Tariku Shiferaw’s Addis Zemen installation mirrors the turbulence, memory and optimism
Described by many visitors as a “replica” of the capital, the installation Addis Zemen (Amharic for “New Era”) at the recent Adey Abeba exhibition at the Gebre Kristos Desta Center serves as a symbolic mirror of the sweeping renovations that have reshaped Addis Ababa over the past two years.
The work anchors the debut solo exhibition of artist Tariku Shiferaw, introducing his signature installation style to a local audience. Through the piece, Tariku captures the visual language of a city in transition, marking a notable moment in the capital’s evolving artistic and urban narrative.
Tariku describes his practice as a site-responsive, immersive medium driven by conceptual intent. By incorporating sound and physical objects, he seeks to narrow the distance between artwork and observer, inviting viewers to experience the installation from within its physical and conceptual boundaries.
His featured work, Addis Zemen, draws inspiration from the ubiquitous aesthetics of construction sites across Ethiopia—particularly eucalyptus scaffolding and green tarpaulins. Tariku interprets these structures as a three-dimensional grid system, a symbolic framework used to map everything from terrestrial landscapes to celestial constellations.
While Ethiopia’s rapid development has become a source of collective pride, Tariku notes that it has also been accompanied by the disappearance of historic villas and other heritage structures. In Addis Zemen, he captures this precarious transition by juxtaposing the raw geometry of scaffolding with what he describes as a sense of “resilient optimism.”
That optimism appears through the inclusion of living elements—cabbage (gomen), flowers, indigenous enset (false banana) and other plants often found growing on demolished sites—alongside a blue-and-white wall evoking the sky.
Tariku, a New York-based artist known for using “mark-making” to explore the intersections of social, political and physical space, arrived in Addis Ababa in January 2026 for a three-month residency. The residency followed an invitation from Agegnehu Adane, dean of the Alle School of Fine Arts and Design at Addis Ababa University.
During his stay, Tariku gathered the materials and conceptual elements that shape his current installation at the Modern Art Museum housed within the Gebre Kristos Desta Center. Collaborations with faculty members and students created opportunities for professional exchange, while time spent with family and the broader community offered insight into the rhythms of the city.
“The installation is the result of a deliberate search for materials and ideas that reflect the city’s evolution,” Tariku told The Reporter. “My immersion within the art school and the broader community allowed for a deep professional dialogue that was essential to capturing the complexities of contemporary life.”
Since opening on Feb. 28, the three-week Adey Abeba exhibition has drawn more than 200 visitors daily. In addition to the installation, it features nine abstract paintings from Tariku’s Mata Semay (Amharic for “Night Sky”) series.
Tariku describes the series as an imagined celestial landscape, using mythology as a conceptual framework for symbolic marks within society. The works, he says, explore how systems of value are shaped by mythological narratives that exert subtle yet profound influence.
Each piece—including Abyssinia Semay, Movement of My People, and Abebachin Besemay—carries layered meanings intended to extend beyond personal expression. For Tariku, painting becomes a vehicle for narrating the history, culture and lived experiences of his people across time.
“The Mata Semay series explores my identity and the broader African experience,” he said. “It acts as a cultural counterpoint to Western mythologies while reflecting realities that resonate with our daily lives.”
While the nine paintings were produced in New York City over an eight-month period ending in early January, the installation itself was shaped by Tariku Shiferaw’s fascination with the kinetic energy of Addis Ababa. The site-specific work reflects the capital’s rapid development through an immersive soundscape that echoes the movement of markets, traffic and construction sites.
Tariku says the auditory layer of the exhibition is not intended to deliver a direct message but to capture fleeting moments of lived experience. The soundscape, he explained, is a curated archive of recordings he has gathered since 2019, combining contemporary urban sounds—such as New York subway trains and dripping water—with historical audio, including Ethiopian chants recorded in 1934 ahead of the Italian invasion and traditional Zulu warrior rhythms.
Through this juxtaposition, the artist extends his exploration of “mark-making,” tracing the functional rhythms that shape human societies.
“The soundscape captures a collection of moments from the past several years,” he said, noting that the recordings evoke memories of his childhood in Ethiopia. “Collecting these sounds became a way of preserving connections to the communities I grew up around. They resurface long-lost memories and remind me of the intricate ways society comes together.”
Echoing the artist’s reflections, Bekele Mekonnen, director of the museum, said the Mata Semay series interrogates how value systems emerge through the subtle but enduring influence of mythology.
For guest curator Jermay Michael Gabriel, however, the exhibition represents a cyclical rebirth that invites viewers to reconsider what is at stake in moments of urban transformation.
“The exhibition may represent a personal renewal or the contemporary transformation of Addis Ababa, yet the definitive answer remains elusive,” he said. “Its temporary nature reminds us that each return brings something unforeseen, leaving the threshold between memory and foundation unsettled.”
Gabriel added that the use of locally sourced wooden poles, readymade objects and simple structural forms reflects a city in architectural flux. In his reading, the installation navigates the fragile space between rubble and projection, ruin and promise.
“It does not simply present a statement,” he said. “It performs a kind of passage through the Mata Semay series.”
In the work, he continued, the sky functions as a symbolic archive—an imagined space where value and memory are projected onto the celestial realm. The installation’s scaffold-like structure echoes the grid system that underpins Tariku’s paintings, directly linking the physical environment of the exhibition to the conceptual language of the series.
“I am struck by how the structure speaks simultaneously of building and of language,” Gabriel said. “The plants evoke childhood nostalgia and the resilience of greenery emerging from demolished sites, while the blue sky across the walls, alongside rubble and plastic jerrycans, recalls the intimate rhythms of street vendors and neighborhood commerce.”
Within the Adey Abeba exhibition, the rebirth of the city is presented not as a linear celebration but as a layered process of excavation and renewal. The approach has resonated with younger practitioners in the capital, including full-time painter Yohannes Tameru, who describes the work as a rare example of large-scale contemporary installation in Ethiopia.
For Yohannes, the exhibition at the Gebre Kristos Desta Center signals a bold departure from the country’s more traditional artistic formats.
He said Tariku’s installation captures the “current situation” of Addis Ababa through a visual language rooted in transformation. Construction materials such as eucalyptus poles and green tarpaulins, paired with symbolic greenery, reflect a city in constant motion.
Large-scale contemporary installations remain rare in Ethiopia, Yohannes noted, largely because they require substantial financial resources and institutional support. Yet he believes the exhibition succeeds in opening a broader conversation with the public about how visual narratives can evolve alongside the city itself.
“The exhibition and the installation serve as a pioneer for new perspectives on art,” Yohannes told The Reporter.
For younger practitioners Meron Belay and Rahwa Kemal, the exhibition has also become a source of motivation.
Meron points to the immersive corridor installation, where viewers move from familiar visual elements toward more experimental contemporary forms, allowing the work to resonate more deeply.
Rahwa argues that expanding public awareness is equally important. She suggests that the sector could benefit from “open house” events where visitors are encouraged to experiment directly with materials such as canvas, helping narrow the distance between the public and the creative process.
Both artists say such exhibitions are essential for a younger generation seeking to connect personal creativity with broader social and cultural aesthetics.
“It makes you feel motivated when an exhibition like this is organized,” Meron said.
