Michael Tsegaye

CV

Michael Tsegaye, photographer
1975, Addis Ababa (Ethiopie)
Lives and works in Addis Ababa

Education
Diploma in painting, Addis Ababa University School of Fine Arts and Design, 1998 – 2002

Solo Exhibitions 
2008
Made in Ethiopia, GTZ Headquarters Frankfurt, Germany 

2007
Facets, Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Made in Ethiopia, Engineering Capacity Building Program, Addis Ababa

2003
Out of the Blue, Goethe-Institute, Gebrekristos Desta Centre, Addis Ababa

2002      
Visions of Addis, Goethe-Institute, Gebrekristos Desta Center, Addis Ababa

Group Exhibitions
2009
Aksum Rediscovered: the Reinstallation of the Obelisk, UNESCO House, Paris, France
Sicherheit Entwickeln–Entwicklung Sichern, GTZ House, Berlin, Germany
Spot on …Bamako VII. Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie, Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations, Berlin and Stuttgart, Germany

2008
Snap Judgments – Nieuwe standpunten in hedendaagse Afrikaanse fotografie / New Positions in Contemporary African Photography, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Snap Judgments : New Positions in Contemporary African Photography, Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis 

2007
Africa=Hot,  Oude Kerk, World Press Photo Exhibition, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Africa=Hot, Tour & Taxis, World Press Photo Exhibition, Brussels, Belgium
VII Rencontres Afrcaines de la photographie: In the city and beyond, Bamako, Mali
Ethiopia on the Move, National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, Netherlands
Engineering Tomorrow, Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia          
Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City

2006
Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography, Miami Art Central, Miami, Florida, USA
Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography, International Centre of Photography New York, USA
Kwas Meda,  Goethe-Institute, Gebrekristos Desta Centre, Addis Ababa

2005
Religious Ceremonies, Royal Netherlands Embassy, Addis Ababa
Colours In Us, Alliance Éthio-Française, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

2004
Expressions 2, Bulgarian Embassy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Guramayle, Alem Art Gallery Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Expressions, Alem Art Gallery Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Art for Solidarity, German School, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2003
Foreign, Goethe-Institute, Gebrekristos Desta Centre, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Self-portrait, Alliance Éthio-Française Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2001

Faces and Identities, Goethe-Institute, Gebrekristos Desta Centre, Addis Ababa

Catalogues and Reviews of work

2009         Michael Tsegaye: Home grown Photography, www.abesha .com, February 18, 2009

2008         African Photography Encounters, Frieze magazine Issue 114, April 2008

2007         BamakoVII. Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie : In the City and Beyond

2006         Snap Judgments: Contemporary African Photography

2006         Special mention in review of Snap Judgments exhibition, New Yorker magazine, April 24 edition

Workshops / Seminars

2006         Workshop facilitator for 15 graduating students in photography techniques specific to architectural images, Addis Ababa University: School of Architecture, Addis Ababa

2006         Assistant to documentary filmmakers from Berlin, following early German explorers in Ethiopia and interviewing people with Ethio-German links, to be distributed to European film festivals

2005/06 Pact Ethiopia, Addis Ababa and Gambella
Facilitated series of community art workshops with 150 participants as part of conflict resolution program, organised publicity materials, including calendar, and exhibition at Hilton Hotel, Addis Ababa

2005         Director of photography on Amharic language romantic comedy feature film, including storyboard and set photography, Cassopeia Film Productions, Addis Ababa

Biografie

Tsegaye graduated in painting from the Addis Ababa University School of Fine Arts and Design in 2002, but gave up painting when he developed an allergy to oil paint. He then found his real passion in photography and has turned this into a profession, and moreover into a way of expressing a very particular voice.

“As a photographer I try as much as possible to escape being pigeonholed. This is especially relevant as an African – and Ethiopian – photographer. I place myself among my peers (photographers and painters) across the world. As an Ethiopian I do not have a duty to focus my lens on suffering alone. My life, and that of other African artists, is not predicated on poverty and hardships, although they are common sights. Rather I seek to understand my life and standpoint in the 21st century and express these through art.

As an Ethiopian I approach art free from constraints. Ethiopia has maintained her culture, language and traditions for centuries in a world that has been continually changing and subject to the (sometimes positive, sometimes negative) involvement of other countries, cultures and ideologies. Perhaps this lack of contact to the outside world has contributed to Ethiopia’s underdevelopment, but it has also ensured that Ethiopia’s ‘voice’ has never been corrupted.”

In the pictures of Ankober Michael reaches a quiet harmony reflected in the portraits and landscapes of Ankober. He achieves an evocative balance of lights, showing daily scenes in a mystical yet melancholic way.

Pers

	ZAM 14 nr 1, 2010