Face Mask, Ethiopia

roughly,  100 USD = 1,000 Kr (Norwegian Kroner)

Hi, My name is Robel Temesgen, a visual artist and educator based in Addis Ababa. Since the first COVID 19 case has been announced in Ethiopia, I have been staying indoor (for the most part of it). Even though time and staying in the studio have been at my abundance, it hasn’t been easy to make Artworks or do my studio routine. Hence, being visited by Artist-friends in my studio and having the luxury of being together, seven of us started to make reusable Face Masks. Our mask-making adventure started through Tsednia Abayneh, (one of the seven people currently making the masks) by making few Masks for her siblings using a tiny sewing machine. Later, Leayne Telahun brought a small machine to make a few more masks to give out to our friends and families. I backed the idea by buying a proper sewing machine to grow production and offer masks for people who we believe are vulnerable and likely unable to afford a mask to buy.
Looking into social fabric in Ethiopia, beyond the economic drive, our daily life is dependent to the daily interactions we make with each other. For that reason and of course for how many peoples life depend on the streets, this mask-making adventure has evolved to becoming a small contribution. As we keep producing masks and give out, it has become mandatory in Addis Ababa to wear masks when in places like markets, public transport and banks. So far, we managed to produce some 700 Masks. But by looking into how many people depend on their daily interactions to make a living, this numbers are nothing compare to the crowded streets of Addis Ababa. Moreover, estimates show that June/July might be the pick of the epidemic in places like Ethiopia. Clearly, most people can not afford to stay indoors.
We are 7 professionals. Three filmmakers, three visual artists and one Designer. Kasahun Hailu (Designer), Tsedenia Abayneh(Engineer, businesswoman), Leayne Telahun (Visual Artist), Shimelis Tadesse (Film Maker), Naod Lemma (Photographer and Film Maker) and myself, Robel Temesgen. By sharing responsibilities among ourselves, we organically created a workflow that keeps us have a purpose and hope by being engaged to making the masks, beyond the support we provide to people in need of it.
Each mask is made with care and concern. The seven people who have been involved have contributed to produce the masks. Our goal is to provide more reusable masks to people who would need them but less likely to afford them. We want to reach out to more people who put their lives in danger not because they chose to, but because of their economic status and unable to afford to stay at home at such trying times. With your support, using the 5,000 USD, we will produce more than 5,000 reusable masks to give out to people for free. One USD will make one Mask. We will produce as much mask as we get support for and more.
Like many other places, Ethiopian authorities require Face Mask. This is becoming more and more a reality for Ethiopia too. Knowing the capacities of people affording masks in the urban low-income workers, mask price is pushing people away to afford protection.
Majority of the streets in Addis Ababa are also used as a place for earning a living. People interact on the streets. Closing of open markets and street vendors is unimaginable. The only possible act is to guide through protection and safety while keeping the everyday.
Few members of this group making the masks are independent Artists and there has not been any fund allocated to support such sectors like the arts in Ethiopia. In that regard, we would like to structure support even within these group (making the masks) so that the extra money besides raw materials will go to support them.
We give thanks for your generous support and will keep you posted on every step of the process. Meantime, we will keep making the masks.
 
 



Biography of people involved
 
1, Robel Temesgen

(b.1987, Ethiopia) received MFA in Contemporary Art from Tromsø Academy of Contemporary Art and Creative Writing, University of Tromsø, Norway (2015) and a BFA in Painting from Alle School of Fine Arts and Design, Addis Ababa University (2010). His practice focuses on painting and encompasses elements of performance, installation, newspaper and collaborative projects. Temesgen’s works have been exhibited in numerous platforms internationally. Currently, he is based in Addis Ababa working between studio and lecturing at the Department of Painting, Alle School of Fine Arts and Design, Addis Ababa University. 
 
2, Kasahun Hailu,

Kasahun Hailu, born in Ethiopia in 1985.  
Received BFA (Industrial Design) from Addis Ababa university school of  Fine Arts And Design  (2009) and MSC (Creative Designing and CAD/CAM ) in 2014 from Footwear Design And Development Institute (India ), worked at Leather Industry Development Institute as a designer and instructor at product development center (PDC) for nine years, currently Kasahun is a founder and designer at Ejesera Leather Craft Design Studio as well as freelance designer for leather goods and shoes companies in Ethiopia.
 
 
3, Leayne Telahun,

Born 1988, Dessie, Ethiopia
Lives and works in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tilahun, received his BFA from Addis Ababa University with a specialization in Painting, in 2012. His oil and ink on canvas works, based on relentless realism of his drawings focus on the human body and mind as a screen that manifests the human psyche. His compositions shift towards the dystopic and
surreal and are filled with unusual poses and anatomical contortions to best
represent the fluid state of mind of a contemporary human. Recent exhibitions include participation in the prestigious national annual art showcase Art of Ethiopia 2017, 2014 and 2013, in 2013 - 1957 exhibition at the Ethiopian National Museum as well as exhibitions with DinQ gallery, Galleria TO.MO.KA., Guramayne Art Centre and Alliance Française Ethiopie.
 
4, Tesfaye Bekele,

Born in 1982, Bekele grew up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia during a shifting cultural and political landscape in the country. As a young child he began drawing art out of interest as a way to document the images in his community. In 2007 he attended the Addis Ababa University, Alle School of Fine Arts and Design and graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Fine Art(s) in Art Education.  
Inspired by nature and natural forms as well as things that capture his imagination, Tesfaye Bekele takes these influences and transfers them into his work, through which he communicates with his audiences. Most of his paintings may not be definitive in their form or content rather built on abstract forms, events and objects, but nonetheless convey wonder and mystery.
 
5, Naod Lemma,

Born in 1982, Naod Lemma grew up in Merkato, the famous open-air market neighborhood in Addis Abeba. In 2009, after graduating from Addis Ababa University with a degree in Theatre Arts he began to explore different mediums, such as experimental filmmaking and performance art.
Naod’s multimedia arts explore different kinds of everyday people in Ethiopia and their environmental and social life. In 2010, Naod began work on an ongoing project that focuses on portraits of people and their condition as “strangers” within their ordinary existence in their daily life. His stated role is to ‘give recognition to their existence through my artworks’.
 
6, Tsedenia Abayneh,
 
Tsedenia Abayneh, Born in 1989.
Received her BSC in construction management in 2014 and MFA in Film production 2017, both from Addis Ababa University.
Tsedenia has been Working at Kanketi Coffee Export since 2017 to present as a Marketing Manager.
She is currently studying MA in Project management at College of Commerce at the AAU.

7, Shimelis Tadesse,