Modernist Art in Ethiopia

“Giorgis has assembled the archive of Ethiopian modernism that she brilliantly critiques. With deep personal knowledge, she takes us from magical healing scrolls to miniskirts, from monarchy to socialist tyranny, from Paris to Oklahoma. The details are fascinating and the artists’ works themselves extraordinary, but the real revelation is Giorgis’ understanding of the politico-cultural cross currents that converged in Ethiopia. Her presentation of them with an unflinchingly critical eye does more to celebrate Ethiopia’s singular achievements than any narrowly national story could provide.”

“For scholars and students of Ethiopian and African studies, as well as those situated in the emergent field of comparative or alternative modernities, this book makes a landmark contribution. Indeed, Modernist Art in Ethiopia opens up an uncharted scholarly terrain and we ought to welcome it as an important harbinger of a new, critically minded study of Ethiopia.” — Northeast African Studies

“[This] volume places Ethiopia in a rich pan-African context by evoking how the arts, both visual and literary, can elucidate one country’s intellectual, political, and social history.” — African Studies Review

“A compelling and substantial vision of modernist Ethiopian art not as a single homogenous instantiation, but rather as a series of fascinating twists and turns from different perspectives within a variety of contexts. Overall, this dense analysis of intellectual thought as it relates to Ethiopian modernism stands out as an intellectual artistic contribution in its own right.” — International Journal of African Historical Studies

“Giorgis succeeds in giving a sense of the tumultuous reality in which these artists worked. Modernist Art in Ethiopia is a valuable scholarly introduction to 20th-century Ethiopian art history.” — CHOICE

“Modernist Art in Ethiopia is a necessary addition for libraries that hold collections in Non-Western art, postcolonial studies, or modern art…. While parts of the book are complex/theoretical, it also presents a linear historical account of modernist art in Ethiopia which can serve as an introductory text or starting point for further research.” — ARLIS/NA (Art Libraries Society of North America)

“A landmark study on Ethiopian modernism and experiences of modernity beyond the West. (Modernist Art in Ethiopia)presents a vital and under-documented history of the experience of modernity and the artistic movements surrounding Modernism, coming from a unique place that will appeal to a wide-ranging readership and is likely to become an important and treasured text.” — Africa at LSE blog (London School of Economics)

“With Modernist Art in Ethiopia, Elizabeth Wolde Giorgis writes a powerful indictment of Ethiopian exceptionalism…. Against the established, formalistic way of looking at Ethiopian artworks, Giorgis looks at visual arts and artists in the broader context of intellectual history. Hence, her five chapters contain rich analyses of novels, poetry, newspapers, and advertising, as well as an account of the relationship between artists, writers, and cultural institutions.” — Journal of Modern African Studies

“[A]n important contribution to transnational-global discussions about coloniality, decoloniality, modernity, global capital, and the political and cultural ramifications of these discourses and practices. Modernist Art in Ethiopia is as much a book on Ethiopia as it is about the world, its exclusionary configurations, and their differentiating implications. This makes this well-written and illustrated book an essential text.” — Journal of African History

“This is an indispensable text for anyone interested in the Ethiopian modern art.” — Ethiopia Observer

“Modernist Art in Ethiopia offers an incisive account of twentieth and twenty-first century art in Ethiopia. Drawing on original archival sources, and using a rigorous interdisciplinary approach, Elizabeth Wolde Giorgis reads Ethiopian modern art against the broader literary, cultural, and political contexts that have come to define Ethiopian modernity. A major achievement, Modernist Art in Ethiopia will be a touchstone for anyone interested in Ethiopian and African visual culture and intellectual history.”

“Modernist Art in Ethiopia is the first critical study of Ethiopian modernism. Opening with a long-overdue critique of the Orientalist gaze that has biased writing about Ethiopian art, the book presents a provocative analysis of the social, political, intellectual, and aesthetic dynamics of Ethiopia’s tumultuous twentieth century. Giorgis masterfully weaves insights gleaned from untapped primary texts written by and about artists with reflections upon her encounters with artists who shaped the visual and literary arts of modern Ethiopia.”