Machaho Tellem Chaho

I've just discovered Eyob Mergia , a young Ethiopian-American painter, born in Debre Berhan, and graduate of Addis Abbeba School of Fine Art, now based in South Dakota (the Sioux Falls his blog says, how cool is that!) The reason I picked up on his work initially is that he has done a project on Axum . Below is his poster for his exhibition (apologies, it looks terrible here because I lifted the pictures from his site, erm, Eyob, it's to redirect to you man, if you object to your photos being here, let me know and I'll take them down.) His compositions and technique are ... well, it's excellent, am lost for words, paintings speak for themselves, so I just wanted to say: check out his work !!!

"Our wombs cry for our sons, [...] Where are the flowers of our lives, Kaleb? Why have you pinned down our love To rust in a scavenging day? Where are our men, Kaleb? Why have you hung our womb to dry Beyond the darkness of time? Our breasts hurt, demanding What visitation ravaged our essence. The sleepless spirits Accuse our thoughts, Kaleb. The season of mothers Question our dreamless nights. Our wombs cry for our sons, Our feet fret for their sight. Where are the flowers of our lives, Kaleb?" This is the 'Mothers' Chorus' in the play 'Collision of Altars' written by Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin and published in 1977. Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin wrote this historical play set in the Axumite empire at the time of Kaleb, the famous emperor of Axum - he is known as Ella-Asbeha (transposed by inebriated Greeks as ' Hellestheaeus '.... talk about slurping...) Kaleb is reported to have gone into Yemen several times to try to recover his lost territory there. Every at...