I hope that I will still be alive when another Afewerk arrives in Africa and paints the continent free of colonialism and self-hatred::

by Teddy Fikre (inserts from www.tadias.com in italics) written: Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

I write today because art just died, at least an artist who has come to define for two generations the beauty and aura of Ethiopia one stroke at a time.  I have said before that we are nothing more than a blank canvass and that our parents and our environment are the artists who paint into our conscience the definition and essence of who we are.  99% of us never escape the gravity of those paint strokes, our minds are tarred with the insecurities and deficiencies of our parents before we ever have a chance to define ourselves by ourselves.  Let me introduce you to a man who not only reached escape velocity, he shattered any preconceived notions that either his parents or his countrymen had of art and in the process proceeded to erase the pain strokes that were etched on my synapses by my parents before I could utter the words “mama” and “dada”.

This man that I speak of—God rest his soul—goes by the name of Afewerk Tekle.  He was—actually IS—one of Ethiopia’s most celebrated artists.  His work has focused for decades on themes surrounding African and Christian themes as well as stunning works he compiled on stained glasses.  He was transformative—a visionary that comes along once every 4 millennia and changes the glide path of humanity using his paint brushes to glide explosive colors onto our cornea.  When God made Afewerk, before he broke the mold, I am sure he sighed and told himself “why couldn’t Adam have been Afewerk eko”::

Born in Ankober to Feleketch Yamatawork and Tekle Mano, Afewerk grew up under the Italian occupation during the Second World War. Following the war, in 1947, Afewerk decided that he wanted to help rebuild Ethiopia and elected to travel to England to study mining engineering. Before departing, Afewerk, together with other students leaving to study overseas, was addressed by Emperor Haile Selassie. Afewerk recalls being told “you must work hard, and when you come back do not tell us what tall buildings you saw in Europe, or what wide streets they have, but make sure you return equipped with the skills and the mindset to rebuild Ethiopia”.

Like most prodigies, from the time Afewerk was a child it was evident that his soul was born to paint and created to create.  At an age when most boys are worried about playing soccer or Nintendo these days, Afewerk spent his past time decorating several walls in his hometown.  His talents were recognized and refined when he was sent to a boarding school in England—it pains me that to this day, our intellectual talents have to be sent abroad to be refined by western culture and standards.

After his teachers realized God’s gift that Afewerk held in his hands, they convinced him to switch from engineering and instead shepherded him to Central School of Arts and Crafts in London.  It was there that he went on to become the first African student to enter into the prestigious Slade School of Art where students studied painting, sculpture, and architecture.  Imagine that; full circle, in a place that stole art from Africa centuries before he was born, Afewerk in London was stealing our art back and bringing our treasure home wrapped in his mind.

Returning to Ethiopia as a university graduate, Afewerk could have accepted an assigned ministerial post, but instead decided to spend time traveling around the provinces of Ethiopia to get more experience of his native country and culture, which he reflected in his paintings. In 1954 he held his first one man show in Addis Ababa, that gave him the funds to travel around Europe for two years where he learned how to design and construct stained glass windows. He also made a special study on Ethiopian illustrated manuscripts in the British Library, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris and the Vatican Library.

Afewerk ended up opening a studio in the National Library of Ethiopia where his astounding body of work led to multiple government commissions to paint murals and mosaics in the St. Georges Cathedral in Addis Ababa and several of his paintings were commemorated on the Ethiopian national stamp.  Afewerk was also commissioned to produce sculptors of famous Ethiopians like Ras Mekonnen which currently stands as a symbol of national pride in Harrar.  Perhaps his most notable work came about in 1958 when he designed the stained glass windows in the Africa Hall of the United Nation Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa.  The three windows cover an area of 150 square meters and represent the sorrow of Africa’s past, the struggle of the present, and hope for Africa’s future.

In 1961 Afewerk held a major retrospective in Addis Ababa, which led to his painting Maskal Flower being shown at international exhibitions in Russia, the United States and Senegal. Increasing funds allowed Afewerk to travel around the continent of Africa. With much of Africa still emerging from colonialism, Afewerk became fired with black emancipation and the struggles for independence. This is reflected in his paintings of this time, with titles like Backbones of African Civilization and African Unity.
In 1964 he became the first laureate of the Haile Selassie I Prize for Fine Arts. As his reputation spread abroad, Afewerk was invited to put on an exhibition in Moscow following which he toured the Soviet Union giving lectures. The American government responded with an invitation for one man exhibitions in Washington and New York and a similar lecture tour of American universities. Additional international exhibitions followed in Senegal, Turkey, Zaire, the United Arab Republic, Bulgaria, Munich, Kenya and Algeria.

Through much of the 1970s Afewerk was engaged in producing murals and mosaics for many public and religious buildings around Ethiopia, including the mural Last Judgement in the Adigat Cathedral in Tigrai. In 1977, his painting Unity Triptych won the gold medal in the Algiers International Festival.

The early 1980s saw a second major exhibition in Moscow and an exhibition in Bonn. In 1981, his painting Self-portrait was the first work by an African artist to enter the permanent collection of the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.

In 1997 he exhibited at the Biennale of Aquitaine, France, winning first prize in the international competition. He was also nominated the Laureate of the Biennale which gave him membership of the French International Academy of Arts.

I write these words with much sorrow and grief in my heart.  It is hard to lose yet another treasure of Ethiopia yet I am also joyful because I write these words not as a eulogy of Afewerk but more as a celebration.  A celebration which is draped in the pastels of beauty, in the mosaic of love, in the paint strokes of blessings, and in the colors of heaven.  For I know one thing, Afewerk did not pass away in England or in some capital of Europe that took away so much of our talent and our resources, Afewerk passed away in Ethiopia where he belongs.  The tears that are shed for him water our soil in Addis, tears that will water the next generation of Artists who will shroud Ethiopia in the Addis color of prosperity.

This is the fate that I hope awaits all of us.  I hope that we are like Afewerk and that we gain the ability and the vision to think big and paint our own canvass with the pastels of hope and disregard the oil muck paintings of ideology and dogma that continues to dog Africa.  I am blessed to have been alive in the era of Afewerk, I hope that I will still be alive when another Afewerk arrives in Africa and paints the continent free of colonialism and self-hatred.  May God bless Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Africa as a whole, we will one day soon be the painters of our souls and realize when that day arrives that Art has not died—it continues to live through the legacy of Afewerk.

(main picture credited to www.tadias.com)

“All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.” ~Federico Fellini

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[click to see a masterpiece that is Afewerk RIP yene Geta]

FEATURE EVENTS

Brown Condor Open Mic Poetry Honoring Abiti

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Come out and celebrate with us as we celebrate Abonesh Adinew at Bati Lounge and Restaurant, located at 3815 S George Mason Dr, Falls Church, VA 22041.  Starting at 9:30 PM EST on Wednesday April 12th, we will dedicate the whole 2 and a half hours to honoring the life and accomplishments of Abiti.

[click to hear the Fiker that is Abiti]

So come out this Thursday, April 12th to Bati Lounge and Restaurant and take part in honoring our Abiti and in the process listen to the best of her songs, pictures of Betty from Ethiopia to America while you enjoy ARIF poetry, musika, a LIVE art show and of course the best food in the DMV only at Bati Lounge.  Nu eshi, abren des’yelen eko::

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AUTHOR

Teddy Fikre follow him on twitter @teddyfikre and @browncondor

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