Ethiopian artists in Maryland connect to homeland

By Naomi Brookner, The Gazette

The aromas of incense and freshly ground coffee filled the Takoma Park Community Center on Saturday during a reception for the city’s first art exhibit to exclusively showcase local Ethiopian artists.

The exhibit, which will be on display throughout March, features the photography and paintings of four professionals, all originally from Ethiopia, as well as about a dozen Ethiopian students from Piney Branch Elementary School.

Setegn Atenaw plays the mesinko, a violin-like instrument widely played in Ethiopia, for a crowd gathered Saturday. (Photo: Naomi Brookner)

Alice Sims, who organized the exhibit through her Takoma Park-based nonprofit group, Art for the People, said the show was meant to provide an opportunity for cultural exchange between the area’s large Ethiopian population and the community.

Several dozen people attended the reception Saturday, which included an Ethiopian coffee ceremony, Ethiopian food donated by local restaurants, and the music of Setegn Atenaw, who plays the mesinko, a one-string Ethiopian instrument.

Artist Matewos Legesse came dressed in a traditional white shirt, pants and shoes that he said would be worn to formal events in Ethiopia. Legesse contributed several paintings to the exhibit, many depicting women and apples painted in vivid colors.

‘‘The colors of Africa are so bright, very colorful,” said artist Debebe Tesfaye, whose paintings of Ethiopian market scenes also featured vibrant colors, which he said is a reflection of the dress and culture of the east African nation.

Photographer Andarge Asfaw, who came to the United States in 1972 and lives and works in Silver Spring, said he has traveled to five continents, but nothing compares to being able to capture images of his homeland.

Asfaw’s photos at the exhibit were from a trip back to Ethiopia he took in the 1990s and illustrated scenes that included wheat fields, mountains, churches and marketplaces.

‘‘When you travel to a new place, you have no idea what it’s like; you have no understanding of the culture,” he said. ‘‘But when you travel back to a country after 27 years, you can see if it moved backward or forward.”

To Asfaw, Ethiopia has moved backward in one major way. Three decades ago, he said, the country was 80 percent forest, but as nomads cut down trees for cooking and fires, that number is down to 3 percent.

One of Asfaw’s photographs showed an Ethiopian market built around a large tree with far-reaching branches — an image he says is very rare in Ethiopia these days. He said he is trying to use art as a way to alleviate the problem of deforestation, and profits from his recent book will go toward the county-based nonprofit group Trees for the Future.

Tebabu Assefa, a member of the Takoma Park Community Action Group, which co-sponsored the event, said he wanted to give the public a chance to see Ethiopian culture, but also allow local Ethiopians to embrace their own traditions.

‘‘Each community has its own rich history, rich culture, but all of them are busy in life,” said Assefa, who came to the United States from Ethiopia in the 1980s. ‘‘They’re busy assimilating and trying to make art, and they don’t have the opportunity to bring their culture out.”

Next to the main exhibit, in the passageway that leads to the atrium’s main hallway, hangs the art of several Ethiopian students from Piney Branch Elementary School.

Rachna Rikhye, the ESOL teacher at Piney Branch, said she was approached by Sims after collaborating with Art for the People on a previous project. She thought it would be a great way to involve her Ethiopian students, several of whom drew self-portraits for the exhibit.

‘‘The kids really enjoyed themselves and had a very positive experience,” Rikhye said. ‘‘They showed a lot of pride in their culture.”

Asfaw said that kind of community involvement was welcomed by the artists.

‘‘It’s great,” he said. ‘‘You appreciate the community to be able to embrace and appreciate our work and support our causes.”