Henok Melkamzer. Telsem Symbols and Imagery

Drawing from astrology, religion and spirituality, the Ethiopian art form of telsem interweaves symbols, drawings and texts imbued with spiritual and philosophical significance. Shaped throughout the ages by the sociopolitical and cultural histories of Ethiopia, telsem — with its ancient inspirations and modern idioms — is used to address critical problems in the contemporary world such as climate disasters, war and poverty. Despite the fact that it continues to be practised, telsem is often characterised as “healing art” or “talisman art” within western frameworks, a perspective that excludes it from many discussions of modernism. Published in collaboration with The Africa Institute and Sharjah Art Foundation and edited by scholar Elizabeth Giorgis, Henok Melkamzer: Telsem Symbols and Imagery challenges such a one-dimensional understanding of modernism and offers us a rare insight into one of Ethiopia’s most compelling modernist art practices through the work of Henok Melkamzer.