The title sounds as if one intends to lump all participating artists from the University in Addis Abeba/ Ethiopia together and as if one denies them an own picture language. The reason for entitling our exhibition this way has nothing to do with our own way of thinking but with the stereotypes the artists are confronted with. They have a quite bad reputation: most of the students who graduated from the University of Addis Abeba can easily be recognized by their works, painting as the dominant medium, a particular way of applying the paint, structures which repeat themselves and even the subjects depicted point to a situation of artistic isolation.

Along with the project coordinator and artist Yenatfenta Abate the gallery wants to question this reputation and to contribute to a revision of this misunderstanding. This provocative suggestion was reason enough for the Hamburg-based artist Yenatfenta Abate to organize, in cooperation with Hamburg´s University for fine art, a workshop taking place in the Ethiopian capital. Ten current and ten former students of the University of Addis Abeba were participating. On the recommendation of curator Meskerem Assegued, five more artists have made available their paintings as workshop results plus three Guests as members of the forthcoming workshop.

The project ranges between the applied arts how it is mostly taught in Addis Abeba and our broad concept of autonomous fine arts. The exhibition is to be created a base of discussing the old western concept of art.

As a special support, all 28 paintings are displayed in my gallery from the July 16th to August 20sti 2005