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| Ethiopian marble stone icon sculpture by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Ethiopia |
Berhanu, a 40 year
old sculpture artist, has a one room office in Megenagna where he tries
to design the perfect sculpture for his clients.
He like most of his
colleagues, used to work on statues for funeral homes. Such pieces used
to cost around 2,000 Br. Nowadays, however, a small sculpture of a
person for a funeral home can cost up to 50,000 Br.
"In the 20 years that I have been working, the whole industry has changed drastically," Berhanu told Fortune.
After Berhanu
graduated from Addis Ababa University's Alle School of Fine Arts and
Design in 1989, he found it hard to earn a living in the art industry.
Sculptures are becoming more visible around town as new businesses and hotels go up and the art industry expands.
"I had to work from
home since I had no money to employ assistants," said Berhanu. Most of
the pieces he was asked to work on were statues. On a good day, he might
be commissioned to make a fountain piece.
His company today,
called Hardi Sculpture Company, has five permanent and from 17 to 25
temporary employees, depending on the complexity of the piece they are
working on. The company's permanent employees are paid from 1,000 to
6,000 Br a month.
"Half of the
payments I get from any given piece goes to the expenses that are
incurred in the process of making them," Berhanu said. "Even though the
payments have increased, clients are still not aware of our expenses for
inputs including materials such as cement, and employees' expenses."
There are three
materials most widely used in sculpture in Ethiopia: fibreglass,
concrete or bronze. The most expensive are the bronze cast sculptures
,although most of Berhanu's customers request concrete sculptures. The
process of making a sculpture begins with a sketch. Then comes a wooden
'skeleton' to reinforce the sculpture. Clay will later be applied to the
skeleton. The next step is to cast the sculpture in gypsum. Casting is a
process where the clay framework of the sculpture is cut in half,
coated with gypsum and then reattached. The gypsum cast will then be
removed through a chemical process.
Later on, the two-piece gypsum cast will be filled with a concrete from bottom to top.
"At this point,
they need to be watered twice a day until they dry. It can take up to 20
days for a life sized sculpture to dry, depending on the size of the
piece," explained Berhanu. Bronze has a similar process as concrete
sculptures, except the use of cement for the casting instead of gypsum.
Sculptures are becoming more visible around town as new businesses and hotels go up and the art industry expands.
"Although a
sculptor needs to make a name to make a proper living, there are many
projects being carried out by institutions that pay well.The
construction of more buildings, hotels and malls has increased the
exposure of customers to sculptures," says Kiros TekleHaimanot an artist
who has been working as a painter for the past 13 years.
One of the best
examples of sculpture on the institutional level is the Oromia Cultural
Institute, located around the Addis Ababa Stadium. Berhanu was paid
50,000 Br for each of the eight human sized sculptures that resemble the
warriors that guard the king called Abba Geda in the Oromia Gedda
System. These pieces have a height of 2.20 to 2.50 meters.
The most iconic
installation at the centre is entitled "Irreccha and Family." Each part
of the installation took three months to finish. He was also paid
115,000Br for each as well. He was awarded around 50,000 Br for his last
last sculpture at the Oromia Centre piece, seven mixed media art pieces
located outside the walls of the Oromia Centre. They were made from
copper, bronze, aluminium and iron.
"My work at this
institution also includes 40 reliefs at the Oromia Cultural Institute,
it has a height of 2.50 to 3.50 while its width is 150 to 120 cm," he
said. He was paid 50,000 for each.
Zemen Bank was one
such institutional customer as well. The 'Korma Bera' is a sculpture of a
bull that sits outside the bank's headquarters.
The bank's
marketing officer, who is very fond of the piece at his work place,
explains that the art work was placed right at the front of the office
because a picture wouldn't have been able to communicate the message of
the company's logo: strength.
"Many are amazed by
it," he said. "Out of all of Ethiopia's livestock production, around
80pc are Korma Beras. We were trying to give the impression that one
farmer should own at least one Korma to in order to increase livestock
production and the overall economy."
The Sheraton Addis
Hotel Marketing Manager, Kaleb Assefa, has a differing opinion of the
value of sculptures to the aesthetic of hotels.
The only sculpture
that the Sheraton possesses is a horse statue at the fountain near the
lobby. "The sculpture was a gift to the hotel. We did not purchase it,"
he explained.
Tesfay Gebre Art
and Sculpture Works was given a contract to install 72 artful relief
with a contractual agreement of 14.5 million Br.
"Due to a lack of space, we don't have any sculptures, but we do collect art."
Demetros Kidan,
another graduate of the Alle School of Fine Arts and Design, currently
works in painting rather than sculpture. However, he too agrees with the
assessment that the sculpture industry is gaining more acknowledgement.
"When I first
graduated, sculptures did not exist in Ethiopia, so I had to direct my
energy to painting. If the industry had paid this well back then, I
would have remained a sculptor," he said.
Many other
sculpture companies have been seeing improved returns from the industry.
Tesfay Gebre Art and Sculpture Works was given a contract to install 72
artful relief with a contractual agreement of 14.5 million Br.
They company is
best known for constructing the sculpture of Alula Aba Nega in Mek'elle,
and a sculpture located in the African Union Hall. However, there are
still issues with the demand for sculptures on the wider market. "There
should be a central place where tourists and other customers can go when
they are looking to purchase such items," said Berhanu.
There is also the
problem of space, especially in smaller art galleries. Better known and
bigger galleries, such as Makush, should try to make up for the lack of
space given to sculptures, according to Berhanu.
Bekele Mekonnen,
assistant professor of fine arts at Addis Ababa University, praises the
growth in the industry, although he does mention some issues.
"Statistically, the
increase in investment, and the development of the city as a whole has
been benefiting the sculpture industry. However, the main concerns of
decreasing taxation on art supplies and providing space and expert
consultation to up and coming artists haven't been addressed yet," says
Bekele. "We are latecomers to sculpture art," he added.
"In our country,
sculptures have been set in the compartment of "stone and cement." In
other countries, sculpture art has reached a wider dynamism." Since
Ethiopia is being rehabilitated and refurbished with millions of dollar,
the authorities should consult the experts on this field on how to give
Ethiopia the look it needs to truly be the capital city of Africa,
concluded Bekele.
