Ermias Ekube in his studio
My name is Ermias Ekube. I was born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during
the 1970s when the socialist revolution started against the monarchy. It went on
for some years and was a turbulent time, but as children, we didn’t really notice
the situation. It was kind of a normalised situation with the neighbourhood being of
mixed classes and religions. We had a nice childhood.
Ermias Ekube (b. 1970, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) studied at the Addis Ababa School of Fine arts and Design, graduating in 1990. He lives and works in Kalmar, Sweden. Merging figurative and conceptual strands, Ekube’s work draws on thoughts and memories to imbue stories with meaning via simple objects, signs and gestures. Selected solo exhibitions include The process of changing a meaning that matters or not, Oskarshamn Kulturhuset, 2019; Do Lives Matter?, Malhuset, Oslo, Norway, 2016-17; Glimpse of Time, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2015; between Times, Västervik, Sweden, 2015; Porträtt Från Min Kappsäck, Västervik, Sweden, 2014 and Breath of consciousness, Nairobi, Alliance Francaise, 2013. Group exhibition highlights include African Artists for Development, Vienna, 2017; Far & Near, Pontasieve and Bergamo, Italy, 2012, and Engraving from Eritrea, Paris and Milan, 2004.