“Folding Processional Icon in the Shape of a Fan,” unidentified artist (Ethiopian), late fifteenth century, tempera with ink on parchment with wood handles, 24.25” x 154.125” x 4.75” when extended/Photo: Walters Art Museum
No one can say that the newly opened exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art, “Ethiopia at the Crossroads,” lacks ambition. The show features more than 225 cultural artifacts from 1,750 years of art history, along with contemporary works by artists from both present-day Ethiopia and the diaspora, bringing into focus a civilization that has historically borrowed from its many geographic, religious and cultural neighbors. Contemporary Ethiopian artists continue the tradition of cultural cross-pollination—now online and globally—while maintaining their own unique identity and instantly recognizable style of expression.
Devotional painted icons, manuscripts, coins, textiles and basketry, metalwork and carved wood crosses of various scales from periods from the seventh century BCE through the nineteenth century CE, appear alongside contemporary works by Yatreda, an Ethiopian family-based art collective now in residence at the Toledo Museum of Art. Elias Sime of Addis Ababa, London-born Theo Eshetu and Helina Metaferia of Washington, D.C., among many others, showcase the ongoing cultural significance of present-day Ethiopian art practice.
Yatreda, still of “Mother of Menelik,” non-fungible token of single-channel video, private collection/Photo: Yatreda and Walters Art Museum
The exhibition begins in a circular rotunda just outside the main gallery, where a panoramic video montage of the Ethiopian landscape circles visitors in a dusky environment suggestive of antiquity. This is, after all, the land where the over-three-million-year-old remains of Lucy, Australopithecus Afarensis (called Dink’inesh in Amharic “you are marvelous”) was discovered in 1974. (Her remains are now housed in the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa.) In a pointed illustration of the exhibition’s theme, the American artist Faith Ringgold has created a miniature effigy of the famous hominid, set on a small altar and embellished with African textiles. “Lucy: The 3.5 Million Year Old Lady,” connects the origin of humankind in Africa to artists throughout art history.
Ethiopia, located in the horn of East Africa, sits at the center of a region where trade and cultural exchange fostered the synthesis of shared beliefs and artistic practice. An early form of Judaism was practiced there. Islam, introduced from the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century CE, has an important place, but Christianity has been, and remains, the dominant Abrahamic religion.
“Queen of Sheba and King Solomon Conceiving King Manilak,” unidentified artist (Ethiopian), twentieth century, glue tempera on canvas, 29” x 56.75”/Photo: K.A. Letts
Just inside the Levis Gallery, where the bulk of the exhibition is installed in an inventive and purpose-built terra cotta structure, a representative foretaste of the many works to be found throughout. A large black-and-white portrait (“Mother of Menelik”) minted on blockchain combines the traditional folklore of Ethiopia with Web3 technologies. Yatreda’s leader, Kiya Tadele, poses as Makeda, the legendary Queen of Sheba, pregnant with Menelik, the offspring of King Solomon and founder of Ethiopia’s Solomonic dynasty. Nearby, a colorful, episodic narrative on the same subject from the twentieth century, “Queen of Sheba and King Solomon Conceiving King Manilak I,” demonstrates the durability and continued cultural relevance of the legend.
In antiquity, the Nile provided Ethiopian traders and envoys with access to Egypt and the civilizations of the Mediterranean Sea. Contact with the Byzantine Empire brought Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which then developed, in conjunction with other local mythic influences, its own unique religious identity. Ethiopia was only the second country—after Armenia—to adopt Christianity as the state religion in the fourth century CE. European artists, mainly Catholic Italians and Jesuit Portuguese, had an impact on religious imagery in the late medieval and early Renaissance period.
Left: Fare Sayon (Ethiopian, active 1445-80), Panel of a Diptych Icon with the Virgin Mary and Christ Child and Archangels Michael and Grabiel, glue tempera on panel, private collection. Right: Workshop of Bartolomeo Vivarini (Venice Italy, ca. 1485), Madonna and Child, egg tempera on panel/Photo: K.A. Letts
The gallery holds a rich trove of religious artifacts from the liturgical history of Ethiopia. A particular standout is the rare “Folding Processional Icon in the Shape of a Fan,” created in the late fifteenth century and one of only six known to exist. Also interesting are two side-by-side icons, representations of the Madonna and Child. One is by Ethiopian artist Fare Sayon (active 1445-1480), the other is from the workshop of Venetian Bartolomeo Vivarini (ca. 1485). Using the vivid colors characteristic of the Ethiopian palette, Sayon makes the image his own by adding two flanking angels important in Ethiopian Christianity, Michael and Gabriel, and interpolates elaborate textile patterns into the figures’ garments. The two paintings demonstrate how European compositional religious tropes were routinely translated into Ethiopian visual language.
Contemporary Ethiopian artists represented in the exhibition are a testament to the ongoing vibrancy of the region’s visual culture. Their work is installed throughout the exhibition and demonstrates that there persists a strong stylistic correspondence between the historical artworks and contemporary art practice. Elias Sime’s “Tightrope, Zooming In” (2012), an elaborate longitudinal mosaic made from the remains of digital technology—circuit boards, computer keyboards and the like, imaginatively makes an environmental point. Helina Metaferia has created her own version of a traditional metalwork crown (aklil or zawd) which carries meaning that is both royal and religious. With it, she honors Empress Taytu Betul, a national hero of resistance against the invading Italian army in 1896. The traditional crown that is installed next to it exemplifies the common sensibility that unites these contemporary artists with their patrimony.
Elias Sime, “Tightrope, Zooming In,” 2012, reclaimed electronic components with assorted small ephemera on panel, 83.5” x 313”/Photo: Toledo Museum of Art
There are far too many remarkable artifacts in this exhibition to mention individually. Those with an ongoing interest in Ethiopian culture should buy the beautifully illustrated and scholarly catalog, available from the Toledo Museum. “Ethiopia at the Crossroads,” edited by Christine Sciacca ( who is also the curator of this touring exhibit), is a comprehensive introduction to this rich, yet little-known, sub-section of world art history.
Sophie Ong, assistant director of strategic initiatives, has curated the exhibition for the TMA leg of the tour, previously seen at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. This will be the third—and last—opportunity to see this remarkable survey of Ethiopia’s art history from ancient to contemporary.
“Ethiopia at the Crossroads” is on view at the Toledo Museum of Art, 2445 Monroe Street, Toledo, through November 10.