AÏDA MULUNEH
“I am a believer that, it's not the camera, it's your eye”
Born in Ethiopia in 1974, AÏda left the country at a young age and spent an itinerant childhood between Yemen and England. after several years in a boarding school in Cyprus, she finally settled in Canada in 1985. After studying film at Howard University in Washington, D.C., she went on to work as a freelance photographer for The Washington post. Then in 2003, AÏda was chosen to be part of the groundbreaking show "Ethiopian passages: Dialogues in the Diaspora" at the smithsonian's National museum of African art in Washington, D.C. Later that same year, she made an appearance on “Imágenes Havana” a group photography exhibition in Havana, Cuba - the same fortuitous encounter that led to "The Unhealing Wound.” a documentary that explores her own stated fascination about her own identity and also with "how much cultural retention is possible without, necessarily,
cultural interaction."
In her new photography book “Ethiopia: past/Forward (Africalila, 2009,) AÏda explores the country through, identity, personal journey and family nostalgia after a 30-year absence. The photographs are a collection of images that show cases a return to a society juxtaposed
between past, present and future.
AÏda is founder of D.E.S.T.A For Africa (DFA), a cultural organization in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. D.E.S.T.A stands for Developing and Educating Society Through Art; it also means "happiness" in the Ethiopian language Amharic. DFA promotes cultural development through the use of photography by providing workshops, exhibitions and creative exchanges.
AÏda continues to exhibit her work worldwide and a collection of her images can be found in permanent collections in the smithsonian’s National museum of African art and the museum of biblical art in the United state. she is the 2007 recipient of the European Union prize in the Rencontres Africaines de la photographie, in bamako, mali. as well as the 2010 winner of the CRAF International award of photography in spilimbergo, Italy.
AÏda currently lives and works in Addis Ababa, she is the director of the modern art museum/GebreKristos Center/Addis Ababa University, as well as the director of the Addis foto
WORKS
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
| Arte inVisible,/ARCOmadrid 2010,- Group Madrid, Spain. | 2010 | |
| Al bastakiya art fair Dubai 2010 “H*tel Dystopia Room #25/55” – Dubai, UAE. |
2010 | |
| Always moving forward: Contemporary African photography from the Wedge Collection, Toronto Canada | 2010 | |
| CCCB (Center de culture contemporaine de barcelone). Barcelona, Spain. |
2009 | |
| ART BEIJING “7th Recontree Africanes de la photographie – Bamako 2007”, Beijing, China. |
2009 | |
| DARB 1718 Contemporary art Gallery “Nostalgia” Cairo, Egypt. | 2009 | |
| CASA Africa “7th Recontree Africanes de la photographie – Bamako 2007” Gran Canaries. |
2009 | |
| African Museum BELGARD, “7th Recontree Africanes de la photographie – Bamako 2007” belgrade, serbia. | 2009 | |
| LELA GALLERY, “What do you think of me”, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | 2008 | |
| THE TOPS, World photojournalism festival 2008, shenyang, China. | 2008 | |
| FOTO WEEK DC “More than you know”, Washington, D.C., USA. | 2008 | |
| Museum of Biblical Art “Angels of Light: Ethiopian art form Walters art Museum”, New York, NY, USA. | 2007 | |
| National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian “Body of Evidence”, Washington, D.C., USA. | 2007 | |
| "Ethiopian Light" solo show at Contemporary African art Gallery, New York |
2006 | |
| National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian, “Ethiopian passages: Dialogues in the Diaspora”, Washington, D.C., USA | 2003 | |
| FOTOTECA GALLERY “ International documentary photo project/Imagenes Havana”, Havana, Cuba. | 2003 |
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS & BOOKS
| Washington post, New York Times, source magazine, The New Internationalist, and Clam magazine, BBC Online, Ethiopian passages: Contemporary art from the Diaspora, Ethiopia: past/Forward by AÏda Muluneh (Africalia 2009) | 2009 |
FILMS DIRECTED/PRODUCED
| “D-Focus: a dialogue on Images”, short Documentary, Past Forward Films/Zeleman Production, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. | 2009 | |
| “Ethiopia watch over me”, Kenny allan music video, Past Forward Films, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | 2008 | |
| “Good Grapes”, short documentary, Past Forward Films, san francisco, CA “Identity”, Vox sambou music video, Past Forward Films, port au prince, Haiti “Rassanbleman” sara Renlick music video, Past Forward Films, port au prince, Haiti. Ryan scott, music EPK, Velour Records, New York, NY, USA. |
2007 | |
| "Ethiopian passages: Dialogues in the Diaspora,” National museum of African art, Smithsonian, Washington, and D.C | 2003 | |
| “Imágenes Havana” Havana, Cuba 2007 recipient, European Union prize, Rencontres Africaines de la photographie, Bamako, Mali. |
2003 |
COLLECTIONS & AWARDS
| National museum of African art , smithsonian, Washington D.C. museum of biblical art, Smithsonian |
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| Recipient, European Union prize, Rencontres Africaines de la photographie, Bamako, Mali. | 2007 | |
| Winner of the CRAF International award of photography. Spilimbergo,Italy. | 2010 |
