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A project of the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, in collaboration with the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University, "Painting Ethiopia: The Life and Work of Qes Adamu Tesfaw" celebrates the creativity of one of Ethiopia's outstanding living artists. Curated by Raymond Silverman, the exhibition brings together thirty-five exceptional paintings from the collections of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, the Fowler Museum, Michigan State University Museum, and several private collectors. It may be seen at the Fowler Museum from March 6 through August 28, 2005, and the Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, Alabama, from January through April 2006. Additional venues are under consideration.
Silverman has authored a book of the same name, with contributions from Neal Sobania and Leah Niederstadt, to accompany the exhibition (120 pp, 70 color reproductions). The book includes a substantial essay on the artist by Silverman, an autobiography prepared by Qes Adamu in 2003, and a catalogue of the paintings in the exhibition, each reproduced in color with an extended caption. The volume will be published by the UCLA Fowler Museum and distributed by the University of Washington Press.
"Painting Ethiopia" introduces the extraordinary paintings of a little-known artist who is, nonetheless, one of Ethiopia's living treasures. Qes1 Adamu Tesfaw (Fig. 1) has been working quietly in his home in Addis Ababa for the last fortyfive years. The exhibition presents thirtyfive of Qes Adamu's large (2m [6½'] in their longest dimension) narrative paintings on cloth, each one a stunning visual statement. These paintings offer poignant interpretations of religious, social, and political events of the distant and recent past that have shaped the lives of so many Ethiopians.
I first visited Qes Adamu's home in Addis Ababa in May 1993. From the outside, the house was a run-of-the-mill wattle-and-daub structure, but as soon as I stepped inside I knew I was in the presence of an exceptional individual. Every wall in the living/dining area of the house was covered with figurative paintings-a life-size image of an Ethiopian Orthodox priest greeted me as I walked through the front door, St. George Slaying the Dragon and the Madonna and Child stood behind a dining table, Solomon Receiving the Queen of Sheba appeared behind a couch (Fig. 3), and Ethiopian musicians...