Name:
Mekdes W Shebeta
From:
Grew up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; in my adult age I have lived in Nairobi, Kenya, and Bergen and Oslo.
Lives:
Currently lives in Oslo
Education:
My formal studies in fine Art and design have spanned three countries. In 2016, I finished my Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees at Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Fine Art and Design In Ethiopia, and Interior Design In Kenya.
What is your expression?
My multidisciplinary work focuses on creating unexpected settings for storytelling within an artistic context. I construct installations and site-specific projects on an architectural scale, embracing eco-friendly techniques and utilizing handcrafted materials combined with contemporary design.
What inspires you?
I engage in collaborative and interactive practices that connect people and places, viewing social interaction as crucial to my artistic process and adding sincerity to my work. Over the past few years, I have worked between Norway, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya, building collaborative and interactive practices that connect people and places. Under the umbrella of these projects, I have created interactive performances, documentary and fictional stories, workshops, and presentations, incorporating new materials and techniques and impacting the communities I engage with.
How would you describe your Art?
My artistic practice delves into universal experiences through visual metaphors and the language of those who never reach their destination. I explore themes of ancient wisdom, alternative communication, and surviving migration. Layered with biographical material, my storytelling transcends traditional documentary formats, signifying a never-ending journey. I speak Amharic, English, Norwegian, Swahili, and Tigrinya, and I creatively use “Broken English,” which I call “Roadrunner.” This unique language blends elements from all the languages I know, allowing me to shift between different characters, fictionalize true stories, and bring truth to fiction. Through “Roadrunner,” I remove the individual from the narrative, making it a shared experience.
Drawing from my personal experiences, my work reflects on universal human experiences shaped by the circumstances we encounter. My creations reveal the complexity and predictability of human beings, depicting hope, brutality, exhaustion, and the yearning for affiliation. My narrative collages, often interwoven with meditative melodies and natural sounds, serve as metaphorical and poetic audio expressions, occasionally incorporating traditional Saint Yared tunes.
Handmade shanties, which present a unique language and story to tell, have sparked my creative interest. I play with scale and habitability to create homelike atmospheres within traditional architecture, exploring ideas of comfort and inclusivity. My interactive performances and installations foster community involvement through their unique occupation of space. By setting up “camp” within a formal setting, I invite the viewer into a social atmosphere. I utilize physical constructions, paintings, drawings, sculptures, workshops, documentaries, light, audio, text readings, voiceovers, and video animations to create surprising spaces with dreamlike atmospheres, becoming part of an experience that explores the effort to preserve ancestral rituals in the face of dislocation. For some, my installations evoke forgotten memories, while for others, they serve as a threshold into a foreign experience.
Why did you end up living where you are?
I have no reason why I am living in Oslo; I happen to be in Oslo:) I am free, and everywhere and anywhere is the same for me to live. I may not have moved from one place to another.
What do you like about the art scene and the town?
No answer.
What could be better in the local art scene?
We should encourage more teamwork.
What are you currently working on?
I am working on «The Tseteta art project that I plan to present for an upcoming solo exhibition.
What are your ambitions and plans for the future?
To complete what I am working on now and see what happens from there.
Who of your colleagues deserves more attention?
The ones who don’t talk too much but work tirelessly