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Gela 2
Mela
Hisab
Wenzu
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Hisab (Excerpt): Stop-action animation, acrylic on a single canvas, 7' 56"

Acquisition: Paris National collection / Cnap

This animation is inspired by an Ethiopian urban folktale. It was documented as part of a larger story collection project; Story project; supported by the Dondis A. Dondis Travel Fellowship, from Massachusetts College of Art.

In the story there are three characters: a dog, a donkey and a goat (common residents of the city of Addis Ababa). Each character joins a shared taxi ride. The goat (the "-") does not pay the taxi fare, the donkey (the "0") pays the exact taxi fare and the dog (the "+") overpays. The story concludes, to this day, dogs run after taxis (to ask for their change back), goats run away (afraid to be asked for what they owe) and the donkeys block the road (believing they are even).

To make this animation I'm using paint on a single canvas. After painting a scene I take a picture of the finished work using a still camera that is connected to a computer. Each frame was painted on top of the previous one, each scene triggering the following scene. This method of combining traditional and modern mediums (paint, and digital video) allowed me to keep the past while moving forward.

Addis Ababa is in transformation. Communities are disappearing and new ones are forming. I personalized the story by using my own autography such as the neighborhoods I grew up in as a back ground. Voice actors are local residents, friends and relatives. The story is not significant. It is usually told in a casual atmosphere: a cafe, a store, the street or any ordinary place. In this piece I strive to retell and reexamine the passing by in the everyday.

Screening Cher Cher Godana, Addis Ababa

Screening Film Deresden International Short Film Festival

Exhibitions

2019: 2018:	Dispossession, Willful Weeds, and World-Making from the Ruins, Mumok Cinema, Vienna "Tales of Home", Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA "Meditations on Place: Four Perspectives; Four African Cities", Video Project Room, The Cleveland Museum of Art
2017:	"Video Box Festival", Le Carreau du Temple, Paris
2016:	"The City, Faraway", The FRAC Centre, Orléans, France "The 5th Edition Digital Marrakech Festival", Morocco
2015:	"The 13th Biennial de Lyon", France "This and That", Chatou Cneai, France "Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival", London, U.K. "Anyway, the Wind Blows", Brundyn Gallery, Cape Town, SA
2014:	"Dak'Art 2014 Biennale", Dakar, Senegal "Key Frames ", Neuberger Museum of Art, NY "Boda Boda Lounge", cross-continental video festival: Picha (Lubumbashi), The School of Fine Arts and Design (Addis Ababa), VANSA (Johannesburg), Townhouse (Cairo), Medina (Bamako), Centre Soleil De Afrique (Bamako), VAN Lagos (Lagos), E.studio (Luanda), Voices In Colour (Bulawayo), Zero point Art (Santiago), 32 Degrees East (Kampala), and Kin Art Studios (Kinshasa). "12th Mumia underground world animation festival", Belo Horizonte, Brazil
2013:	"The 10th Green Film Festival", Seoul, Korea "The 6th International Animation Festival Fest Anca", Bratislava, Slovakia "Luxor African Film Festival", Cairo, Egypt "The Magmart Selection at FIVAC", Camaguey, Cuba "FILMFEST DRESDEN International Short Film Festival", Dresden, Germany "Urban Research: Exploring Contemporary Urban Space", Berlin, Germany "Tampere Film Festival", Tampere , Finland "6th Fest Anca - International Animation Festival", Zilina, Slovakia "AnimateCOLOGNE", CologneOFF 2013 Sattal/India "The 30th Environmental International Film Festival", Paris
2012:	"Colours of the Nile International Film Festival", Addis Ababa, Ethiopia "The Libelula Animation Festival", Lloret de Mar, Spain "Animated Dreams", Tallinn, Estonia "International Short Film Festival", Berlin, Germany "Vuotociclo", videoart show, University Suor Orsola Benincasa, Naples, Italy "International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film", Leipzig, Germany "Australian International Animation Festival", Victoria, Australia "Animation Screenings", Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY "AnimateCOLOGNE", Cologne Art & Animation Festival, Museum for experimental art, Mexico City, Mexico "Art & the City", CologneOFF VII - Urban Culture and Fire Festival, Belarus - CeC - Carnival of e-Creativity, Sattal, India - Ionian International Digital Film Festival, Lefkas, Greece "Still Fighting Ignorance & Intellectual Perfidy" - AIVA - Angelholm International Video Art Festival, Sweden - Torrance Art Museum, CA - Arena 1 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, - Lucca Museum, Lucca, Italy - Pori Art Museum, Pori, Finland - Museo/Centro Arte Contemporanea Ticino, Switzerland - National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Moscow "Anim'est International Animation Film Festival", Bucharest, Romania "Milano Film Festival", Milan, Italy "Regent Park Film Festival", Tronto, Canada "AVANCA 2012 – International Meeting of Cinema, TV, Video and Multimedia", Avanca, Portugal "Roof Top Films", Brooklyn, NY "Roof Top Films, Summer Series", Brooklyn, NY "Magmart International Video Art Festival", Casoria Contemporary Art Museum, Naples, Italy "4x4", San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA "ARTchSO Africa video art", Rennes, France "Annecy International Animation Festival", Annecy, France "Melbourne International Animation Festival", Melbourne, Australia "Art RGSA Mini-Film Festival", SUNY Albany, NY "ANIRMAU Animation Festiva", Lalín, Spain
2011:	"Cher Cher Godana Screening", Addis Ababa, Ethiopia "Ezra Wube Teret Teret", Ethiopian Television "Art & The City: Mirror1", CologneOFF 2011 - Beirut, Lebanon - Rome, Italy - Marrakech, Morocco - TimiShort - Film Festival, Timisoara, Romania "Videoart from Africa", CologneOFF 2011 - Mexico City, Mexico - Riga, Latvia "Swedenborg Short Film Festival", London, UK "Istanbul Animation Festival", Istanbul, Turkey "Afrika in Motion Film Festival", Edinburgh, Scotland "Ottawa Animation Festival", Ottawa, Canada "Under African Skies", Tria Gallery, New York, NY "Stuttgart animation festival", Stuttgart, Germany