Tesfaye Urgessa is the artist behind the first-ever Ethiopian Pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale

As the selected artist for the first-ever Ethiopian Pavilion at a Venice Art Biennale, Tesfaye Urgessa’s commission comes with more than the average amount of pressure. Urgessa, however, is taking it in his stride, appreciating the timing of the project, which coincides with a personal and professional full circle.

‘It was when I went to Germany that I decided to become an artist,’ says Urgessa. ‘I was influenced by the situation and what was happening around me, but also by the art and the artists. I felt free to take .’It marked the beginning of his distinctive aesthetic, marrying Ethiopian symbols and motifs with vivid outlines inspired by German neo-expressionism, in work which imbues the domestic routines of the quotidian with a spirituality.

Urgessa borrows from traditional figurative paintings to consider identity politics and race, although, he says, ‘I don’t have any patience to give it some kind of direction. I wouldn’t say, this painting is going to be about race, but it’s just that those things affect me, especially when I was in Germany. I would have conversations about this stuff with my friends, it happened to them, it happens to me.

A version of this article appears in the May 2024 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print from 11 April, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inboxHannah Silver is the Art, Culture, Watches & Jewellery Editor of Wallpaper*.

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