Icons of devotion/icons of trade: creativity and entrepreneurship in contemporary "traditional" Ethiopian painting.

Aksum is one of Ethiopia's major tourist destinations. Although only a small town in the highlands of northern Ethiopia, it is the spiritual home of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) and rich in ancient monuments. Archaeologically it has been occupied since c. 350 BCE. Later, c. 100-600 CE, it is where the capital of the Aksumite empire once stood, and from where it dominated an area from the highlands of northern Ethiopia and southern Eritrea to the Red Sea and at times beyond. Its fine architectural stonework is plainly evident in the elite residences, tombs, and the carved stelae that dot the landscape. Coins of copper, bronze, and gold reveal the roots of an exceptional metalworking tradition, while works of stone and clay, including figurative sculpture, are evidence of a fine sculpture tradition.

Not long after the introduction of Christianity to the region in the early fourth century, Aksum became a recognized center for the production of paraphernalia associated with the church. Today the production of metal objects, from censers, sistra, and horns to processional, hand, and neck crosses, continues to thrive. So too does a tradition of religious painting--illuminations in manuscripts, icons on wood, and large paintings on cloth destined for the walls of churches. A tradition that has been practiced for the better part of 1500 years, the paintings of the EOC have both taught and sustained the Christian faith. For those who could not read or write--which for many centuries was, and still is, the condition of most Ethiopians--the teachings of the church have been presented in pictorial narratives grounded in the Orthodox faith. Today, more often than not, paintings cover the walls of Ethiopian churches, and sometimes the ceilings as well (Fig. 1).

Scores of metalworkers and painters in Aksum and the surrounding region remain prolific producers of such objects. Parishioners and church officials purchase and commission paintings and other religious paraphernalia directly from artists in their homes, and at religious festivals, where artists sell their work (Sobania and Silverman 2006). At the same time, the dozen or more tourist shops in Aksum are also full of their metalwork and paintings, often displayed and sold alongside much older objects. The range of souvenirs for visitors is extensive. There is archaeological material--primarily stone and clay figurative sculpture and metal coins associated with ancient Aksum, and occasionally pre-Aksumite culture--some of it authentic, some fake, but all illegal to export. Religious objects are ever-present, especially crosses of all shapes and sizes--neck crosses, hand crosses, and processional crosses of bronze, copper, iron, and silver. Visitors can also find a wide variety of paintings on cloth, leather, or parchment, or on wood--primarily diptychs and triptychs of various sizes--as well as jewelry--both used and new. Household objects include baskets as well as items of wood, from headrests and coffee trays carved in Ethiopia to masks from as far away as Ghana (Fig. 2). Many of these items are pastiches or innovations created specifically for visitors to Ethiopia, such as miniaturized grave posts from the Konso in the far south of the country, wood headrests decorated with beadwork, wood relief carvings of scenes of rural life, as well as religious paintings on animal skin or set in elaborately carved wood cases.

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Prior to the twentieth century, the liturgical objects and paintings were produced for local use in churches, or in the case of metal jewelry, for individuals as adornment. The first shift in this localized production came when Emperor Menelik II (r. 1889-1913) began giving gifts of paintings to diplomats and other important visitors to his court. The most significant change, however, came with the expansion of tourism in Ethiopia during the second half of the twentieth century. Two events in the early 1960s created an entirely new market for the makers of ecclesiastical art as well as household objects. One was the founding of the Organization of African Unity in Addis Ababa in 1963, which brought diplomats from across the continent and around the world to its headquarters in the capital. The other was the creation and marketing to tourists of the "Ethiopian Historic Route" by the Ethiopian Tourist Organization and Ethiopian Airlines about the same time. (1) The nascent trade in art and artifacts was dramatically curtailed during the reign of the Derg government (1974-1991), whose anti-Western politics discouraged foreign travel to Ethiopia. Further challenges to the tourist trade came with the tensions that arose following Eritrea's independence in 1993 and the border war that erupted in 1998. Over the past decade, with Ethiopia promoted by the tourist industry as a cultural heritage destination and a place for adventure travel, this trade has rebounded and is once again on the verge of flourishing. (2) Today, while a significant portion of artistic production in Aksum is still destined for use in the region's churches, the more lucrative market for the town's many painters and metalworkers is the foreigners who come to visit the historic town. Some of their products are also sent for sale to the tourist shops of Addis Ababa. Like many artists and artisans in Africa who originally were trained and participated in traditions that were primarily directed towards local communities, but later found other audiences for their work, Ethiopian painters, as well as metal and wood workers, participate in both of these markets. Although what they paint, carve, or fabricate is the same as what they have always produced, is what they make then art, artifact, or commodity?

The recent observation of Ruth B. Phillips and Christopher Steiner, that art, artifact, and commodity should not be seen as distinct and separate categories, but must be "merged into a single domain where the categories are seen to inform one another rather than to compete in their claims for social primacy and cultural value" (Phillips and Steiner 1999:16), corresponds well with the new directions in the spiritually grounded visual traditions of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. This observation is most relevant in the context of the phenomenon we are studying, where ecclesiastical objects function within the framework of categories Phillips and Steiner have set forth. (3) Though the new pieces being produced--be they icons, mural paintings, manuscript books, crosses, vestments, or a range of other objects--are purchased by visitors and taken home as souvenirs, artifacts, or works of art, some of them are also purchased by parishioners, priests, and nuns for use in local churches. These works carry the same symbolic and communicative qualities--the same "social primacy and cultural value"--as works produced solely for local use in years past. For Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, these objects continue to have the same significance and are imbued with the same spirituality they have always had, even with their recent appropriation by the souvenir market.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has a monastic tradition said to have begun in the late fifth and early sixth centuries with the arrival of nine Syrian monks, each of whom founded a monastery (Munro-Hay 2006:131-58). Marilyn Heldman has argued that it was in such monasteries, which once dotted the Ethiopian landscape, that the earliest objects used in worship were first created. These practices were later refined in the royal courts (Heldman 1998; Silverman and Sobania 2004:352-53). Royal court production came to an end with the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974, although remnants of a monastic pattern of production are alive and well in the countryside that surrounds certain religious centers. (4) This article looks at one such religious center, the town of Aksum, and considers the production of icons, including the carved wood cases in which these are painted. (5) It does so by focusing on two exceptional individuals who have each played a significant role ensuring the survival of these vibrant traditions--one a traditional church painter, the other a successful local entrepreneur. Each in his own way is committed to upholding and maintaining the high quality of painting and icons for which Aksum is known.

AN ARTIST'S WORKSHOP

Aksum is home to many painters, but Berhanemeskel Fisseha (b. 1947) is arguably the leading "traditional" painter currently working in northern Ethiopia. Like many of the Aksum artists, his skills, insights, and expertise are solidly grounded in the traditions of the EOC, in which he serves as a deacon. He learned to paint working with his maternal grandfather, Aleqa Yohannes Teklu (c. 1883-1978), who was a priest in the EOC. (6) When he creates images for the walls of local churches, Berhanemeskel draws upon his knowledge of paintings produced by his predecessors--especially his grandfather--that may also be seen on the walls of churches in Aksum and the surrounding countryside and also upon his knowledge of Ethiopian Orthodox liturgical traditions, which he acquired through a formal church education. When he paints Our Lady Mary with Her Beloved Son, the Crucifixion and Resurrection narrative including Joseph and Nicodemus laying Christ's body in the tomb, events in the Life of St. Mary, an image of Saint Gabra Manfas Qeddus, or the martyrdom of a particular saint, it is his training as a painter and his knowledge of the written sources that ensures his visual representation of these individuals and narratives are recognized by Orthodox Christians.

As he describes how he learned to paint, Berhanemeskel states, "I grew up with him [Aleqa Yohannes] ... He would paint and I would sketch what he did." (7) Sketching at that time, however, was done without benefit of pencil and paper, but instead in what Berhanemeskel laughingly calls "the culture of the blackboard" except that his blackboard was a large magogo, a large, round pottery tray. (8) As it is used, the surface of a magogo becomes rough and is made smooth again by a thin coating of meat fat (sebhi-hii). When covered with ash from the cooking fire, the ash settles into the fat and a stick can be used to "sketch" removing the ash and fat so the dark color of the magogo shows through. When it was time to make another sketch, he would "erase" the magogo by again coating it with fat and ash. Later he helped Aleqa Yohannes sketch the compositions for paintings on cloth that had been stretched on a wood frame. But the first task Berhanemeskel learned he says is the easiest--filling in with paint the larger spaces between the lines that Aleqa Yohannes had already sketched on the cloth. Indeed, we have watched several of Berhanemeskel's children do this from the age of eight or nine on their father's paintings (Fig. 3). After this, Berhanemeskel says, the next easiest task is sketching (nidife). The two most difficult painting techniques associated with the representation of humans are sibri (the rendering of folds and drapes in clothing) and wuz (the shading that features prominently in the depiction of faces). Once a young painter graduates from filling in the large spaces between the sketch lines of his master, the training is embedded in practice--sketch, sketch, and sketch again, and only later, paint, and then do it again. Berhanemeskel, as a master artist, plays an important role training the next generation of painters. The studio space that fronts Berhanemeskel's home, where he does his own painting, also serves as a traditional workshop. Here he has trained many emerging painters, who learn their skills as apprentices. Equally important to Berhanemeskel is that the painters he trains attain the necessary religious knowledge that comes with a church education. In the case of his own children who he has trained to paint, two of whom are daughters, he has ensured this by sending all of them to both public and church school. Indeed, three of his sons are now deacons in the church. (9)

Significantly, though Berhanemeskel has produced icons, he is best known for, and spends most of his energy, producing paintings on cloth. Parishioners, priests, nuns, and church officials from across the country commission his work for installation on church walls (Fig. 4), as do businessmen for their hotels (Fig. 5), and on occasion, visitors to Aksum order a painting as a souvenir (Fig. 6). While cloth paintings have found a place in the export art market, they do not conform neatly to the criteria associated with tourist art. Simply put, they are too big, ranging in length from 1-2 meters, so that even when rolled they present a transport challenge, and they demand a good deal of space when displayed. More popular are paintings on wood panels--double--and triple-panel triptychs--as well as variations on these formats.

A CREATIVE ENTREPRENEUR

Artists such as Berhanemeskel and those he has trained in his studio are not the painters creating most of the paintings that one encounters in the tourist shops of Aksum. Although on occasion one of their works may turn up there, most of the paintings found in the tourist shops are produced by young (and a few not-so-young) men who sell their work directly to the shop owners. The most successful shop owners often work very closely with a group of painters, in effect establishing a kind of workshop. These workshops are not physical spaces, but instead a collection of painters who, because the shop owner regularly buys what they paint and may even provide them with the necessary paint, brushes, and wooden cases in which icons will be painted, have a degree of high loyalty to the shopkeeper. One of the most successful of these individuals is Hailemariam Zerue, who in 1992, as a young, creative entrepreneur, opened a souvenir shop in a prime location opposite what was then Axum Touring Hotel. (10) Born in the 1960s, from a very early age Hailemariam focused his attention on producing souvenirs for visitors to his town. Initially he worked with his elder brother making a variety of objects, especially stone carvings that he hawked on the streets to tourists. From this firsthand experience he learned about the fierce competition for tourist dollars and to place great emphasis on creativity. Hailemariam loves to talk about the new things he has commissioned or is thinking about, and conversations, regardless of where they begin, often end with his showing us examples of something new. It is his firm belief that he always needs "new" products to entice tourists to patronize his shop. Hailemariam equates these new products with success and attributes his success to his creativity and his dedication to innovation in their creation. Since he has one of the most successful businesses in Aksum, it is hard to argue with him. He understands that if one is not out in front of the market, one soon falls behind and it is not easy to catch up.

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What for Hailemariam constitutes an innovation has less to do with the painting and more to do with the context in which it is presented. This is of necessity since in Ethiopian church painting artists have limited opportunity for originality or creativity. Based upon long-established ecclesiastical canons and traditions, paintings for churches not only create an aura of sacredness and offer a focus for veneration, they also serve a didactic role providing worshippers with the model of a proper Christian life. Thus it is critically important that the depiction of Jesus, St. Mary, the Trinity, a saint, or a Biblical narrative be recognizable to all the churchgoers who see it. In the context of icon production, the one place where there is room for innovation and creative design is in the carving of the wood case in which the painting is set. Details such as the type of wood, depth of carving, innovations in design, and the shape and number of "window" openings on the outside of the cases are today all highly valued. This, of course, makes good sense since the quality of the cases and uniqueness in their design impacts Hailemariam's bottom line. High-quality cases, finely carved in local hard, difficult-to-carve olive wood, cost him more to purchase from carvers. To make this added expense worth his while, Hailemariam in turn requires a higher quality of painting in these cases since he must ask, and can usually receive, a higher price for these finished icons in his shop. It is also worth his while to pay a higher price for these more finely carved cases since doing so helps him maintain a relationship with the better carvers, who will then come to him first when selling their work. For example, a priest from Tembien, Qes Kellem, who is an especially fine carver, comes to Aksum for religious festivals and brings his work to Hailemariam to give him first right of refusal (Fig. 7). In 2001, Qes Kellem brought nearly two dozen diptych cases to Aksum, and Hailemariam bought them all, later distributing some of them to painters with whom he regularly works.

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Many of the objects sold in the tourist shops are often assumed by visitors to be "authentic" and of considerable age, but they are instead based on long-established local prototypes that are altered using various techniques to make them look old and used (Fig. 8). As many of the painters have told us, they make them look old because this is what the tourists want (cf. Steiner 1994). As already noted, one of the factors Hailemariam considers most important in his efforts to keep ahead of the competition and to attract tourists to his shop is to have new and unique objects for sale. This seems to have been a theme in his life since his youth when he first began to carve stone. For example, where boys once carved images of one of Aksum's famous standing stela, today they create small representations of the stelae park, complete with standing and fallen stelae and an archway. Where the carving of a stela was once the tradition, today the more elaborate stelae park model is considered traditional among these souvenirs. In a similar way, icons were traditionally painted on a wood board, or in either a diptych or double diptych case. (11) Developing new designs for wood icon cases is one of the initiatives in which Hailemariam has most recently been involved, as have many of the wood carvers in Aksum. Examples of the originality found in these new designs--setting religious imagery in tabots, hand crosses, and bookstands (atranos)--provides a means to explore this phenomenon of innovation that is so highly prized by Hailemariam, and by extension the shopkeepers of Aksum. The key innovation in each of these examples is the creation of more "windows" or openings that offer additional surfaces on which to paint more images. The basic assumption made by Hailemariam is that the more painting an object has, the greater will be its value and sale price. Although we have not done a market study of selling prices, it is clear that such icon cases require Hailemariam, or the painters who purchase their own cases, to pay the carvers more and therefore, as finished icons, must be sold at a higher price. Rarely is a wood carver also a painter, although when a wood carver creates a new and unique icon case he may pay a painter he knows well to paint it before taking it to a shopkeeper to promote its sale.

INNOVATION IN TRADITION

A tabor, or more correctly the manbara tabot, is the container maintained in the maqdas, the sanctuary or innermost section of an Ethiopian church, in which a stone or wood tablet is placed that has carved into its surface the name of the saint to whom the church is dedicated, for example, St. Mary, St. George, or St Michael. The tabots that are elaborately painted and sold to tourists look nothing like a proper manbara tabot. They are in fact miniature representations of the maqdas, and like the walls outside of this most holy of holy part of an Ethiopian church, are decorated with paintings. Produced by carvers, some are square in construction and others are round, as are the maqdas in Ethiopian churches (Fig. 9). Although called a "tabor" such an object is not consecrated and not a religious object. However, the paintings that adorn it are no different than those painted as an icon for religious purposes; the images retain their same symbolic significance and communicative properties and are recognizable by Orthodox Christians. Today, no tourist shop is without one or more of these tabor icons. While made in varying sizes, and usually of wood, small tabot icons can also be found cast in metal or carved in stone. Whether square or round, of one or two stories, with a cross on top or not, the primary innovation is the "door" or "window" that opens like a diptych. These openings create eight surfaces for painting--one on the inside of each door, and one inside the niche (or if the tabor icon is especially tall, with sixteen surfaces). These elaborate tabots require the hand of a skilled painter since the basic investment in such an intricately carved icon is considerable. Without a commitment to sophisticated workmanship, the outlay for a finely produced wood structure is largely wasted.

Similarly, wood hand crosses, of the sort carried by priests and used to bless Christians who approach them, provide another opportunity for innovation. The earliest enhancements involved carving a "window" into such a cross, creating a small diptych that can be painted (Fig. 10). When carved more thickly than normal, and carefully cut in half longitudinally, the two halves can be hinged so that the entire cross becomes a diptych, creating two larger surfaces onto which images can be painted. Seeking still more surfaces onto which an artist can paint images, some carvers are also creating "windows" on the outer surfaces of these crosses, which has the effect of creating still another diptych, and two more surfaces for painting. The number of such "windows" is only limited by size and thickness of the cross.

Another innovation by the carvers is the miniaturizing of bookstands, which in their original size are used in churches to support the large parchment Bibles from which priests or deacons read during a service. Carved from wood in this smaller form, the surface on which a small book could be placed easily allows the carving of two "windows" which when opened offer four surfaces on which to paint.

Carvers, painters, and shopkeepers alike know that once others see a new enhancement of an already extant tradition, or the creation of something entirely original, it will soon be copied and become widely available in Aksum's other tourist shops. It is remarkable how quickly the competition responds by attempting to copy a new product. Hailemariam is resigned to this cycle of inventiveness being the nature of business in Aksum, or as he said in one of our conversations, it is "all about creativity ... competition ... creativity ... competition ... creativity ..." (12) Not surprisingly, to sustain the benefits of their newest creations for as long as possible, shopkeepers often hide these new products in their backrooms--a room at the back of the shop or upstairs reserved for the display of higher quality and higher priced pieces of religious art. Thus, Hailemariam gave considerable thought to our request to photograph some of the works available for sale in his shop. So too did wood carvers with whom we have worked, and whose identity a shop owner like Hailemariam carefully guards. These are the individuals who have the skills, knowledge, and creative energy to produce new types and styles of objects. (13)

As an entrepreneur, Hailemariam is focused on new products and innovations that he is convinced will enhance his sales in Aksum's competitive market. At the same time, however (and for Hailemariam this is not contradictory), he is equally focused on obtaining objects of high quality (Fig. 11). His obsession with high quality is a part of who he is and has more to do with his being an exceptional individual than with the demands of the market. Indeed, this often leads to his considerable frustration with tourists who do not recognize quality and do not have what he considers to be a proper respect for it. This surfaces most particularly when tourists will not spend serious money on a quality icon, and instead decide to wait until they get to Addis where they believe they can get something cheaper. Of course tourists often can purchase less expensive, lower-quality work in the Ethiopian capital, but it clearly is not the same as the high-quality work Hailemariam offers for sale in Aksum, leaving him to ask often "Don't they see it?" Alas, they probably do not. Some tourists simply cannot imagine quality art coming from a small town such as Aksum, or they only want an inexpensive souvenir to take home to family and friends. As a result, Hailemariam also sells less refined icons at a lower price. These are often painted by younger, less skilled artists, and in less elaborately carved cases. In fact, it is this sort of icon, along with metal crosses, that he regularly ships to owners of souvenir shops in Addis with whom he has business relationships to sell to tourists who are looking for a bargain.

Nevertheless, Hailemariam holds firmly to his sense of what constitutes fine painting, and is proud of the artists with whom he works and the quality of the work they produce. This, after all, results in the extraordinary religious art he acquires and offers for sale in his shop. Particularly astute at identifying and cultivating talent, his skill goes beyond recognizing exceptional painting to include identifying and training artists who work in wood, metal, and stone. For example, when Hailemariam identifies someone who he believes could produce fine paintings--this might be someone who already is an accomplished painter, or someone who has expressed an interest in learning and seems bright, conscientious, and willing to work--he develops a relationship with the individual, providing him with the materials he needs to paint, including pigments, brushes, cloth, and as already noted, wood cases for icons. (14) The most important roles he plays are those of advisor, and in some situations, teacher, educating the painter as to how to produce work that he believes will sell. Drawing upon his own experience making objects destined for foreigners, Hailemariam understands the mindset of the young men with whom he works. In contrast to the more formal, studio-based workshop of Berhanemeskel, Hailemariam trains and oversees young painters in a more loosely structured relationship. Typically the painters he engages to produce for his shop come to him to show their work and, when it meets with his approval, to sell it, or if a new painter, to receive his critique and eventually a few icon cases to paint.

One artist Hailemariam was training in 200l was Girmai Kasai, then a boy of about twelve. Following a well-practiced routine, Hailemariam first gave Girmai a copybook, a pencil, and a finished icon by one of the artists he features in his shop. In the copybook Girmai sketched, but did not copy the model; Hailemariam does not encourage direct copying because he wants to see what "style" will emerge from the student. When the sketches progressed to a satisfactory level, Hailemariam provided paints, brushes, and a wood case into which Girmai could transfer a sketch and produce an icon. All of this occurred under the watchful eye of Hailemariam, who also employed Girmai to look after the front of the shop when he was away or in the back with a customer. Sitting on a stool, Girmai painted one icon case, and then another, always receiving a detailed critique after each one, until Hailemariam liked what he saw. He then gave Girmai a dozen or so cases to paint, with the intention of selling them as less expensive icons. The training Hailemariam provides is reinforced practice, but individualized and oriented toward the production of work that will sell. For the tourist market in Aksum, and even Addis Ababa, this means icons, because unlike large mural paintings, icons are understood to be markedly "Ethiopian," and of a size, even some of the largest, that can easily be packed and carried home as a souvenir. The relationship that Hailemariam establishes with a painter can last for years, or sometimes only a short time. By 2006, Girmai was no longer employed by Hailemariam. He had painted and sold an icon to another shop to try and earn more money; Hailemariam viewed this as disloyalty and ended their relationship. This is another manifestation of the keen competition that exists in Aksum, and if either party is dissatisfied with the relationship, another shopkeeper is ready to buy the work.

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AN ENTREPRENEUR'S "WORKSHOP"

Two painters in Aksum with whom Hailemariam has had a particularly close working relationship are Aleqa Hailu Gebremedhin and Gard Geday. Both are extraordinarily skilled. Aleqa Hailu is now in his fifties and married with several children. He produces some of the finest work found in Hailemariam's shop, both icons and mural paintings, and occasionally works on parchment. A painter since the age of twenty, and a deacon in the Church, Aleqa Hailu has produced paintings for some twenty churches including one outside Aksum in the village of Adit, others in the town of Shire, and one in the province of Gojjam (Fig. a2). When Aleqa Hailu speaks of the churches he has painted, he is not talking merely of a single commissioned painting hanging inside the church, but of having painted usually one and often two entire interior walls. For example, in Debra Gabriel Church in Adit, Aleqa Hailu painted the north and south walls of the maqdas, depicting the "martyrs of the faith" and "the life of St. Mary" respectively. (15)

Hailemariam "discovered" Aleqa Hailu a number of years ago, when Aleqa Hailu already knew how to paint and had moved to Aksum. He began painting for Hailemariam in 1993. Their relationship is one of mutual respect, and Hailemariam clearly admires one of Aleqa Hailu's greatest strengths as an artist--his skill to paint in several different styles, including an ability to move between what Hailemariam refers to as old-style and new-style. What he refers to as new-style draws upon variations in imagery and colors that are often more vibrant, while old-style adheres more closely to the tenets associated with earlier traditions. To illustrate the old-style, Hailemariam keeps old icons that he uses as models to show artists less common religious themes. He has also shown some of the painters, including Aleqa Hailu, copies of books, such as the beautifully illustrated catalogue that accompanied the exhibition African Zion, which is full of photographs of historic icons (Grierson 1993). Hailemariam tells painters, especially those who are more skilled, to note, among other things, the color schemes that are used, the style in which the characters in the narratives are modeled, and the proper positioning of the figures. He also makes it clear, however, that they should never literally copy the images they see in books. Several years ago, Hailemariam mentioned that Aleqa Hailu was taking ideas from African Zion but that he, following Hailemariam's instructions, was being careful to incorporate his own ideas into his images. (16) Hailemariam knows that some of his customers may be familiar with the African Zion catalogue and that they probably would not be interested in a copy of a known work of art. Today, Aleqa Hailu provides Hailemariam with superior icons and mural paintings to sell, and because his work is clearly of the highest quality, Hailemariam is able to sell them for a good price. It is also clear that Hailemariam pays Aleqa Hailu a fair price for his work, and thus keeps Aleqa Hailu from selling his work to other shop owners.

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Gard, who is in his early thirties, is something of a challenge for Hailemariam. An unusual talent, he often tests Hailemariam's patience, especially over matters of quality. Gard began painting at the age of twelve, and today is a deacon. In 2001, when we first met him, Gard was continuing his religious education and studying in the ninth grade at a public night school. When asked how they learned to paint, or who their teacher was, both Gard and Aleqa Hailu respond that they are largely self-taught. Gard says he just went to the church in Adit, where both he and Aleqa Hailu are from, and began to sketch and copy. To questions about how he learned to paint, Gard responds, "I imitated the painting in the church; sketched on a smooth stone." (17) Because he had no supporting family--his father, who was a priest, died before Gard began to paint--and no land, Gard socialized with others aspiring artists in the village and "did what they did." (18)

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Gard began painting for Hailemariam while still living in Adit but he moved to Aksum in 1994 (Fig. 13). Gard says he prefers to live in Aksum for a number of reasons, including the electricity that allows him to work and study at night and the fact that it is not rural and has more modern amenities, but he also acknowledges the practicality of it: "I bring my paintings here [to sell]." (19) Whereas Aleqa Hailu is older and possesses more experience as a "traditional" painter, including church commissions, Gard thinks of himself as being more modern. For example, he claims never to have copied a painting, yet says that Hailemariam sometimes brings him photographs of paintings he wants reproduced. The thought of copying a painting is not for Gard, who says, "I'd rather do my own work" He clearly derives great fulfillment from his work and often comments, "I like to paint!" He finds that it brings him happiness and spiritual satisfaction. Going to look at paintings in churches and then producing his own works is Gard's preferred approach to painting. Still, he also openly admits that when Hailemariam tells him what he wants and how he thinks the painting should be done, he makes the suggested changes. He recognizes that in doing so, "It makes me a better painter." (20) Although he paints both icons and mural paintings, it is clear that Gard prefers the latter, and is well aware that a commission for church mural painting is more profitable. Few such commissions are, however, available and he must compete with better-recognized, older artists such as Berhanemeskel Fisseha and Aleqa Hailu.

Hailemariam has invested a great deal of time and money to keep this skilled artist painting. Today, Gard is also in a business relationship with Hailemariam, who has assisted Gard in opening a music shop in Aksum. Selling music cassettes, players, radios, and batteries certainly appeals to Gard's attraction to modern things. At the same time, this is not entirely altruistic on Hailemariam's part, since the arrangement requires Gard to produce a specific number of icons as his part of the deal. It demonstrates the extent to which Hailemariam is willing to go to keep a talented young artist painting for him.

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Both painters, Aleqa Hailu and Gard, produce wood icons and cloth paintings. "[he icons take much more time to paint, and as miniatures of a sort, require painstaking attention to detail. Icons, especially the larger more elaborate ones, are sold for considerably more money than cloth paintings. Hailemariam informed us that many of the painters who produce icons for him, also produce cloth paintings. They do so as a break ... a way to rest their eyes from the close detail work associated with painting icons. (21)

A VILLAGE THAT PAINTS

A curious fact emerged as Hailemariam introduced us to many of these artists, first through their work and later to many of them personally. Over and over we kept hearing the name of one village, Adit. Aleqa Hailu is from Adit; Gard is from Adit. A small village far off the paved road some 20 kilometers southwest of Aksum, it has a population of probably no more than several hundred people. As typical rural villages go, it would be of little note but for two factors. One, it includes the finely painted church of Seaka Iyasus, (22) and two, it is home to many of the artists whose work, although not signed, is found widely in both the tourist shops of Aksum and Addis Abba, and also on the walls of churches across the Tigrai regional state. Indeed, in 2001, we compiled a list of more than thirty active painters who either lived and worked in Adit and sold their paintings to shop owners in Aksum, had moved to Aksum to be closer to where they made their living, or had relocated to Addis Ababa. Precisely why so many artists have emerged from Adit is not entirely clear, but it is evident that quite a few painters from the area have met with success, and this has apparently prompted others to take up the brush. Painting has the potential to offer a viable source of income, and as Hailemariam noted in 2005, "Today, everyone in Adit is painting...." (23)

[FIGURE 15 OMITTED]

The majority of paintings found on the walls of the church of Seaka Iyasus are the work of Aleqa Yohannes, Berhanemeskel's grandfather, and were painted, we believe, sometime in the late 1950s or early 1960s. (24) For most of the mid-twentieth century, Aleqa Yohannes was perhaps Aksum's most widely known and respected priest-painter, much as his grandson is today. Especially active during the middle decades of the twentieth century, his work can be seen in churches throughout northern Ethiopia. From small rural churches to Aksum's seventeenth century cathedral of Maryam Tsion, his large mural paintings were produced in the same way that traditional artists today continue to work--painting on cloth that is stretched and nailed to a wood frame, and only when completed, removed from its frame and pasted to a church wall (Silverman 1999, 2005).

It is the paintings of Aleqa Yohannes in Seaka Iyasus that painters from Adit, young and old, unanimously speak of as both their inspiration to paint and the examples they drew from when they first began to develop their artistic skills. (25) The most commonly referenced works are his paintings of St. Mary and St. George (Fig. 14). Significantly, paintings of these same subjects by Aleqa Yohannes are also found in the Maryam Tsion cathedral in Aksum. Many artists admire and respect Aleqa Yohannes's work. One of them, Gush Woldemichael, expresses what many had to say about the paintings in Adit's local church when he commented, "No one comes close to him ... we really admire his work." (26)

In 2001, accompanied by Hailemariam on a visit to Adit, we met Tsehaye Makonnen, who was then twenty-five years old and had been painting for Hailemariam for almost ten years. As with many other painters in this small town, he comes from a line of traditional church painters, including a brother, father, and uncle, and he attended religious school. (27) Yet, when asked how he learned to paint, Teshaye unhesitatingly told us Hailemariam trained him. During that visit, Hailemariam looked at one of Tsehaye's mural paintings and complimented the young artist on the facial tones and shading, noting that they were greatly improved from earlier work. He also noted, however, that the fingers were too long, and some had no fingernails. Later, commenting on one of Tsehaye's icons, Hailemariam criticized the composition, pointing out that the birth of St. Mary (with SS. Anne and Joachim, the parents of Mary) looked essentially the same as the birth of Christ in the next register. Though this was not theologically incorrect, Hailemariam does not think the birth of St. Mary is a subject in which tourists are interested (Fig. 15).

In another conversation, Hailemariam told us that he is aware that tourists come from different countries, different cultures, and that they have different tastes--so he offers them different styles of painting in his shop. He also offers a range of subjects and types of objects on which they are depicted. He noted,

   These days I have to be concerned with not only those things that
   are good for me, but those things that are good for the tourists
   ... different tourists are interested in different things. Many
   Italians [Catholics] are like us, they like what we like.
   Protestants only believe in [the life of] Jesus, so I tell my
   painters to make icons with only Jesus ... People from Israel don't
   like icons, so they buy masks, and other things. (28)

A church education provides painters with grounding in the Biblical stories that form the basis of most paintings. Indeed, young painters without this education present Hailemariam with one of his greater challenges because their lack of Biblical knowledge is the source of the often numerous misinterpretations, which he refers to as "mistakes" that occur in their work. The most common of these is incorrectly ordering the sequence of events in the pictorial narratives of the life of Christ. We once observed Hailemariam critiquing the work of a young painter, telling him that the Resurrection cannot occur before the Crucifixion! He commented to the artist, "If tourists are going to take the paintings home, they expect the correct order." (29) Occasionally, a strange aberration may slip into a painting. For example, one artist, in his depiction of the crucifixion, painted Christ with a nail in his forehead, in addition to the usual iconographic representation of nails piercing Christ's hands and feet. Looking at an icon produced by another painter, Hailemariam liked the quality of the painting, but then noted that it was painted in a poorly carved wood case. He explained that he did not give high-quality cases to a painter until the artist had proven himself worthy of the investment. However, he sometimes gives a case to someone who shows signs of being a good artist, providing the painter an opportunity to demonstrate to Hailemariam that he is worthy of such an investment.

CONTINUITY AND CHANGE

Throughout the centuries, Ethiopian church painting has gone through periods of transformation with the introduction of new themes and styles. The dynamic of continuity and change occurring today in religious painting in Aksum offers interesting insights into both the stability of artistic production for religious purposes as well its transformation into a commodity and tourist art form. The values attached to such objects are fluid in Aksum, as they are with comparable material traditions in many other regions of Ethiopia. This state of affairs is an example of what James Clifford refers to as the "Art-Culture System" and demonstrates the fluidity of categories that have been created for objects that circulate in various transcultural spaces, and the shifting values that are ascribed to these objects--authentic-inauthentic, masterpiece-artifact, art-not art, culture-not culture (Clifford 1988). That the intense competition of the international marketplace in this small community in northern Ethiopia is fueling new creative endeavors and reorienting artists and their art can be seen with the appearance of painted icons in new and interesting shapes and sizes. Yet at the same time, the market stalls that are an important part of the festivals of St. Mary's Day and Hosanna (Palm Sunday) bring throngs of Christians to Aksum from across the region, and even from the Diaspora. (30) These pilgrims purchase religious paraphernalia that they later present as donations to their local churches. Clearly, the church-based tradition upon which contemporary practices are based is still vital. That throughout the year individuals find their way to Aksum with the express purpose of commissioning an artist to produce an icon or a mural painting, or, although more rare, mural paintings for an entire interior wall of a church, offers further support that "traditional" painting is alive and well in Aksum.

Artists such as Berhanemeskel, Aleqa Hailu, and Gard are among the contemporary "traditional" painters of Aksum who produce these paintings. Their works are modern-day manifestation of the centuries-old painting tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. And as with past painters in this tradition, they are also responsive to the market demands of Orthodox parishioners and clergy who buy and commission their works, as well as the tourists who also purchase it. Exceptional individuals such as Berhanemeskel and Hailemariam have been a key element in this process. As mentors, they play an essential role in sustaining the magnificent painting tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. As advisors, and Hailemariam as an entrepreneur who buys and sells the work of painters, they ensure that the innovation and creativity that is introduced, remains within the boundaries of the tradition--appropriately recognizable depictions of saints and narratives that do not impinge on the theological and visual tenets of the church. By setting and reinforcing high standards for the production of both icons and mural paintings, Berhanemeskel and Hailemariam are dedicated to ensuring that parishioners, clergy, and tourists alike, are presented with paintings that are both contemporary and traditional; paintings that are suitable as an object of personal devotion, as a donation to a local church, or as a reminder of a journey to Aksum and to Ethiopia.

References

Adamu Tesfaw. 2005. "A Brief Account of My Life." In Painting Ethiopia: The Life and Work of Qes Adamu Tesfaw, ed. R. Silverman, pp. 15-17. Los Angles: UCLA Fowler Museum.

Chojnacki, Stanislaw. 2000. Ethiopian Icons. Milan: Skira.

Clifford, James. 1988. Predicament of Culture. Cam bridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Grierson, Roderick, ed. 1993. African Zion: the Sacred Art of Ethiopia. Fort Worth, TX: InterCultura.

Heldman, Marilyn. 1998. "Creating Religious Art: The Status of Artisans in Highland Christian Ethiopia." Aethiopica 1:131-47.

Mellors, John, and Anne Parsons. 2002. Ethiopian Bookmaking. London: New Cross Books.

Munro-Hay, Stuart. 2006. Ethiopia: Judaism, Altars, and Saints. Los Angeles: Tsehai Publishers.

Phillips, Ruth B., and Christopher Steiner. 1999. Unpack ing Culture: Art and Commodity in Colonial and Postcolonial Worlds. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Silverman, Raymond. 1999. "Qes Adamu Tesfaw--A Priest Who Paints: Painting in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church." In Ethiopia: Traditions of Creativity, ed. R. Silverman, pp. 132-55, 261-66. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

--. 2003. "Painting for the Ferenj: Tourism and Art in Contemporary Axum (Ethiopia)." Paper presented at the 46th Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association, Boston, MA.

--. 2005. Painting Ethiopia: The Life and Work of Qes Adamu Tesfaw. Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum.

--. 2007. "Icons of Devotion / Icons of Trade: Religion and Contemporary Visual Culture in Ethiopia." Paper presented at the 14th Triennial Symposium on African Art, Gainesville, FL.

Silverman, Raymond, and Neal Sobania. in press. "Ethiopian Traditions of Creativity: 'Art' or 'Handicraft'?" In Ethiopian Art and Architecture, ed. R. Pankhurst. Lawrenceville, NJ: The Red Sea Press.

--. 1999. "Silverwork in the Highlands: The Life and Work of Gezahegn Gebre Yohannes and Abib Sa'id." In Ethiopia: Traditions of Creativity, ed. R. Silverman, pp. 183-99, 271-72. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

--. 2004. "Mining the Mother Lode: Early European Travel Literature and the History of Precious Metalworking in Highland Ethiopia." History in Africa 31:335-55.

Sobania, Neal. 2007. "The 'Adit' Factor: Tradition and Creativity in the Production of Contemporary Aksum Icons." Paper presented at the XVI International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Trondheim, Norway.

Sobania, Neal, with Daniel Berhanemeskel. 2003. "Liturgical Painting in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church." Cresset 66 (4):14-17.

Sobania, Neal, and Raymond Silverman. 2006. "Patrons and Artists in Highland Ethiopia: Contemporary Practice in the Commissioning of Religious Painting and Metalwork." In Proceedings of the XVth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, ed. Siegbert Uhlig, pp. 469-77. Wiebaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.

Steiner, Christopher B. 1994. African Art in Transit. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Notes

This article is drawn from three unpublished conference papers by the authors, "Painting for the Ferenj: Tourism and Art in Contemporary Axum (Ethiopia)" at the 46th Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association, Boston MA, 2003; "Icons of Devotion / Icons of Trade: Religion and Contemporary Visual Culture in Ethiopia." at the 14th Triennial Symposium on African Art, Gainesville FL, 2007; and "The 'Adit' Factor: Tradition and Creativity in the Production of Contemporary Aksum Icons" at the XVI International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Trondheim, Norway, 2007.

(1) The original 1960s Historic Route moved passengers on Ethiopian Airlines DC-3s from Addis Abba to Bahir Dar, Gondar, Lalibela, Aksum, and Asmara with a day and night at each location on the route. Today, Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, is no longer part of the Historic Route and Ethiopian Airlines promotes other tourist destinations such as the Muslim walled city of Harar.

(2) The number of tourists to Ethiopia remains but a small fraction of those who vacation on East Africa's coast or visit its famous game parks.

(3) For the purposes of this paper we have purposefully left blurred the boundaries between categories such as traditional and contemporary, and art, artifact, and commodity. We have discussed this elsewhere; see Silverman and Sobania in press.

(4) For another similar contemporary center see Mellors and Parsons 2002.

(5) Icons come in a wide range of sizes and formats. Some are small enough to be worn around the neck as an amulet; others are so large they need a stand to hold them. Some are paintings on a flat wood panel; while others are contained in plain to elaborately carved diptychs, double diptychs and triptychs.

(6) Aleqa is a church title for a learned person.

(7) Interviews with Berhanemeskel Fisseha, April 200l, November 27, 2002, and December 3, 2002. (8) A magogo is a circular cooking tray used to make injera, the bread eaten with most Ethiopian meals.

(9) By training his daughters to paint, Berhanemeskel is breaking with the tradition, in which only males have been trained to paint. See Makda Tecklemichael in this issue.

(10) Since 1992 we have been working with church painters, as well as with silver- and goldsmiths, interviewing and collecting information about the history and contemporary socio-economic dynamics of these two groups. As part of this project, Hailemariam has become more than just one of our respondents. He is, in fact, a good friend who, as our relationship has grown over the years, has willingly introduced us to many of the painters who make up the talented group from whom he purchases and sells the finest works in his shop.

(11) Among many volumes that consider Ethiopian icons historically are Grierson 1993, and Chojnacki 2000.

(12) Interview with Hailemarianr Zerue, December 2, 2001.

(13) In the end, as our relationship with Hailemariam grew, he essentially gave us carte blanche to photograph what we wanted and introduced us to his best painters, the carvers from whom he purchases, as well as silversmiths, who showed us new style icon cases, paintings by new artists, and other products of parchment, metal, and stone. Still, on occasion, he has requested that we not show certain photographs to anyone for a year or two, and certainly not to anyone in Aksum, in order to guard the identity of the artists who produce the new innovation on which his continued success depends.

(14) As mentioned in note 9, it is extremely rare for women to paint, and although on occasion Hailemariam has sold a work painted by one of Berhanemeskel's daughters, it is sold as Berhanemeskel's work. See Makda Teklemichael in this issue.

(15) Interview with Aleqa Hailu Gebramedhin, December 8, 200l. On the proper order for placing paintings on the walls of Ethiopian Orthodox Churches, see Sobania 2003.

(16) Interview with Hailemariam Zerue, November 13, 2002.

(17) Interview with Gard Geday, December 8, 200l.

(18) Interview with Hailemariam Zerue, December 7, 2002.

(19) Interview with Gard Geday, December 8, 200l.

(20) Ibid.

(21) Interview with Hailemariam Zerue, December 7, 2001.

(22) Seaka is the name of the specific location in Adit, and Iyasus means "Jesus".

(23) Interview with Hailemariam Zerue, March 23, 2005.

(24) On a visit to the church in November 200l, we spoke with a farmer who said his relative, Ato Shetu, housed Aleqa Yohannes when he painted the church; this guided us in trying to determine the date of its painting.

(25) This pattern of young men entering a church, being awed by the paintings, and wanting to produce such work themselves, is found across Orthodox Christian areas of Ethiopia. For example, Qes Adamu Tesfaw recalled that as a boy " ... whenever I visited the church, I was enraptured by the paintings on the walls. They inspired awe in my heart. I studied images of saints, martyrs, emperors, and nobles with wonder and never thought they were created by human beings." (Adamu Tesfaw 2005:15)

(26) Interview with Gush Woldemichael, November 29, 2001.

(27) The work of his brother Mahari Mekonnen, his father Mekonnen Gebremichael, and his father's brother Qes Libanos Gebremichael, who all were painters, is also found in the Adit church of Seaka Iyasus.

(28) Interview with Hailemariam Zerue, December 2, 2001

(29) Interview with Hailemariam Zerue, November 22, 2001

(30) Today, many Ethiopians who emigrated during the period of the Derg to North America, Europe, Australia, and other parts of the world return to Ethiopia to visit, especially for holidays and festivals such as St. Mary's Day and Hosanna.

NEAL SOBANIA is a professor of history at Pacific Lutheran University and executive director of the Wang Center for International Programs. [e-mail]

RAYMOND SILVERMAN is professor of art history and Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan, where he also serves as director of the Museum Studies Program. [e-mail]