. Mulugeta Abebe.

Info: Guests will have another opportunity to immerse themselves in the VR experience and chat with our panelists.

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