Threads of Connection: Contemporary Art from the Horn of Africa and Diaspora

Nirit Takele, “Couple with Red Bracelet,” 2023 Acrylic on canvas 55 1/8.x 43 1/4 inches.
Nirit Takele, “Couple with Red Bracelet,” 2023 Acrylic on canvas 55 1/8.x 43 1/4 inches.

NADA East Broadway is pleased to host Threads of Connection: Contemporary Art from the Horn of Africa and Diaspora, a group exhibition of paintings, textile, and mixed-media works by artists from Ethiopia and its diasporas, presented by Addis Fine Art, London, on view May 8th through June 1st, 2024.

The exhibition brings together a cross section of artists in different stages of their careers, featuring Dawit Adnew, Gouled Ahmed, Adiskidan Ambaye, Merikokeb Berhanu, Tizta Berhanu, Noah Beyene, Henok Getachew, Engdaye Lemma, Tadesse Mesfin, Helina Metaferia, Selome Muleta, Nirit Takele, and Tesfaye Urgessa.

This group show highlights the ongoing contributions of artists from the Horn of Africa, both on and off the continent, at a moment when Ethiopia’s rich art history is gaining increasing recognition. Recent institutional surveys such as Africa and Byzantium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY and Ethiopia at the Crossroads traveling between the Walters Museum, Baltimore, MD, the Peabody Essex Museum of Art, Salem, MA, and the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH speak to the growing international focus on Ethiopian and East African art.

Ethiopian American artist Julie Mehretu recently unveiled the largest solo presentation of her work to date at the Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy to coincide with the 2024 Venice Biennale, and this year’s Biennale Arte will also inaugurate the first ever Ethiopia National Pavilion with paintings by Tesfaye Urgessa curated by Lemn Sissay.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to this long overdue global dialogue with this presentation of artists from across our program, and to continue to shine a light on the richness and diversity of contemporary talent from the region, defined by transnational and cross-generational links.”