Ethiopian Arts & Music

Traditional Arts of Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s art history is best known for its Christian themes, developed over centuries of stability and gradual adaptation. Drawing from early Greek, Indian, Byzantine, and Egyptian influences, the first churches and monasteries of Aksum sponsored artists to portray Christian imagery from a distinctly African perspective. The rich manuscripts, metalwork, and paintings of Amharic Ethiopia, however, are not the nation’s only artistic achievements. Among Ethiopia’s dozens of other cultures, a wide variety of crafts, music, and other arts complete its artistic heritage. Perhaps the most visible of these wider customs are textile arts and basketry, which tend to feature bright palettes and complex patterns.

Ethiopian Painting and Illustration

Since medieval times, Ethiopia has cultivated an illustrative style focused mainly on religious subjects. It is characterized by vivid colors, rich symbolism, and the large, watchful eyes of the people it portrays. The figures represented in Ethiopian art show a Byzantine influence, adjusted to suit local tastes and then refined through generations of masters and students. Like other Christian states with a monastic tradition, works of art were often commissioned on behalf of churches by wealthy patrons. These images portray the events of the Bible, but they can also serve a spiritual purpose. Diptychs or triptychs worn around the neck, for example, have been used to protect their wearer from harm.

While Ethiopian Christian art has shown a strong consistency since its birth, it truly flourished from the 14th or 15th century on. At this time, increasing contact with European powers like the Portuguese introduced new concepts in composition and literature. Ethiopian artists began producing elaborate illuminated manuscripts alongside wall and panel paintings.

Metalworking in Ethiopia

In addition to paintings and illumination, the religious art of Ethiopia features ornate metalworking, typically in the form of processional crosses. These crosses are almost always symmetrical, but their details vary by the tastes of the artist. They are seen in church services, processions, and ceremonies and viewed as a symbol of good health and God’s protection.

Ethiopian Literature

The literature of Ethiopia has expanded from an almost exclusively religious base to its more secular print industry today. Early Ethiopian writers used Ge’ez script, a native Semitic writing system. Until recently, education in Ethiopia was primarily controlled by the church. The literature of the state, therefore, focused on questions of theology and the deeds of kings. One of the most important traditional texts of Ethiopia is the Fetha Nagast, a legal code. Today, Ge’ez mainly appears within the context of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Modern writers tend to pursue more secular subjects and stories in the Amharic language. In addition, older oral traditions in poetry and folklore have survived to the present day.

Ethiopian Music and Dance

Like its other arts, music in Ethiopia is divided between religious and secular themes. Church music and chants honoring the royal family are some of the most studied musical customs of the country. Common musical instruments include the kerar lyre, a single-stringed lute called the masanko, tambourines, flutes, drums, and even prayer staffs, or makwamiya, used to keep rhythm. Musical tastes and methods may differ dramatically between the highlands and lowlands of Ethiopia, as well as between the neighboring cultures within them. Each culture possesses its own preferences in dance, lyrics, and degree of personal expression.

Modern Arts in Ethiopia

With increasing stability and rising prosperity, the artists of modern Ethiopia have begun exploring a wide range of subjects across all forms of media. Painters, writers, sculptors, musicians, and digital artists in the country, like artists everywhere, examine what it means to be part of their own society as well as members of the global community.

References

Adejumobi, Saheed. The History of Ethiopia. Greenwood Publishing. 2007.

Addis Getahun, Solomon and Wudu Tafete Kassu. Culture and Customs of Ethiopia. ABC-CLIO. 2014.

Gish, Steven, Winnie Thay, and Zawiah Abdul Latif. Ethiopia. Marshall Cavendish. 2007.

“Illuminated Gospel.” The Met, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/317618.

Marcus, Harold G. A History of Ethiopia. University of California Press. 2002.

Munro-Hay, Stuart.* Ethiopia, the Unknown Land: A Cultural and Historical Guide*. I.B. Tauris. 2002.

“Processional Cross.” The Met, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/677838.

“The World Factbook: Ethiopia.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 1 Feb. 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html.

Uhlig, Siegbert, David Appleyard, et. al. Ethiopia: History, Culture, and Challenges. LIT Verlag Münster. 2017.

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Traditions of the Ancestors

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