Tegaru Artist & Creative Directory
Aida Mulugetta-López
Aida Mulugetta-López is a self-taught artist based in London. Having grown up between the UK, Spain and Ethiopia, Aida’s work is heavily influenced by the different cultures, colours and communities she has been fortunate enough to know. London specifically, has played a key role in shaping her social identity and core beliefs, which is highlighted throughout her artwork. Through her pieces, Aida aims to deconstruct the social categorisation and stigmatisation of communities of Colour. Her pieces explore the way in which intersectionalities form individuals’ identities, using her artwork as a way to unpick her own. Aida’s art will always speak for the people; the underrepresented, the misrepresented and the voiceless.
Ahaduel Gebreselassie
Ahaduel is a Multidisciplinary artist, who practices Pencil drawings (realism), digital painting, graphic design, and achitecture. The appearance of the human body inspires him.
Akhran Girmay
Akhran Girmay is a UK based Illustrator, a graduate of Falmouth University in Cornwall and is of American and Tigrayan heritage. He is enthralled by storytelling from ancient mythologies and enjoys himself the act of world building, using a mixture of fantasy, ancient history and folktales to create areas for escapism. Often his stylistic objective is to produce textured and coarse illustrations through use of traditional media and with a focus on dynamic and bold characterisations. Whilst his work tends to pivot around fictional narratives, Akhran also creates space and time for contemporary projects with more socio-political elements interwoven into the subject matters.
Amanuel Araya
Amanuel Araya is a graduated Architect and a self-taught artist who currently lives in Mekelle, Tigray. He has been practicing sketching since he was in elementary school. He uses detailed pencil sketches as his art medium. Before the war Amanuel was practicing Architecture and developing his skills in Animation. Due to the ongoing war in Tigray he then joined the Tigrai Defence Forces (TDF) to protect his people from invaders. Amanuel was hit by a drone attack during the war. While recovering from his injuries in the hospital, he has kept fighting the injustices with his art. He describes his art as a voice for his people who are blocked and denied their basic human rights for more than a year now.
Amanuel Gebremariam
Amanuel is a Tigrayan artist based in Maryland. He applies a surrealist lens to depict diverse black narratives. He uses traditional and digital paintings and drawing to connect to his culture and heritage.
He is interested in using art as a way to heal our community.
He wants to help raise awareness of what is happening. As someone who has family being directly affected by this war, he feels a responsibility to use his work to make progress.
Beniam Yetbarek
As the Founder of B.Y. Visuals, Beniam takes great pride in providing his photography skills to aim to provide his communities with a sense of empowerment/impact that only an accurate and proper representation can bring forth. His content/projects highlight those who come from adverse environments, as immigrants, members of marginalized communities, as well as underserved groups that still manage to push through systemic barriers.
Serving as the Lead Videographer alongside Media Productions on The UpNUp Network, he is responsible for studio setup and recording the episodes for podcast distribution. The show is centered around cultivating culture through storytelling, by sharing the journeys of individuals/visionaries who have built a lane for themselves in their respective professions/ventures/practices while keeping everything they're doing on #TheUpNUp.
Daniel Berhanemeskel
Daniel Berhanemeskel is a visual artist and a database developer, who lives and works in Washington, DC. He is the fourth generation from traditional painter’s family in Aksum, Tigray. He obtained his BA degree from Hope College and MFA from Michigan State University in 2003 and 2007 respectively. Daniel’s work is informed by his cultural iconographic motifs, human knowledge, and scientific theories that have influenced our human narratives such as our creation and the cosmos in which we live.
Daniel’s work has been exhibited regionally and internationally at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, DC; and Kruizenga Art Museum, Holland.
Faven Mulugeta
Faven Mulugeta is a US based artist who works with digital art, watercolor, and colored pencils. Faven believes that art symbolizes freedom. Art releases stress by pouring it onto a page, and frees the mind from torment. The artist believes that the cries of freedom carried in our paintings will reach Tigray and free our people from pain.
Filimon Aregawi
Filimon Aregawi was born in Adigrat, Tigray. He currently lives in France. He started drawing at a very young age. His work is focused on character portraits using pencil and acrylic. He is refocusing his work to tell more of the culture and history of Tigray.
Gelila Reda
Gelila Reda is a self-taught abstract painter based out of Sweden. She is best known for her colorful acrylic paintings and even more for her coffee art, in which she has held live paint sessions and solo exhibitions across the globe. Her distinctive style emanates strength, resilience, pain, balance, and culture.
Reda's artwork has exhibited in Oslo, U.S., and Belgium at the Campus Croep T Leuven. Her collaborations include Gruten Oslo at Mitt grønn Oslo festival and Sagene bydelsdag. In addition, she participated in an International Coffee Day collaboration with Norsk Kaffeinformasjon, where she has performed a live coffee art show.
With over a decade of showcasing her work in exhibitions and live art shows, Reda knows the power of her art in bringing people together by expressing her reality and making change. Thus, she is taking her art to greater heights as she orients advocacy and preserving her community in paintings and coffee art.
Goitoom Gebru
Goitoom Gebru is a 25 year old artist who creates detailed collages. He graduated in Architecture from Mekelle University. His work focuses on illustrations of portraits and moments taken from his home region, Tigray. Gebru’s collages are made with cut up magazine pages. He hopes that his art shows people hope, and faith for the better days.
Hanan Mohamed
Hanan is a Tigrayan artist based in Saudi Arabia. She is a wife and mother of two wonderful kids. She has been making art for as long as she can remember. Growing up, her art was inspired by her favourite cartoon and Japanese anime characters.
As she got older, she became obsessed with portraits. She is captivated within the hours spent staring at people's beautiful faces, and drawing every little detail she sees brings her satisfaction.
“Since the war in Tigray, art has been my haven, and the only way I can express my emotions, so currently I'm mainly focusing my art on Tigray.”
Mahder Tella
Mahder Tella, MPH, MSBA, is a data scientist, activist, and visual artist who believes art is crucial in empowering people to discover their voices and become catalysts for change. Her purpose for Tigray Art Collective is to use art as a tool to intersect activism, social change, and justice by raising consciousness and challenging all forms of oppression. Mahder dreams of Tigray Art Collective being a physical and virtual place where we share the hidden history of Tigray, all while providing the space and resources to create art, including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Mahder's oeuvre encompasses paintings, mandala string portraits, resin sculptures, digital illustration, photography, and various works on paper such as watercolors and collages. Exploring new cities and meeting new people opens up her artistic world.
Merhawit Tsegay
Merhawit Tsegay is a Tigrayan-Oklahoman artist with a passion for the arts. Tsegay has always been very interested in film and TV and involved in theatre from a young age. She is currently a senior at The University of Oklahoma studying Theatre with an Acting emphasis, as well as on track to gaining her master's in Nutrition and Dietetics.
“In our culture, like many others, food and story-telling create bridges in our community in various ways. We can be connected generationally, as well as in a socio-economic way. It does not matter how you identify within our community, you cannot truly live without being enriched by the traditions offered through our food and stories.”
Robel Asfaw
Robel Asfaw is an Architect, visual artist , digital painter and graphic designer. His art focuses on on afro cultures and history. Asfaw is based in Addis Abeba. Through his experiences traveling around Tigray, he has gained the appreciation of the beauty the world has to offer.
Merry Woldemariam
Merry Woldemariam started drawing and painting at a early age. She’s mostly known for painting on a canvas, and has recently started working more on Digital Art. She has hosted a gallery shows in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Michigan. Outside of visual art, she is also a musician. Woldemariam was a part of a music production where she performed in various shows in Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia.
“I would like to spread awareness throughout the world on what really is going on in Tigray. A lot of people including myself have been separated from our family’s and not sure if they even are alive. People are dying every single day from being bombed, lack of food and medical supply. The woman and children are being starved and rapped. Some people don’t have a good understanding on the sage and ethnic cleansing. And we should do all we can with our talents to make the world act Now!”
Nala Haileselassie
Nala Haileselassie (b.2001) is a multidisciplinary artist from Tkaronto completing her BFA in Film Studies. Through film, illustration, printmaking, short animation and digital design, her current body of work explores cultural and collective memory and the relation between the two as a child of migration. Gathering from familial photographs and research, Nala looks to rework narratives surrounding Tigrayan identity which defy borders and temporal relations.
Naomi Mekonen
Naomi Mekonen is an artist based in the Toronto area. Influenced by fauvist and surrealist movements, she utilizes bold colours to create vibrant scenes and portraits. In her work, she explores themes from East Africa, Aksumite antiquity, mythology, and folklore. She is also inspired by motifs found in Ge’ez manuscripts, and thrives to bridge the past with the present.
Seb-Halyot
Seb-Halyot (Translation: Person who empathizes/cares) was originally created to share and visualize Tigray Genocide, it has evolved into expression of thought and the attachment of the Tigrayan diaspora. Seb-Halyot creates poetry and photography expressing everyday raw emotions, pain and healing. Nothing stops, it’s all a continuation of our existence and experience as tigrayans and navigating the world as individuals. Seb-Halyot is currently working in iPhone photography, and aspires to make videos and animations in the future.
“I truly hope these words and photos help people understand that they are not alone. Our lives are intertwined with each other. I think that kindness towards nature and openness to each other might help us detangle and heal the trauma. AJOKUM”
Tewolde Brehan Kidane
Tewolde Brehan Kidane is born in 1982 Adigrat, Tigray, where he works as an art teacher. Having attended Abyssinia Modern Art School in Addis Abeba, he studied the ancient art of his country found in the old monasteries. He studied the ancient art in Lake Tana and Axum monasteries over a period of seven years living with the monks. He is currently writing a book explaining the techniques of the ancient magic art and magic scroll paintings, where they made colors by grinding roots and flowers. It is very important that the culture of this nation is preserved for the generations to come.
Mekelle University is sponsoring him to write his book as part of the Heritage Department. The ancient art symbols are an integral part of his work. His paintings have been shown at numerous exhibitions, including both the British and American Embassies, the French Embassy Centre, The National Theatre, and Free Gallery in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He has been interviewed about his art by Deutsche TV and BBC Amharic news.
In January he was selected with a team of artists to run a five day graffiti art workshop with orphan children for the America Corner, part of the US Embassy in Mekelle.
Wikianos Tesfahun
Wikianos Tesfahun was born in Maichew, Tigray. He graduated in 2020 from Addis Ababa University at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture. He is a self taught artist, and started sketching at 10 years old.
“Through my artwork, I want to show the current situation of the Tigray genocide. I also want to show the culture and history of my birth place, Tigray... i want to be voice for my people.”
Yemane Studio
Abebe was Born in Mekelle, Tigray. He studied Graphic Design at The Art Institutes International Minnesota. In 2014, Abebe moved back to Tigray to visit Monasteries to learn spirituality, then further extended his visit for 5 years to deeply understanding spirituality in Tigray Mountains. After finishing his journey, he opened his first private photography art studio in Mekelle, Tigray. In 2021, he was forced to close his studio & office due to the Tigray war, moving back to United States. While in Minnesota, he started working along side Tigray community in the US and Europe, donating digital portrait paintings to raise money for victims of the Tigray genocide. Raising over $49,000 dollar from his art, Abebe was awarded with a recognition letter by Tigray Community of Minnesota in 2021.
