Dawit Abebe – A look at the other side
People’s backs
When you walk into Dawit Abebe’s art studio, you‘ll immediately be confronted by large images of human figures on canvas. These figures are very present due to their size but simultaneously absent as they are all painted from the back.
Unlimited perspectives
“I come from a very religious family and I went from being very conservative to someone who is questioning everything in life, maybe extreme but realistic.”
Continue reading Henok Getachew
No Judgements
Handstand on the street
“Sometimes I see a place that is perfect for a short unplanned performance. I can do a handstand or crazy posture for a while on the street. It’s the same as a beautiful car on the street, people will look, it distracts and people wake up from their daily reality. Or if a naked person from an indigenous tribe covered with body paint walked through the city. It would attract a lot of attention: positive or negative! People tend to judge and I want to be free from judgments and not think or act in limitations, borders or divisions. Life is global and until people understand this, life is challenging.” Tamrat works as a performance artist but also as a painter. As an artist his aim is to distort reality and to wake people up. Continue reading Tamrat Gezahegn
Living in the present
Ephrem Solomon is an artist who makes engravings and woodcuts on plywood. “People don’t appreciate my work in Addis Ababa, they like acrylic paint on canvas and figurative images; otherwise they don’t consider it to be art.” That’s the reason he prefers to exhibit his work abroad. “The outside world is more understanding.” Continue reading Ephrem Solomon
Harshness of gentrification
Addis Ababa is currently going through a gentrification process which has affected Helen very intimately. She received a letter from the government that she was obliged to move her mother’s grave because the graveyard was being relocated due to urban planning. In other words, she had to dig up her mother’s bones. In order to deal with this harsh reality she decided to address it as an artwork. Continue reading Helen Zeru