By Indrias Getachew:-
He is among a handful of Ethiopians who have made it to international
celebrity status this century. He is one of the definitive figures of
contemporary Ethiopian art, a giant recognized in Ethiopia, on the
African continent and in fact the world over. His career spans five
decades and three political regimes, and he continues to work today in
Villa Alpha, his home and studio. He has elevated the social status of
the artist in Ethiopian society. He has produced a tremendous body of
work amongst which is the magnificent stained glass mural greeting
visitors at the UNECA’s Africa Hall. He is the Honorable Laureate Maitre
Artiste Afewerk Tekle.
He was born in the North Shoa town of Ankober in October, 1932. At
school he demonstrated a gift for mathematics and drawing and in 1947
was sent to England to study mining engineering. His artistic interests
and talent, however, led him to drop engineering and pursue studies in
art. HMAL Afewerk Tekle studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts
in London before joining the prestigious Slade, Faculty of Fine Arts at
the University of London.
In 1954 he returned to Ethiopia and put on a one-man show which was
the first major art exhibition in post World War II Ethiopia. The
exhibition was a tremendous happening for Addis Ababa society, and in
the highly conservative public atmosphere of the time it was also the
source of much controversy. The show was the first exhibition of
abstract paintings by an Ethiopian artist in Ethiopia,
and among the
pieces displayed was the Crucifixion, currently on display at the ASNI
Gallery (on loan from the National Museum). The unorthodox
representation of Christ’s crucifixion, far removed from the traditional
Ethiopian style of ecclesiastical painting, brought plenty of protest
from the leaders of the Orthodox Church. The press was also quite
critical and at times hostile to the young artist. At first he sold no
paintings. Eventually the emperor Haile Selassie I purchased two
paintings. Interestingly the emperor urged upstanding members of the
society to support the artist and purchase paintings. Seven additional
paintings were subsequently picked up by various individuals, but they
never paid for them. The matter eventually came to the attention of the
emperor who insisted that either payment be made or the paintings
returned. All seven paintings were returned to the artist.
Since that first exhibition in Addis Ababa the lore and repertory of
the artist bloomed, not only in Ethiopia but through out the world. HMAL
Afewerk Tekle’s works have been exhibited all over Ethiopia including
Eritrea, and in Nigeria, Egypt, Congo (Zaire) Kenya, Ghana, Senegal and
Algeria; in England, Ireland, Italy France, Spain, Russia (USSR),
Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Greece, Yugoslavia; Canada, USA,
Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, India and Japan. His works are to be found in
all these countries and more, including Australia, Venezuela, and the
Sudan.
I asked HMAL Afewerk Tekle what he thinks his most significant
contribution to Ethiopia has been. He responded, “I would like to answer
that as sincerely and honestly as I can. And really I am not trying to
be smart by saying this. I think my contribution to [Ethiopia] is really
not what I have done already, but what I think I will do from today on.
… My contribution is going to be that one painting, which at the moment
for me has been a big wall which somehow has been a blurred picture
which is coming to focus, but the distance between me and that work has
always been cloudy, because life is very difficult – your attention is
disrupted by contemporary events… That painting will be a topic of
conversation today (when it comes out) and in that distant tomorrow it
will represent me and the Ethiopian people, my contemporaries, hopefully
like the obelisk of Axum, the Lalibela churches, and so on. That is why
I say I haven’t contributed anything – I have been taking in a lot, and
have not given back much.”
In preparation for my interview with HMAL Afewerk Tekle I asked
several contemporary Ethiopian artists of a much younger generation
their views of HMAL Afewerk Tekle. All of them recalled feeling
tremendous admiration for him while studying to become artists. “I was
determined to be the next Afewerk,” one recalled. Upon his return from
studying art in the Soviet Union another artist is recorded as declaring
that he would be the next Afewerk Tekle. Through the numerous
exhibitions held during the 1950′s and 1960′s, the controversy and
public debate generated by the artists work, Afewerk Tekle became and
continues to be a household name. The artist was quite adept at
accumulating awards, both locally and internationally. Today he has over
82 major awards and distinctions.
Perusing through his short biography written by Dr. Richard
Pankhurst, one of the most striking features is the number of world
leaders that the artist has met and been congratulated by. They are,
among others, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the King and Queen
of Spain, the Queen of Belgium, The Shah and Queen of Persia (Iran),
President Kwame Nkrumah, President Jomo Kenyatta, President Kenneth
Kaunda, Prime Minister Indira Ghandi, Pope John Paul II, etc. etc. No
other Ethiopian artist has achieved such official recognition, and I
doubt that there are many contemporary artists internationally who have
achieved such status either.
HMAL Afewerk Tekle has made several contributions of his works to be
auctioned for various charitable causes. In 1975 he traveled to Kenya
where one of his paintings generated 15,000 USD, donated toward the
famine relief effort underway. In the mid 1980′s he again donated
several works for fundraising events in North America. Regarding the
culture of ‘professional begging’ that has become so prevalent in
Ethiopia as a result of these national tragedies, HMAL Afewerk Tekle
expressed great distress regarding the fate of the proud Ethiopian
spirit. He expressed his hopes that the day will dawn soon when the
country will be free of the yokes of poverty and once again regain her
true status as a proud and dignified nation.
HMAL Afewerk Tekle intends to open Villa Alpha to the public by July
1999. The entire house, including studio with unfinished works and works
in progress, and where he continues to draw and paint, the various
salons overflowing with some of the internationally renowned
masterpieces including Meskel Flower, Mother Ethiopia, and Sun of
Senegal; the living quarters of the artist including bedrooms and
guest-rooms, will be open to the public. The July opening will depend on
the current war situation. With the current state of affairs between
Ethiopia and Eritrea “it is not a time of celebration” he stated. When
the time does come, it will indeed by quite an event when the average
Addis Ababan will be able to peruse the home and studio of HMAL Afewerk
Tekle. Ultimately it is the artist’s wish to leave Villa Alpha and the
numerous works of art in it to Ethiopia and the next generation of
Ethiopian artists. He stated:
“In every work that I have tried to create they will find attempts to
do honor to this country, as her creative son and I would like to leave
this house (Villa Alpha) with an endowment so that at least six or
seven young artists who are beginning to be known can study — as a kind
of a scholarship, they can live and work in this place for six months to
a year, when they finish their studies… When I was young I wanted to
see a painters house, where he worked, where he lived. Unfortunately at
the age of sixteen I went to see a priest painting in a church, in one
of the churches, and when I asked where he was living. He was living, as
was the tradition because he was dedicated to the church, in a grave
house. And this always rang a bell in my mind as a young art academic
student when I visited the homes and the places where the great artists
in Europe, Raphael, Leonardo or contemporary artists like Picasso and
all these, I always wished I could live something like that. So that
will be hopefully my legacy, as a realistic thing, with an endowment, so
that the Ethiopian, the African will live, see and be even more
creative.”
There is so much to say about HMAL Afewerk Tekle. This page is far
too limited to do his story justice. His work and life-experience form
an interesting reflection of the Ethiopian experience in the second half
of the twentieth century – both her triumphs and tragedies. I hope to
have the opportunity to present a much more detailed story at some point
soon. In the mean time I would like to thank the artist for the
opportunity to interview him.
Source: http://www.linkethiopia.org
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