Addis Exhibitions Spotlight Ethiopia’s Creative Resurgence

In a landmark celebration of Ethiopian contemporary art, two of Addis Ababa’s most prominent hotels—Sheraton Addis and Hilton—played host to back-to-back art exhibitions from April 9 to 13. The dual events, organized in collaboration with Culture Club, marked a renewed effort to spotlight the capital’s creative energy while offering direct support to local artists.

Sheraton Addis revived its long-standing exhibition series, The Art of Ethiopia, with its twelfth edition held in the Lalibela Ballroom on April 10 and 11. The event returned after a six-year hiatus prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The artistic momentum continued with The Big Art Sale, staged at Hilton Addis on April 12 and 13. A joint press conference held a day before the Sheraton exhibit formally opened the week’s programming.



Both showcases were curated with a clear mission: to empower Ethiopian painters by creating a direct link between creators and collectors. Unlike many gallery events, these exhibitions were explicitly non-profit, with proceeds going directly to the artists and selected charities.

“The initiative is truly by artists, for artists,” said Leulseged Retta, a pioneering figure in Ethiopia’s contemporary art scene and a key organizer of The Art of Ethiopia. He emphasized the exhibitions’ role in allowing artists to negotiate directly with buyers—an often-rare opportunity in traditional art markets.

Sheraton Addis’s representative, Victoria Obiakor, voiced similar enthusiasm. “We’re proud to provide a platform that not only celebrates talent but connects it with genuine art lovers,” she said.



Yasser Bagersh of Culture Club and Edom Belete of The Big Art Sale echoed the exhibitions’ broader purpose: advancing Ethiopia’s cultural capital and building sustainable support systems for the arts.

Artists participating in the events were chosen through an open call that received over 400 submissions. The only eligibility criteria: being Ethiopian and a painter. The art evaluation led by Leulseged and the organizing committee selected 61 painters based on the quality and originality of their submissions, without preference for genre or style.

Each artist was allowed to display five works, with prices set independently—ranging from 30,000 to one million birr. Although the artists retained control over pricing as a nod to financial autonomy, Sheraton Addis collected a ten percent commission from each sale to fund future art initiatives.

“Supporting the art community is part of our corporate social responsibility,” said Helina Sisay, Marketing Manager at Sheraton Addis. “That includes not just exhibitions, but the provision of equipment to art schools and communities.”

She also highlighted a growing focus on inclusivity: “Encouraging the participation of women and young artists has been a central goal in both past and current exhibitions. We want to make sure their voices are heard—not just here in Ethiopia, but globally.”

At the heart of the five-day cultural showcase, The Art of Ethiopia stood out not only for its scale, but for the depth of stories it surfaced—stories of struggle, survival, and hope rendered in oil, acrylic, and sculpture.

Rahel Birhane, Managing Director of What’soutaddis Magazine and Culture Club, underscored the longevity and scope of her organization’s cultural work. “This is one of more than 30 events we organize annually,” she said. “And we’ve been doing this for over two decades.” The Sheraton exhibit, she added, is a flagship event—a curated space where collectors encounter artists on their own terms, with prices set by the creators themselves.

Rahel was adamant about the organization’s mission: empowering both emerging and established talents. “We don’t take any commission or profit from the artists. Our focus is entirely on recognition and economic sustainability,” she told The Reporter. Institutions like the Ethiopian Fine Art School and the Ethiopian Visual Art Association have benefited from their programming over the years.

The result was on full display inside Sheraton’s Lalibela Ballroom, which housed nearly 300 works by 61 Ethiopian artists. The room buzzed with creative energy with paintings and sculpture lining the walls and floor space. Towering figures of horses and lions greeted visitors at the entrance, setting the tone for an immersive experience. Vivid depictions of coffee ceremonies, New Year celebrations, and Irreechaa festivals created a colorful mosaic of Ethiopia’s cultural landscape.

Soft instrumental music and a carefully lit environment lent a meditative tone, encouraging viewers to slow down and reflect on the stories embedded in each canvas. Visitors moved quietly through the space, pausing to study the titles and price tags attached to every piece.

Among the exhibitors was Meron Ermias, a painter from Addis Ababa presenting her work at the event for the fourth time. One of her featured pieces, titled Yewediku Kokebotch— “Fallen Stars”—stood out for its political resonance. The painting, rendered in bold strokes and symbolism, captured the anguish and resilience born of recent national tragedies. The tools, Meron explained, symbolize an urgent need to cleanse the nation of its trauma.

“The women in the painting are sweeping the floor with mops,” Meron explained. “They’re cleansing the country of its pain, of the damage caused by war.” Completed over six months, the work is a tribute to those affected by the two-year conflict in Tigray and a hopeful call for national healing. “It asks: when will we raise our fallen stars again to shine?”

Another of her works on display centers on the Ethiopian coffee ceremony, which she sees as a symbol of unity and identity. But Meron, like many artists in the country, voiced concern about the state of the creative sector.

“Since the pandemic, the art world has been neglected,” she said. “But exhibitions like this help us reclaim our voices.”

Meron priced her paintings between 55,000 and 200,000 birr—figures she set independently, in keeping with the exhibition’s artist-first ethos.

In a country grappling with political upheaval and social change, The Art of Ethiopia and The Big Art Sale serve not just as exhibitions—but as platforms where artists reclaim their narratives, and assert economic agency.