The British campaign in Ethiopia in 1868 and the burning of the mountain fortress Magdala inspired Ethiopian writer and photographer Maaza Mengiste for her narrative "Of General Interest." Mengiste, who currently lives in New York, reflects on the journey of an intricately crafted royal cloak from Ethiopia. It is a path out of the chaos of battle, through fire, a way over mountains, across water – all the way to Berlin. Mengiste's work brings to light voices and stories that have been previously overlooked, filling gaps that seem inexplicable, revealing images, objects, and places that are permeated by an unresolved past.

Maaza Mengiste is a novelist, essayist, and photographer. Her debut "Under the Eye of the Lion" was chosen by The Guardian as one of the ten best contemporary African books. Her novel "The Shadow King" was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2020. Mengiste is the founder of Project3541, a collective memory project about the Italian-Ethiopian War of 1935-1941, which aims to overcome the static nature of an archive.