Selamta Ethiopia

Arada (2014) by Bisrat Worku Deme

Because of all this, current activities related to contemporary art — a trend that has been struggling to gain a strong hold — are becoming more lively. Poetry sessions, the performing arts, musicals and theatres, as well as visual arts exhibitions (painting, sculpture, graphic arts, and photography), are being conducted almost daily, with the multiplication of exhibition halls, galleries, art studios and art shops. The result of all this is that literature and advertising publications related to these kinds of art activities, as well as professional journals, radio and television programmes that are related to art criticism and appreciation, have also been increasing. There has been great development of towns and this too has brought with it the chance of significant sales and employment for artists. We should also not forget foreign cultural institutes, which have been the forerunners of this development in their promotion of the visual and performing arts, even during the hard times of the past military government. At present, they are the most important active adherents to our country’s art engagements.

Almost None (2014) by Berhanu Ashagrie Deribew

Contemporary Ethiopian art refers to all types of the visual arts, but it is particularly on paintings, sculptures and graphic arts that I wish to focus. These currently active aspects of the visual arts of Ethiopia spring mainly from three sources: indigenous traditional conventions, modern art education and training, and the art of independently practising artists. When we compare these three types, the first are the dominant feature of Ethiopian art, because most of them refer to the things the Ethiopian people use in their daily lives, their religious, ritual and cultural activities, replicas of which are getting on to the art market abundantly and rapidly because of their intrinsic artistic merits. The second are the result of formal and modern art education acquired through governmental Fine Art schools, which have been producing works that cover the current demand for art, whether they be conventional or experimental, via newly established museums, galleries, art centres, hotels, restaurants and art shops. The third are those which have had no background of art training, neither formal nor informal, and follow no rule or system at all, but merely work on the basis of their own instincts, and so produce naïf art for the attention of tourists.

Landscape (2014) by Desalegn Enawgaw

Any discussion of these modern and contemporary art activities, whether they are traditional or modern, would be incomplete without considering their Ethiopian and African roots, which have a long and varied history. Thus it would be necessary to briefly assess the history of the country, which is closely related to the spiritual and material life of the people, its legends, ethnic and national customs, religions and other activities, past or present. Because almost all the visual images one encounters in Ethiopia are expressions of all these.

Amharic Number (2014) by Daniel Alemayehu Tesfa

Geographically, Ethiopia is a country located on the Horn of Africa, neighbouring on its western and southern sides with African countries, on its eastern and north eastern sides with the Middle East and Asia across the Red Sea, and neighbouring on the parts of Northern Africa that are nearer to the Middle East and to Southern Europe. So it can be said to be located at a strategic place, a crossroads of the major world continents and their cultures and civilizations, even though historically it has withstood all foreign attempts to invade and colonize it, and so has kept its sovereignty and freedom intact for thousands of years.

The Black Identity (2014) by Nega Berhanu

Since it is a country that has had such a long and documented history, with its own indigenous languages, an alphabet derived from Saba and Ge’ez, as well as its own calendar and literature, it has had contacts with other nations and their civilizations for a long time. The fact that it is repeatedly mentioned in Greek mythology, in ancient religious books, such as the Bible and the Koran, is also evidence of this. The Greeks, the Romans, the Turks and other nations of the Middle East also had contacts with Ethiopia. In fact, Heroditus and similar writers mention it repeatedly in their works. In addition to all this, it is a country of various nationalities, comprising more than eighty languages, and different customs, of both Kushitic and Semitic origins. It is also a land of varying and impressive landscapes and marvellous rivers such as the famous Blue Nile. It is all this and more, which makes it a country of rich and striking legends or tales such as that of the Queen of Sheba.

Equal (2014) by Henock Azene

It is interesting to see how far the mixture of the Ethiopian people and their diversified cultures are reflected in other continents’ customs as well: this can be seen in their dress, their costumes, their homes, and the architecture of their towns. The different types of long established or traditional architectures of the various people in the country, i.e., the tukuls of both the highland and southern region dwellers, as well as the marvellous architecture of Axum, Lalibela, Gonder and Harar also must be recognized as the roots that have characterized contemporary Ethiopian art and its mode of blending with the trends of global art activity. Old traditions of artistic activities such as traditional paintings, illumination of parchments for religious books and their bindings, as well as funereal decorations, also have their roots in a unique and long history of geographical, demographic and cultural interactions of its people held since much further back in history. To come back to our main point, the rich source of Ethiopian art as a whole is due to the geographical, historical and cultural composition of the country, which necessarily comprises African roots as well as elements acquired and assimilated from other cultures and civilizations.

Jazz Composition (2014) by Sintayehu Assefa

The history of art in Ethiopia is long, and this parallels its age–old traditions. But modern art appears much later, at a point in history which can be given a precise date: the establishment of the Addis Ababa School of Fine Arts, in September, 1957. So we can divide the history of Ethiopian art into two broad temporal divisions, on either side of the 1957 watershed: pre–Addis Ababa School of Fine Arts, the years before 1957; post–Addis Ababa School of Fine Arts, from 1957 up to the present day.

Ethiopian Basic Colors (2014) by Sirak Yilma

The first period starts in the year 1886, when the Ethiopian Government sent a young man, a certain Afework G/Yesus to Italy, in order to study Fine Arts at the Turin Academy. In the period that followed many artists were sent to various European countries and America to study Fine Arts. These artists became the pioneers of the modern art period in Ethiopia. The post–Addis Ababa School of Fine Arts period covers the period since 1957. During this period many events have occurred: the revolution, the fall of the military government in 1991. The artists of today owe a lot to this period: 90% of today’s Ethiopian modern artists and active contemporary artists owe their existence to the Addis Ababa School of Fine Arts; almost all the artists who had the chance to continue their further education abroad had obtained their first education in Ethiopia, and continued and perfected their studies in various foreign countries both in the West and East.

The Sound of Color (2014) by Solomon Wagaye Sime

In this period there were many efforts by Ethiopian artists to form nationwide artists’ associations, but most of their attempts were short–lived. Any surviving associations were finally disbanded in 1974, when the revolution erupted. The same happened during the military government. After that there was no further attempt for many years except for some small art groups, and until in 2013, a new association, the Ethiopian Artists’ and Sculptors’ Association, was established by a group of young artists.

Ethiopian Reflection (2014) by Tarekegn Mekonnen Asfaw

Art criticism, comments and reviews of Ethiopian contemporary art cannot be said to have been very rich or abundant, mainly because art critics and writers engaged in writing about art have been very few. The lack of an art criticism milieu has meant that there has been no continuity in their writings or comments, and many accounts remain occasional or incidental. However this doesn’t mean that there are no writers and works worth mentioning at all. There are, and these have included both compatriots and foreign critics. The present situation is that many columns of newspapers and magazines have been trying to present insightful comments, reviews, and criticism. In addition to this, exhibition catalogues are also becoming more popular. However, it is the newly emerging radio, TV and FM broadcasts that are playing the most important role by conducting interviews, discussions, reviews, and criticism on arts and artists in general.

Union (2014) by Tekeste Weldeselassie

Generally speaking, it is all the above institutions, schools and critical activities that created the atmosphere for Ethiopian modern and contemporary art, by persevering to the last in spite of political, economic and cultural hardships that tormented the country from 1974 up to 1991. However, since 1992, conditions have changed and new developments have been ushered in, and changes in internal politics have created fertile conditions for the blooming of Ethiopian contemporary art. For example, the Addis Ababa Fine Arts School came under Addis Ababa University and was named after its founder and first director: Alle Felege Salam School of Fine Arts and Design. The Gebre–Kristos Desta Modern Art Museum has been established, and other art schools, both governmental and private, such as the Entoto Technical and Vocational College of Fine Arts, the Abyssinia Fine Arts School and Studio, and the Enlightenment Art Academy. Many art groups, art studios and art galleries now flourish, and the new international hotels have been involved in promoting Ethiopian contemporary art by putting on exhibitions and collecting art works, in particular, the Sheraton Addis Hotel’s annual art exhibition, Art of Ethiopia, and its publication of an accompanying catalogue, successively for the past six years. Let’s also take this opportunity to remember that Addis Ababa’s venerable Hilton Hotel also played this role for many years in the past, for which many artists have been grateful.

Untitled (2014) by Tigist Meshesha Esheta

And so we come to the artists. The actively participating artists of Ethiopian contemporary art are various and differ from each other in many respects: in their ages, in the directions their art has taken (some realistic, some figurative, some trying out different kinds of art), in their styles (some traditional and some with foreign influences, all looking for their own original style) and techniques. Technique is particularly interesting: they have implemented all types they have encountered while studying at schools or through contacts and exposure to global art activity, through the media, travel and cultural delegations, which range from western traditional painting techniques to assemblage, collage, montage, photography, and so on. New developments in conceptual art such as installation, video art, performance art and their hybrids are also part of the contemporary Ethiopian art scene.

Ethiopian Woman (2014) by Yenealem Bereket

In conclusion, I have tried to emphasize that Ethiopia’s long history, tradition and culture, which has influenced its art for such a long time, is a compound that has mainly comprised its own indigenous ways and then mingled these with those acquired or assimilated from different cultures of the world. The principal reason for this is our geographical location, which has been (and still is) a strategic one, as well as our tradition of having our own languages, alphabet and literature, which have made us the recipients as well as providers of art and culture. Thus, we can be labelled as a cultural melting pot while paradoxically managing to keep our culture intact.

Middle Soul (2014) by Yohannes Fetsumbirhan Markos

However, what is more paradoxical and surprising is the condition of Ethiopian contemporary art, which shows the same trend. It eclectically receives hybrid and differing styles from all contemporary movements, and then offers its unique artistic endeavours and results to the world and to contemporary art. I hope a new leap may come out of this for mankind as regards the visual, because we are not only part of the changing world but also one of the principal agents of new change in the global arena, as we were and still are the centre for vital cultural activities in Africa.

Eshetu Tiruneh Painter, Instructor and Director of the Enlightenment Art Academy