“Timebond” is an exhibition born out of the collective efforts of eighteen Ethiopian visual artists who following their experiences as students and classmates at Alle School of Fine Arts and Design in the late 1980’s, formed a tight network of exchange and mutual inspiration that has endured over three decades and across three continents.
The concept for the exhibition was developed by Yenatfanta Abate, who together with her former schoolmates, developed the idea to showcase the unique expressions of the eighteen visual artists with the aim of highlighting the strength of the bonds formed through shared experiences and artistic exchange. This exhibition is made possible through the close cooperation between Goethe-Institut Äthiopien and Modern Art Gallery Gebrekristos Desta Center as well as the support of Alle School of Fine Arts and Design.
About Yenatfenta Abate:
Yenatfenta Abate's artistic development goes back to early childhood and developed intensively with the beginning of her studies at the School of Fine Arts in Addis Ababa, where she was the only woman of her year enrolled.
In 1990, Abate received the "Montreal Prize", an award linked to a scholarship that enabled her to pursue further studies abroad. She decided to go to Germany and studied art education at the Pädagogische Hochschule Heidelberg. In 1993 she changed to the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg and studied "Free Art" after successfully completing her basic studies. She completed her studies in 2003 with a diploma under Professor Olav Christopher Jenssen as the best student of the year.
In 2004 she continued her studies as a master student with Franz Erhard Walther, which ended in 2008 with an extensive exhibition. Yenatfenta Abate designed one of the first “
Buddy Bears” that were placed at German embassies across the world as representations Berlin and Germany. The German Ambassador in Addis Ababa, Joachim Schmidt, presented the work to the Ethiopian public for the first time in May 2015. Though Yenatfanta Abate is primarily based in Germany, she organises periodical capacity building and exhibition programmes together with her contemporaries based in Ethiopia.
Exhibition remains open until 07 October, 2022 at Modern Art Museum - Gebre Kristos Desta Center
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