ADERA LIJE; ADERA, LIJEN
Adera, Lije; Adera Lijen (አደራ ልጄ፤ አደራ፣ ልጄን)
JULY 27 - AUGUST 17
Elsa Lakew, Bereket Adamu, Nafyar, addisalem alemu
Curated by Makeda Tadesse
Presented by Emerging Curators Institute & Public Functionary
Adera, Lije; Adera Lijen (አደራ ልጄ፤ አደራ፣ ልጄን): a promise to protect delves into the tapestries of nostalgia, acculturation, familial structures, and the identity conflicts that emerge as individuals in diasporic communities following displacement and migration
Central to Adera, Lije; Adera Lijen (አደራ ልጄ፤ አደራ፣ ልጄን) is the examination of the conflicting longing faced by these communities: the desire to be embraced by a society that often views them as different, while simultaneously yearning for a deeper connection with the ancestral cultures and countries from which they hail.
This duality is central in the experience of navigating a language that sometimes feels borrowed, as Virginia poet Elsa Lakew explores, and a lineage that, despite geographical and cultural distances, continues to tether individuals to their familial roots, as Minneapolis painters Bereket Adamu, Nafyar, and ceramicist addisalem alemu consider.
Through a collection of works by these artists, Adera, Lije; Adera Lijen (አደራ ልጄ፤ አደራ፣ ልጄን) becomes an exploration on these conflicts of relationship and identity by this group as East African diaspora in the United States.
ARTIST CONVERSATION
Moderated by Makeda Tadesse with Addis and Nafyar, with a Curatorial Response by ECI Fellow Sati Varghese Mac.
Video coming soon.
ABOUT THE CURATOR:
Makeda “Keda” Tadesse is a multidisciplinary artist, researcher, and curator, whose work is deeply rooted in migration and refugee rights and multisensory environments that engage sound, smell, and touch. In this season of discovery, her practice approaches curation as an emotional and experimental diary, allowing her to channel curiosity and observation into exploring the lines within relationships, and the richness of shared traditions within communities of color.
Her forthcoming exhibition, Adera, Lije; Adera Lijen (አደራ ልጄ፤ አደራ፣ ልጄን): a promise to protect delves into the cultural dissonance experienced by second-generation East African diaspora communities in the United States, exploring the complexity of identity, displacement, and nostalgia.
Makeda Tadesse is a 2023-2024 Emerging Curators Institute Fellow and her exhibition is presented as part of her fellowship.
ABOUT EMERGING CURATORS INSTITUTE:
Emerging Curators Institute is a groundbreaking initiative designed to build the individual practices of emerging curators from diverse backgrounds through an in-depth research, professional development, and presentation program.