Aida Buzuayehu - International Community School of Addis Ababa

OTHER FEMALE ARTISTS
In this comparison I examine other Ethiopian contemporary female artists that
perhaps experienced similar problems to Desta Hagos. Artists that paint traditionally
and those taught in the academic and fine arts traditions. What these women have in
common is the strength they’ve acquired in order to become artists as well as the
challenges and hardships inflicted by a competitive, male-dominated market
(Tecklemichael, 1). Another similarity these women might have is their relatively
similar themes in most of their work that feature women as the main subject or
protagonist of the piece. Similar to fine artist Desta Hagos, these women that I will later
further examine, utilize their art as a way to signify the relationship between “the
production of art and the exercise of social or political power”,(Teklemichael, 1). In
other words they used their art as a way to achieve their goal of success (Teklemichael,
2) but at the same time to enhance their significance and influence in society.
Henceforth women used their art as a cry for help or recognition in a male-dominated
society while making ‘women’ the subject matter of their pieces. Desta Hagos uses
flowers and female characters as the subject matter in most of her art while using
abstract and semi-abstract techniques. As previously stated, women have been the
subject matter of various art pieces whether they’re religious or non religious.
As journalist Makeda Tecklemichel mentioned in her article Contemporary
women artists in Ethiopia, “St Mary plays the role of mother, Brutawit as a victim
waiting to be saved by St George, the queen of Sheba as a royal woman used to
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