FROM KALASHNIKOV TO THE BRUSH

Rothers at War, was the phrase used by the Western media to describe the Ethio-Eritrea war that took place from May 1998 to June 2000. Widely expressed as one of most unjustifiable wars ever fought in the 21st century, the border conflict claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people from both sides. Many were sacrificed, but a few survived to tell their battle stories. Fekadu Ayalew, 38, is one of the lucky ones who survived to pursue his childhood dream of becoming an artist.



Ironically, Fekadu’s willingness to enlist in the army was stirred by his belief that war was a form of art. “I don’t know how but I just found a strong connection between art and war,” he says. Fekadu describes his life philosophy as follows: “Imagine a mushroom that grew somewhere and the helmet of a soldier placed on top of his grave. Both look similar in shape and in meaning since both could grow anywhere and die anywhere; moreover, both have a saving and killing character,” he says.



Unlike many of the contemporary artists in Ethiopia, Fekadu views his artistic life from an intrinsic motivation—that art is anything or something of an individual. Citing Leonardo da Vinci’s expression, he says that the so-called four dimensions of art are something you can only feel but cannot be able to express by any sense organ. “I just can’t tell you what I do. I just put my feelings in my own way that doesn’t tell anybody anything,” he says. Though Fekadu’s military experience has exposed him to the mesmerizing landscapes of the Northern highlands, which have become one source of inspiration for his art, the war has also left a scar on the former soldier. “I am becoming fully paralyzed. My hands can only paint because of the courage I had in war,” he said.



For the past four years, Fekadu has been suffering from a degenerative nerve failure he encountered while having a cerebral surgery. Nevertheless, he has not given up. A couple of weeks ago, he opened a solo exhibition at the National Museum coping with the affliction from a spinal muscular atrophy. His perseverance led his audiences to ask one question: “How was it possible to paint?” “I painted having a brush on my hand fastening it with a scotch-tape,” he says adding that he was assisted by others in putting some extra objects and encryptions on the paintings.



For Fekadu, life is determined by a destiny but he never believes that destiny is already set. “I think there is a destiny for everyone but in many ways it can change at any time,” he explains. “As a man who wishes to do everything independently, I sometimes feel a little frustrated that I could have achieved more in my career if I hadn't gone through the things I went through,” he says. He, however, does not want to see it as something impossible to turn around. “Maybe I’m entering the last stage of the complication with my nervous system but I don’t want to worry about it. I can sell my paintings and can get better treatment abroad,” he says.

Fekadu’s career took off in the 1990s when he was an elementary school student. He attended eight different schools in different parts of the country and was exposed to cultural and natural diversity. Before joining the Ale School of Fine Arts and Design, he had to put his ideas on canvas. Born in Benishangul Gumuz Regional State he grew up with Berta, Amhara and Agew communities before moving to Addis Ababa. Having served in the military at the age of 16, he returned back to Addis Ababa to pursue his dream of attending art school for a better understanding of his innate desire. Like any other student he took freshman courses including philosophy which he believes was an eye opener.

Despite the reluctance of some instructors at the fine arts school, he managed to get admission with the help of a registrar officer. “If it was another person who was to decide on my educational qualification, I would have never joined the school. That was a turning point,” he said. Spending four years at the school, Fekadu graduated in 2008 and became an arts teacher. “One of my goals set in my career was to teach aesthetics to students who would become tomorrow’s architects and engineers,” he says while explaining why he focused more on teaching rather than being a studio-based artist. Fekadu, who absolutely disagrees with the way students are taught these days, expresses his frustration and fear in a more artistic way that this colorful country will never stay the same. Arguably, he is one of those artists and architects who have been vocal in criticizing the way the development is going on across the country. Fekadu admires painters such as Tadesse Mesfin who also previously told The Reporter that the country’s development is leaving an enormous vacuum for art and aesthetics.

Appreciating the old curriculum – in which fine arts and handcraft were taught starting from elementary level – Fekadu thinks that the future would not be what he hopes it would be. He believes that it will be a major failure for the country, which has an ancient and indigenous art culture that inspired people from all walks of life. Enormously interested in landscape art and sculpture, Fekadu’s paintings are full of natural occurrences like water bodies and mountains. “What I feel is lacking in my career is that I wished to have lived in Bahir Dar or Tigray to paint the landscapes there,” he said. The schools are the only reason he sees living in Addis Ababa as being worth it. A week before his illness, Fekadu was employed by the School of Architecture and Building Construction at Addis Ababa University to teach fine arts. “The first question I was asked by the interviewer was why I decided to join the school. I responded by saying that I want to see a building different from a hill of bricks,” he said.



The ailing artist might have missed the opportunities he could have seized in his healthy days but he has another important factor that can raise his hope. One of his inspirational painters has gradually come out of his deadly hopeless days suffering from a similar case. Brook Yeshitila has been a familiar name for many in the art community because of his determination and courage that enabled him to transcend all odds.



“I hope his fate will be the same. We want to see him get well,” Mifta Zeleke, a curator, says. Fekadu is already determined and has a deep passion for art. And the next big project for Fekadu’s will be his work at the future museum of the defense force where he will be able to put his brush and a Kalashnikov together on a peaceful canvas.