Editing Haile Selassie (section)

=== Visual, performing, and literary arts ===

{{Further|Ethiopian art}}

In his private life, Selassie advocated the growth of Ethiopian art. He believed that arts could 'rebuild' the country. He was interested in a modern outlook towards traditional Ethiopian arts, including those of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. He addressed [[Afewerk Tekle]], an Ethiopian laureate, when he left for Europe to gain skills to improve Ethiopian art. Later, Tekle created multiple artworks putting Ethiopian life on display.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite book|title=Oxford Reference|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2012|isbn=9780195382075|language=en|chapter=Afewerk, Tekle|chapter-url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195382075.001.0001/acref-9780195382075-e-0072?rskey=tT9iJU&result=69}}</ref> Selassie created an art program which enrolled multiple artists, including [[Agegnehu Engida]]. He gave a scholarship to [[Ale Felege Selam]]. Selassie travelled regularly to Bishoftu to see displays of paintings by Ethiopian artists such as [[Lemma Guya]]. Selassie was impressed by Guya's paintings of Ethiopian military aircraft. Guya later joined the Airforce but continued to paint with Selassie's support.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Lemma Guya {{!}} Jimma University Official Website|url=https://www.ju.edu.et/?q=lemma-guya|access-date=28 October 2020|website=ju.edu.et|archive-date=31 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240531200108/https://ju.edu.et/?q=lemma-guya|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite journal|last1=Wondimu|first1=Elias|last2=Cortez|first2=Mayra|last3=Lawrence|first3=Simone|date=2016|title=Ale Felege Selam (1924–2016)|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26554858|journal=International Journal of Ethiopian Studies|volume=10|issue=1 & 2|pages=163–164|jstor=26554858|access-date=1 June 2024|archive-date=20 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120054308/https://www.jstor.org/stable/26554858|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite journal|last1=Nagy|first1=Rebecca Martin|date=2007|title=Continuity and Change: Three Generations of Ethiopian Artists|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20447829|journal=African Arts|volume=40|issue=2|pages=70–85|doi=10.1162/afar.2007.40.2.70|jstor=20447829|s2cid=57562278|archive-date=20 November 2023|access-date=1 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120070331/https://www.jstor.org/stable/20447829|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Abebe Bikila - Star of Ethiopia.jpg|thumb|230x230px|Awarding [[Abebe Bikila]] the [[Order of the Star of Ethiopia]], 1960, [[1960 Summer Olympics|after winning the Olympic Gold Medal]] ]]
Selassie commissioned the opening of Ethiopia's first [[Hager Fikir Theatre|Hager Fikir Theater House]] in 1935 and the [[Ethiopian National Theatre|National Theatre in Addis Ababa]] in 1955.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Sira|first=Zerihun|date=6 July 2019|title=Ethiopian Theater: A Brief Introduction|url=https://thetheatretimes.com/ethiopian-theater-a-brief-introduction/|work=The Theater Times}}</ref>

Selassie wrote an autobiography, "[[My Life and Ethiopia's Progress]]", covering his years as ruler. He began the first volume while in exile during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. He allegedly wrote the second volume towards the end of the war, though it is widely believed that officials assembled the materials and constructed the book.<ref>Strang, G. Bruce (2013), "Select Biography", in Strang, G. Bruce (ed.), ''Collision of Empires: Italy's Invasion of Ethiopia and its International Impact'', Abingdon, UK: [[Routledge]], pp. 341–374, {{ISBN|978-1-4094-3009-4}}.</ref><ref>An English translation of Vol. 1 by [[Edward Ullendorff]] was published in 1976, {{ISBN|0-19-713589-7}}.</ref><ref>[https://networks.h-net.org/node/28765/reviews/32703/mcclellan-marcus-my-life-and-ethiopias-progress-haile-sellassie-i-king Review by Charles W. McClellan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601192138/https://networks.h-net.org/node/28765/reviews/32703/mcclellan-marcus-my-life-and-ethiopias-progress-haile-sellassie-i-king |date=1 June 2024 }} of "My Life and Ethiopia's Progress: Haile Sellassie I, King of Ethiopia". H-Africa, H-Net Reviews. September 1995. Retrieved 28 February 2015</ref>