Celebrating Panafricanism through artistic expression

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -  As part of the ongoing series of events to celebrate 50 years of Panafricanism, the African Aesthetic Exhibition will be hosted at the Addis Ababa University Institute of Ethiopian Studies Museum this week from May 24-31. The exhibition has a number of key collaborators, including the UN Economic Commission for Africa. Images from the ECA's historical vaults will be featured.

Curated by Dr. Desta Meghoo, Danijah Tafari and Dr. Hasan Said, the African Aesthetic Exhibition comprises traditional and fine art, as well as photographs on and about Africa and the Diaspora. This week, the exhibition is set around story telling, pan African films and art talks by experts.

Speaking at a press conference, Tuesday, Meghoo said the exhibition is being organized as part of the range of cultural activities slated in Addis, in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the Organization of African Unity, now African Union. The artworks are in recognition of the Year of Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance.

She indicated that over 75 artistic works will be on display from different African countries, including Ethiopia, Ghana and Nigeria. Ethiopian notables, such as Laureate Afework Tekle, Gebre-Kirstos Desta and Eskindir Boghosian will be featured, as well as several works from renowned photographers.

According Dr. Desta, the African Union has selected the African Aesthetic Exhibition as a signature event "to express the spirit of Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance through the artistic expressions of Africans at home and abroad."

African Aesthetics is a panafrican, philosophical snapshot of the creativity of Africans on the continent and in the Americas determined to tell the African story from a unique artistic perspective.