How do artistic practices traverse across generations? How do they continue to address critical conditions in our present moment? In our latest episode, Hoor Al Qasimi speaks with curator Elizabeth Giorgis about the work of artist Henok Melkamzer, one of the most prolific practitioners of the Ethiopian art form called telsem. Melkamzer talks to Giorgis about his journey and process. Drawing from astrology, religion and spirituality, telsem interweaves symbols, drawings and texts imbued with spiritual and philosophical significance. Tune in to hear about how this art form is also an intellectual tradition that has been shaped throughout the ages by the sociopolitical and cultural histories of Ethiopia, and how contemporary artists like Melkamzer challenge Western conceptions of modernism through telsem.

CREDITS

Host: Hoor Al Qasimi

Guests: Elizabeth Giorgis and Henok Melkamzer.

Producers: Jyoti Dhar, Kamayani Sharma and Mahshid Rafiei.

Sound Producer: Basil Kisswani.

Sound Editors: Basil Kisswani and Kamayani Sharma.

Music and Sound: Courtesy of Girum Mezmur and Asserate Bossena, Performance at the Africa Institute, March 2023

Special Thanks: Nawar Al Qassimi, Amal Al Ali, Hanna Teshome and Dawit Habeshas.