Elizabeth Tadesse

December 2002

Elizabeth Tadesse is a soft-spoken, intelligent young Ethiopian artist whose elegant manner of dressing matches her profession.  Unlike most other Ethiopian artists who use bright colors (gold, red, green and blue), she uses colors that closely resemble the nature that she loves. 

Almost all of Elizabeth’s artwork portrays the hardship and plight of Ethiopian women.  She depicts Ethiopian women carrying babies on their backs while doing household chores, carrying well-fetched water or wood for cooking on their backs, under aged girls being forced to marry against their wills, or simply women looking despondent and helpless. So we decided to know more about this talented independent minded and equally determined young artist. The following are her answers to of our questions.

Mela: How did you decide to become an artist? 

Elizabeth: When I was just a little girl I always scribbled on papers so my sister older sister Thsehay, who was watching me very closely encouraged me to go to art school and learn more about the field.  I did this and graduated from the Addis Abeba Arts School in Ethiopia. Unfortunately, in Ethiopia artists are neither respected nor supported by the society at large.  Subsequently, after I received my diploma, the biggest challenge was getting materials to do my work.  However, that problem was solved when I started to work with eight other female artists.  Among them were one American and one Norwegian.  These two women had chances to travel outside of Ethiopia often returned with art materials that helped us tremendously.

Mela Were they giving you these materials for free?"

Elizabeth: No! No!  These materials were not free, but they gave us such a reasonable price - one within our reach - that we did not mind paying."

Mela” Why is that all of your artwork focuses on women and girls?

Elizabeth: This is because in our society women/girls are at the bottom of the social spectrum. They endure constant hardships, not only in their homes but also outside where they are expected to do back breaking chores whenever needed. They are given no voice in matters that affect their lives or that of the community in which they live.

Mela: Do you have any agency that could promote you artwork?

Elizabeth: No, I don’t have any agency, I am my own promoter. So far, I had exhibition in City Hall, at the National Museum, at the Italian Cultural Institute, at the Alliance Ethiopian Francaise in Addis Ababa, Tanzania, Athens and at Kishnev in Moscow. I am so hopeful I will have a big one in the United States as well.

Mela: How are you able to do all this under difficult situation as a female artist? 

Elizabeth: I am sure of myself and very optimistic by nature, and I don’t get discouraged if things don't go my way.  If things don't work the way I expect them to, I don’t give up.  I will try another

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method until I get what I want. I am very independent person I do what I want to do and it was not always an easy thing to do particularly for a woman, but that does not stopped me from doing what I needed to do. I traveled all over Ethiopia by myself because I wanted to know my own country before I began to travel abroad.

The most outrageous thing I did, by Ethiopian standards, was when I went to an all men's Ethiopian local bar “Tella Bet” (It is a place where local beer is served and where day laborers, almost all of them low-income men, get together at the end of a hard working day.)  I don’t drink but, as an artist, I have a curious mind and I wanted to see and hear what was going on in the community.

Mela: Wasn’t this a place where women were not allowed to?

Elizabeth: That is true but I dared to follow some men I knew and sat among all those drinking men. Obviously at first they were all shocked, but after awhile they got used to me.  In fact, since I was the only woman, I became someone special and they sort of liked me. What I liked the most about this group was that their conversation was candid.  Unlike the people that I met on a daily basis, they told it like it was.”

As for her future, Elizabeth is so optimistic that she not only believes that someday her artwork will be shown everywhere, but also become an Ethiopian wedding gown designer.

Mela wishes Elizabeth the best in her artistic endeavor.