Religious art as an incubation of Eritrean and Ethiopian cultural and political history.
Above: Beautiful illuminated manuscripts.
Above: This image of St. Michael defeating evil hangs in my grandfather’s home. This same image has been in my parent’s home since childhood as he is the patron saint of my family. In 2021, I illustrated and minted my own version of this piece digitally with contemporary metaphors. This is the reference behind “Defend Us in Battle ::”.
Above: This photo was taken during my visit of the British Museum in 2025. The painting behind me was produced in Tigray between 1855-1893, depicting the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and scenes from the life of Bishop Selama.
Above: Here I am standing in front of a painting of the Battle of Adwa which took place on March 2, 1896. Eritrea had been an Italian colony since 1870 as a result of the Scramble for Africa. Unsatisfied with their plunders, Italy sought out more lands and headed south with eyes on Ethiopia. Italy’s efforts were unsuccessful as they lost to the better organized and equipped Ethiopian army. Many parts of this piece stood out to me: 1) knowing it was produced between 1940-1949 right after the second Italo-Abyssinian War, I reflected on how empowering creating this piece may have been for the artist, 2) the entire leading Italian flank being completely Black soldiers, and my personal favorite element 3) the Empress Taytu heading into battle bearing a revolver.
Above: A photo I took at Mariam Tsion. Here, biblical tales are intertwined with periods of Eritrean political history such as the Italian invasion on the right.
intricately decorated walls of monasteries and churches across Ethiopia.
Featured above include the walls of: Ura Kidane Mihret Monastery, Debre Birhan Selassie Church, Abba Pantelewon Monastery.