Artist, professor to talk on Ethiopian art during Museum Nights

January 22, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Ethiopian modern art and the current art world in Africa are the topics of an upcoming Museum Nights lecture by artist and art historian Achamyeleh Debela. The talk is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 25, at the Harn Museum of Art.

A graduate of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria, and the School of Fine Arts in Addis Ababa, one of Africa’s leading art academies, Debela is professor of art at North Carolina Central University and director of its computing Center for the Arts. He also is co-curator of the Harn Museum exhibition “Continuity and Change: Three Generations of Ethiopian Artists.” Debela will speak on the role of the school, educational institutions, museums, alternative art spaces, patrons and collectors in defining Ethiopian modern art and the current art world in Africa, particularly Addis Ababa.

Debela and Harn Museum of Art Director Rebecca Martin Nagy have been organizing “Continuity and Change” since 2000. It imparts a story of modern and contemporary art in Ethiopia from the 1940s to the present and explores the roles of government support of artists as part of the modernization of the country.

“The Harn exhibition includes some of the best examples of modern Ethiopian art, and is the most comprehensive contemporary African art exhibition from a single country to date,” Debela said. “The diverse works included in ‘Continuity and Change’ allow for a broader understanding of the rich cultural heritage that feeds and nurtures the creative proclivity.”

The exhibition, on display Jan. 23 to April 29, features artists largely unknown outside of Ethiopia who were and are active in Addis Ababa within the context of political and social upheavals of 20th century Ethiopia. Debela also wrote an essay for the “Continuity and Change” catalog about the role of the School of Fine Arts in the history of Ethiopian art.

For more information on the exhibition or lecture at the Harn Museum of Art, visit the Web at www.harn.ufl.edu.