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Contemporary Ethiopian Painting in Traditional Style from Church-Based to Tourist Art

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Contemporary Ethiopian Painting in Traditional Style from Church-Based to Tourist Art Contemporary Ethiopian Painting in Traditional Style From Church-based to Tourist Art Elisabeth Biasio n this paper, I will explore how traditional church painting changed in the urban context of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, which was founded in 1886. These changes included how artists were educated, how paintings were marketed and sold, who bought them, and how they functioned. The style, technique, and iconography of paintings changed markedly as well. As a consequence of all of these changes, a new category Iof painting came into being which I have labeled “contemporary painting in traditional style” (Biasio 1993). As a general rule, art historians term this genre “secular painting” (Pankhurst 1966), “folk painting” (Girma Fisseha and Raunig 1985), “traditional painting” (Ricci 1989), or “popular painting” (Girma Fisseha and Raunig 1993). I have shown elsewhere that these expressions can be misinterpreted or are, to a certain extent, incorrect (Biasio 1993). When categorizing artistic genres, we should always take into consideration a variety of criteria, including the training of the artist, style, technique, iconography, function, and not least, the art consumers themselves. I define “folk painting” as work produced by local artists for local indigenous consumption. In Ethiopia, this would include magic scrolls or icons commissioned by a farmer from a com- munity-based, often poorly trained artist. “Traditional elite painting” was produced on commission, often from a ruler, by the very best artists. Folk painting and traditional elite painting are art forms grounded in local communities. They fulfill indig- enous functions, are produced by artists with a traditional, often church-based training, and are intended for local consumption. Both terms can refer to wall paintings for churches, icons, illu- minated manuscripts, and magic scrolls. In Ethiopia, these art forms must always be understood in a religious context. Even if a painting has a secular theme, if it appears in a church, it should (opposite) be considered religious due to its function. 1 Painter unknown The term “popular painting” should be used to refer to art The Legend of the Queen of Sheba that developed in urban settings, often created by self-taught Paint on cloth, 80cm x 150cm (31½” x 59”) Collector: Charles-Henri Steiner 1927–29 artists and directed towards the local population. This category Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich. includes, for instance, hand-painted signs on trucks and buses or Invt. No. 16856 advertising for hairdressers or other businesses. These are found PHOTO: KATHRin LeuenBERGER AND SilVIA LuckneR Representations of the legend of the Queen of in West Africa, particularly in Ghana as Doran Ross has explored Sheba and her visit to King Solomon were first in several contributions to this journal (for example Ross 2004), produced during the time of Emperor Menelik II (r. 1889–1909) and are still created today. Belatchew but rarely in Ethiopia, with the exception of restaurants, tej bait­ Yimer is believed to have been the first artist to otch (honey-wine bars), and butcher shops (see Sher 1997, Mesfin paint the legend in forty-four scenes for the Ameri- Habtemariam 2007). can Legation. 14 | african arts SPRING 2009 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/afar.2009.42.1.14 by guest on 27 September 2021 10A17_AMM401_p14-25.indd 14 11/21/2008 10:49:01 AM CHURCH-BASED PAINTING depicted in paintings today: the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Since its Christianization in the fourth century, Ethiopia has King Solomon (Fig. 1) and the Battle of Adowa in 1896 (Fig. 2). followed a tradition of Christian religious painting. Emper- According to written and oral legends from the Christian ors, kings, feudal lords, and high-ranking clerics were the main highlands, the Queen of Sheba came from Ethiopia. After visiting patrons of painters who worked independently or in monastery Solomon, she became pregnant and bore a son, Menelik I. When scriptoria writing and illuminating manuscripts, painting icons, grown, he visited his father, who crowned him King of Ethiopia. and decorating churches with paintings. The development of On returning home, Menelik, together with the firstborn sons Christian art reflects the internal development of the country as of the elders of Jerusalem, abducted the Ark of the Covenant, well as its contacts with both the Eastern and Western Christian which is said to still be housed in the Church of Maryam Tsion worlds, and with Islamic and Indian traditions. The urban con- in Aksum. Although this legend served as the legitimization of text of Addis Ababa created significant changes in the tradition the Ethiopian royal dynasties and was of great importance in of Ethiopian Orthodox painting and the emergence of the new the Kebra Negast,4 no depiction of it is known until the reign of category of painting that is the focus of this article. Menelik II. Staude (1957:15) supposes that the reign of Menelik The King of Shewa and later Emperor of Ethiopia, Menelik II (r. II reactivated the memory of the dynasty’s founder and propa- 1889–1909),1 laid the foundation stone of the new capital, Addis gated this theme. Travelers mentioned a painting in the church Ababa, in 1886. Like his predecessors, he and his wife, Empress of Entoto Maryam, which has since disappeared, of Menelik I Taytu, built churches and donated churches and paintings,2 and and the Queen of Sheba, who bore a striking resemblance to the new capital became a center of production for numerous Menelik II and Taytu (see, for example, Vivian 1901:281, cited in painters. As Pankhurst (1966:18f.) mentions, many painters bore Pankhurst 1966:17; see also ibid., pp. 19f.). the title of Aleqa, which was conferred upon a priest or a debtera3 Representations of the Battle of Adowa glorified the royal who had reached a high level of education, or upon the head of house, as Menelik II defeated the Italians and secured Ethi- a church or a monastery. Many of these painters came from Goj- opia’s independence from European colonization. After the jam, a region in northern Ethiopia, very often from the monas- battle, this theme was depicted in numerous churches. One tery of Dima Giyorgis or the village Bichena Giyorgis. It is very of the most important representations was in Giyorgis church difficult to identify painters because the artists usually did not in Addis Ababa, built in memory of the battle and in honor of sign their works. As their aim was to glorify God, signatures were Saint George, who was thought to have supported the Ethiopi- considered immodest, and most painters were so well known in ans. This painting, by Aleqa Herui of the monastery of Dima their communities that people would have known their work Giyorgis in Gojjam, unfortunately fell prey to a fire during the even without a signature. This practice was commonplace for fascist occupation in 1937. Further representation of the battle traditional artists who had attended a church school and were was located in the Maryam church built by Menelik II at the foot trained by a painter-priest; however, painters began signing their of Mt. Menagesha to the west of Addis Ababa. The painting was work as they shifted to producing for the tourist art market. The photographed in 1907 or 1908 by the Austrian aristocrat Fried- influx of foreign visitors to Ethiopia during the reign of Mene- rich von Kulmer and is described comprehensively by Pankhurst lik II also gave rise to two new themes, both of which are still (1989:83f., Fig. 133). SPRING 2009 african arts | 15 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/afar.2009.42.1.14 by guest on 27 September 2021 10A17_AMM401_p14-25.indd 15 11/21/2008 10:49:11 AM 2 Qengeta Jembere Hailu The Battle of Adowa Paint on cloth, 80cm x 132cm (31½” x 52”) Collector: Elisabeth Biasio 1986 Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich. Invt. No. 20030 PHOTO: KATHRin LeuenBERGER AND SilVIA LuckneR Representations of the Battle of Adowa (1896) started in the time of Emperor Menelik II (r. 1889– 1909) and are still painted today. In this battle, the Ethiopians defeated the Italians. For the representa- tion of different arenas of the battle, the canvas is divided into irregular segments. CONTEMPORARY PAINTING IN TRADITIONAL STYLE eth centuries foreigners also acquired artwork directly from the Because of the modernization processes promoted by Mene- painters themselves (Pankhurst 1966:20–29). Unfortunately, travel lik II, visitors to the imperial court increased, and foreigners accounts contain little data on how particular paintings came to and legations began to settle in the capital. This caused a rise in be in the possession of particular authors. Henry Salt, for instance, demand for Ethiopian souvenirs, and church painters started to employed the chief painter of Ras8 Wolde Selassie of Tigrai (r. produce paintings for this new clientele as well. For the first time, 1788–1816) “to paint him one of his best pictures” (Salt 1967:394). paintings became available in larger quantities outside a church However, we do not learn how the painter was rewarded, although context and often featured solely secular themes.5 he was likely paid with Maria Theresa thalers, the coin of the Historically, Ethiopian painters were compensated with so- region at that time. called gult-rights, i.e. the rights of land use awarded for their ser- These examples show how traditional paintings were exchanged vices (Haile Gabriel Dagne 1989:215). One of the few documented according to redistributive mechanisms and considered as cere- examples is the Venetian painter Nicolò Brancaleon, who lived in monial gifts to foreigners integrated into this traditional system.
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