Meskerem Assegued
An anthropologist and curator, Meskerem was born and raised in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. She opened ZCAC (Zoma Contemporary Art Center) in 2002 on a rented private park at the edge of Addis Abeba and closed in 2005. ZCAC continued without space until 2008. Then it was given a piece of land at the foot of rocky hills in southeastern Ethiopian in the ancient village of Harla, Dire Dawa. The concept of ZCAC is to build a multidisciplinary art center that combines traditional and modern construction techniques, with the emphasis on minimizing the ecological impact. ZCAC will have residency programs for both Ethiopian and international artists. The first stage of the residency will be an Architectural Residency where architects, artists and archeologists will work together for six weeks to develop the initial construction plans.
Over the last 16 years, Meskerem has curated numerous exhibitions both in Ethiopia and abroad. Since 1997, she has been traveling to different parts of rural Ethiopia researching and documenting ancient religious rituals still in practice. In 2002, Elias Sime, one of the most prolific and multidisciplinary Ethiopian artists began traveling with her. They started showing a series of Anthropological Contemporary Art Exhibitions. These exhibitions curated by Meskerem usually consist of Elias’ art and Meskerem’s photographs and text. Some of her activities in the international art world include: participation in the African museum professionals and curators workshop in the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2001), member of the selection committee for the 2004 Dak’Art biennale, organizer of the international Art Critics Association (AICA) workshop in Ethiopia (2005), the visual art curator of Green Flame for the New Crowned Hope festival directed by Peter Sellars in Vienna, Austria (2006), member of the selection committee for the 2007 Venice Biennale and co-curator of Elias Sime: Eye of the Needle, Eye of the Heart with Peter Sellars in the Santa Monica Museum of Art in California (2008). Meskerem has written several articles about art and culture on local newspapers, journals and catalogues.
Zoma Contemporary Art Center
Addis Abeba, Ethiopia
The goal of Zoma Contemporary Art Center (ZCAC) is to enhance the creative and positive image of Ethiopia on the world stage. ZCAC is a non-profit art center. The main focus is to encourage and support young Ethiopian contemporary artists to development and implement new, innovative and experimental ideas. The center will raise funds to develop exchange programs, where artists from Ethiopia go to other parts of the world and artists from other parts of the world come to Ethiopia. ZCAC believes that creativity is one of the most effective tools to learn about one another and celebrate our similarities and differences in a peaceful and harmonious way.