Afewerk Tekle
Encyclopedia
Afewerk Tekle is one of Ethiopia
's most celebrated artists, particularly known for his painting
s on African and Christian
themes as well as his stained glass
.
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".
Afewerk had already shown talent as an artist as a child, decorating several walls in his home town. Whilst at boarding school
in England, this talent was recognised and encouraged by his teachers. As a result, Afewerk was persuaded to switch from engineering and enroll in Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. He then went on to become the first African student to enter the Slade School of Art where he studied painting, sculpture and architecture.
Returning to Ethiopia as a university graduate, Afewerk could have accepted an assigned ministerial post, but instead decided to spend time travelling 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 learnt 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
.
Back in Ethiopia, Afewerk opened a studio in the National Library of Ethiopia
. His growing recognition lead to government commissions for murals and mosaics in St George's Cathedral
, Addis Ababa, and several of his designs were used on the national stamps. He was also commissioned to produce sculptures of famous Ethiopians, although on the monumental statue of Ras Makonnen
in Harrar was completed. Most notably, in 1958 he designed the stained glass windows in the Africa Hall of the United Nations 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 producting murals and mosaics for many public and religious buildings around Ethiopia, including the murual 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.
Today Afewerk continues to live and work in Addis Ababa, in his self designed 22-room 'Villa Alpha'.
Also Afewerk Tekle have membership of the Russian Academy of Arts, so he became the first African member in 1983.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
's most celebrated artists, particularly known for his painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s on African and Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
themes as well as his stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
.
Born in Ankober
Ankober
Ankober is a town in central Ethiopia and one of the capitals of the former kingdom of Shewa. Located in the Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region, Ankober is perched on the eastern escarpment of the Ethiopian Highlands 40 kilometers to the east of Debre Birhan, with a latitude and longitude of ,...
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
Mining engineering
Mining engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the practice, the theory, the science, the technology, and application of extracting and processing minerals from a naturally occurring environment. Mining engineering also includes processing minerals for additional value.Mineral...
. 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".
Afewerk had already shown talent as an artist as a child, decorating several walls in his home town. Whilst at boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
in England, this talent was recognised and encouraged by his teachers. As a result, Afewerk was persuaded to switch from engineering and enroll in Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. He then went on to become the first African student to enter the Slade School of Art where he studied painting, sculpture and architecture.
Returning to Ethiopia as a university graduate, Afewerk could have accepted an assigned ministerial post, but instead decided to spend time travelling 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
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
, that gave him the funds to travel around Europe for two years where he learnt how to design and construct stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows. He also made a special study on Ethiopian illustrated manuscripts in the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris and the Vatican Library
Vatican Library
The Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...
.
Back in Ethiopia, Afewerk opened a studio in the National Library of Ethiopia
National Library of Ethiopia
The National Archives and Library of Ethiopia, located in Addis Ababa, is the national library and archives of the country. The library was inaugurated in 1944 by His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie and began service with books donated by the king. In 1976, proclamation No. 50/76 gave the library...
. His growing recognition lead to government commissions for murals and mosaics in St George's Cathedral
St George's Cathedral (Addis Ababa)
St George's Cathedral is an Orthodox cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is noted for its distinctive octagonal form. It is located at the northern end of Churchill Road in the city....
, Addis Ababa, and several of his designs were used on the national stamps. He was also commissioned to produce sculptures of famous Ethiopians, although on the monumental statue of Ras Makonnen
Ras Makonnen
Ras Mäkonnen Wäldä-Mika'él Guddisa, also Makonnen Wolde Mikael Gudessa or simply as Ras Makonnen, was a general and the governor of Harar province in Ethiopia, and the father of Tafari Mäkonnen, later known as the Emperor Haile Selassie I. His father was Fitawrari Woldemikael Guddessa of a noble...
in Harrar was completed. Most notably, in 1958 he designed the stained glass windows in the Africa Hall of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa was established in 1958 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council to encourage economic cooperation among its member states following a recommendation of the United Nations General Assembly.It is one of five regional commissions.The ECA...
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
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
. Increasing funds allowed Afewerk to travel around the continent of Africa. With much of Africa still emerging from colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
, Afewerk became fired with black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
emancipation
Emancipation
Emancipation means the act of setting an individual or social group free or making equal to citizens in a political society.Emancipation may also refer to:* Emancipation , a champion Australian thoroughbred racehorse foaled in 1979...
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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
responded with an invitation for one man exhibitions in Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and a similar lecture tour of American universities. Additional international exhibitions followed in Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Zaire
Zaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
, the United Arab Republic
United Arab Republic
The United Arab Republic , often abbreviated as the U.A.R., was a sovereign union between Egypt and Syria. The union began in 1958 and existed until 1961, when Syria seceded from the union. Egypt continued to be known officially as the "United Arab Republic" until 1971. The President was Gamal...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
and Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
.
Through much of the 1970s Afewerk was engaged in producting murals and mosaics for many public and religious buildings around Ethiopia, including the murual Last Judgement in the Adigat Cathedral in Tigrai
Tigray Province
Tigray was a province of Ethiopia. The Tigray Region superseded the province with the adoption of the new constitution in 1995. The province of Tigre merged with its neighboring provinces, including Semien, Tembien, Agame and the prominent Enderta province and towards the end of 19th century it...
. 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
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
. In 1981, his painting Self-portrait was the first work by an African artist to enter the permanent collection of the Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Italy.
In 1997 he exhibited at the Biennale of Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
, 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.
Today Afewerk continues to live and work in Addis Ababa, in his self designed 22-room 'Villa Alpha'.
Also Afewerk Tekle have membership of the Russian Academy of Arts, so he became the first African member in 1983.
Notable works
- Ras Makonnen Monument
- Altar cross (1959) at Royal Chapel in the Tower of LondonTower of LondonHer Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
, England. - Murals and paintings at St George's Cathedral (Addis Ababa)St George's Cathedral (Addis Ababa)St George's Cathedral is an Orthodox cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is noted for its distinctive octagonal form. It is located at the northern end of Churchill Road in the city....
- Maskal Flower (1961)
- The Last Judgment (1970) mural in Adigrat Cathedral, Tigray.
- The victory of Ethiopia (1979) at the Hero Centre in Debre ZeyitDebre ZeyitDebre Zeyit is a town of Ethiopia, lying south east of Addis Ababa. Since the late 1990s it has been officially known by the Oromo name, Bishoftu, which was its name until 1955...
. - The Chalice and the Cross in the Life of the African People (1997) study for stained glass entered in the Biennale of Acquitaine
External links
- Afewerk Tekle website showing his work and his home and studio at Villa Alpha
- Harlequin-mondial, French dealer handling Tekle's work (warning: shockingly bad flashing text)