Without a shadow of a doubt, Ethiopia owns quite a lot of well-known painters all over the country. More than eighty ethnic groups live happily under the umbrella of the great Ethiopia with their unique traditions, cultures, diversity of religions and what have you.
Most of them can win the hearts and minds of anyone in a little while. More often than not, tourists from a wide spectrum of the world come to Ethiopia with the intention of exploring the inside out of the various tourist attractions found in the left, right and center of the country. In the same way, Ethiopia is the home of the world’s ancient works of art cave paintings and engravings, to mention a few. It is believed that the history of this great nation is bordering on the history of fine arts.
More to the point, Ethiopia is the cradle of mankind and one of the oldest nations in the world which enjoys “Thirteen months of sunshine” .It is the only country in the continent that had never been colonized. In point of fact, Ethiopia owns many tourist attractions to be visited in every nook and cranny of the country. Following the peace and tranquility of the country, tourists can go anywhere they want as they wish. In the course of their journey, they can see firsthand the hospitality and kindness of Ethiopians with no trouble. Furthermore, as the country is populated by cordial and friendly people, tourists do not have to think about precautions at all costs.
Back to what I was saying, the history of fine arts in Ethiopia has passed thorough many ups and downs to this point. Though, some says the journey of paintings across the country is at a snail’s path and not lucrative, some groups argue Ethiopia’s painting industry is on the track at this point in time. Most paintings of Ethiopians are characterized by their own attention-grabbing exceptional nature and prototype. For this reason, they have the power of attracting the attention of foreigners at the drop of a hat. But as the business of paintings was not that good, they could not achieve the desired goal without difficulty. Nigusse Mekonnen is a student at a Fine Art School. He said, “The painting business is not that encouraging in Ethiopia. I love the profession more than anything in this world seeing that painting is the whole thing to me. Honestly speaking, the business is not money spinning.
Unless some effective mechanisms in which we can put up for sale our works are designed, we cannot achieve the desired goal in the blink of an eye. The future is not that bright for painters as far as I am concerned. In fact, there are different artists who make a living as a painter. The situation of the painting business is not that lucrative. If one looks at the different eye-catching paintings housed in the national museum of Ethiopia, one cannot believe one’s eyes. They are being visited by thousands of tourists at this point in time. The concerned body should attach significance to the profession.”
As per some sources, the National Museum of Ethiopia was established several years ago as part of the National library and archive. Following the implementation of process re-engineering, the national museum of Ethiopia was named as movable heritage development and exhibition service directorate. It soon grew to be one of the six core departments of Authority for Research and Conservation of the Cultural Heritage. While we are on the subject, the National Museum of Ethiopia comprises traditional and modern works of art, Ethnographic collections, archeological and historical heritages. Girma Bulti is a curator at the Authority for Research and Conservation of the Cultural Heritage. He said, “It is crystal clear that a wide spectrum of painting collections is housed at different parts of the National museum of Ethiopia. Like other artifacts, they should be given equal opportunities of handling and conservation. In the past, owing to the attitude of the general public, paintings were not given special attention. Maître Artist Afework Tekele and veteran artist Daniel Tuafe deserve special attention. They were the first people to take the initiative saying paintings of art should have their place in the museum. Through hard work and determination, they were able to materialize their dreams.” He went on to say, “The fine art collection storage possesses nine hundred sixty paintings representing traditional, contemporary and conceptual ones. The paintings were made by one hundred and forty illustrious Ethiopian artists. Most of the paintings are categorized by religious and secular team.
When museum got their hands on paintings from an assortment of artists, they should be evaluated by technical committees familiar with the inside out of the paining world. As far as I am concerned, the requirements should attach significance on the durability of the materials and colors and canvas. It does not have to be copied from other works. Rather it should concentrate on things which reflect the culture and history of the different Nations, Nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia.”
“The documentation work of painting collections should be carried out based on the standard system of other countries. Furthermore, appropriate documentation and classification must be put into effect when the concerned bodies receive paintings and other works of art. All tangible and intangible heritages should be catalogued, apart from including descriptive details, classification, physical dimension, provenance, and storage collection, among others
Herald December 30/2018
BY ADDISALEM MULAT
