Tsedaye Makonnen

Tsedaye Makonnen
Born1984 (age 41–42)
Washington, D.C., U.S.

Tsedaye Makonnen (born 1984, Washington, D.C.) is a Black and Ethiopian American multidisciplinary visual and performance artist, curator, doula, and mother.[1][2][3] Her work is inspired by Black women's experiences, including their experiences with police brutality and traumatic birth, and also often addresses themes of refuge, commemoration of the experiences of refugees, and forced migration.[2][3]

Art career

In 2016, Makonnen performed an Ethiopian coffee ceremony outside Zenebech, an Ethiopian restaurant in Shaw, Washington, D.C. that was closing.[4]

Makonnen was the recipient of a 2019 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship.[5]

At the 2019 Venice Biennale, Makonnen performed an impromptu piece in front of Christoph Büchel’s Barca Nostra, which displayed the wreckage of a ship on which 800 African migrants had drowned earlier that year.[6][7] Her work included scattering rose petals around the wreckage and lying on the ground while holding a skull.[7] She was confronted by security guards; she later released a video of the interaction as the work "When Drowning is the Best Option".[8][7]

In 2020, Makonnen finished her residency at Savage-Lewis Residency at Martha’s Vineyard. As part of the residency, she created the solo piece "I Need a Motherfucking Doula" and collaborated with fellow artist Ayana Evans on the performance piece "Inserting Ourselves".[6]

In early 2021, Makonnen was part of a four-artist exhibition at Art Dubai.[5] From February to April 2022, her multimedia works Astral Sea I, III, and IV were on display at Artspace in New Haven, Connecticut as part of their Dyschronics exhibition.[9] She performed at the Loophole of Refuge symposium in Venice, Italy in October 2022.[10]

Makonnen's sculptures "Tsehai ፀሐይ Sunlight" and "Aberash አበራሽ You Give Light II" and her "Astral Sea" performance/textile series were displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art during their Africa & Byzantium exhibition in late 2023 and early 2024.[1][11][12][13] In early 2024, Makonnen worked on the Walters Art Museum's exhibition Ethiopia at the Crossroads as a guest curator;[14] her installation "Senait & Nahom" was also included in the exhibition.[15][16]

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art held an exhibition of Makonnen's works in late 2024.[17][18] Makonnen was also included in the Albuquerque Museum's Broken Boxes exhibition that year.[19]

Awards

  • Connecting Communities Digital Initiative Award, Fall 2024[20]

Exhibitions

Group

Solo

Personal life

Makonnen was born in Washington, D.C. to Ethiopian immigrant parents[27] and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland.[5][28] She worked at the Shaw Community Center for three years[4] and as a doula at D.C. nonprofit with Mamatoto Village for four years.[28] She has a son, who was born in the early 2010s.[28]

References

  1. 1 2 Makonnen, Tsedaye (2023), Tsehai ፀሐይ Sunlight, retrieved 2025-03-04
  2. 1 2 Dozier, Ayanna (2022-05-06). "Tsedaye Makonnen's Art Addresses Reproductive Healthcare Inequalities Affecting Black Women". Artsy. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  3. 1 2 Hue, E. (2022). Tsedaye Makonnen’s Astral Sea: Critical Refugee Studies and the Black Mediterranean. American Quarterly 74(2), 441-452. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/aq.2022.0027.
  4. 1 2 "How An Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony Sparked Conversation About Changes in Shaw". The Kojo Nnamdi Show. 2016-10-05. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Valentine, Victoria L. (2021-04-02). "On View: Addis Fine Art is Showcasing Tadesse Mesfin, Addis Gezehagn, Tsedaye Makonnen, and Tizta Berhanu at Art Dubai". Culture Type. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  6. 1 2 Lanay, Jessica (2020-01-13). "Ayana Evans and Tsedaye Makonnen". BOMB Magazine. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  7. 1 2 3 Pes, Javier; Rea, Naomi (2019-05-16). "'Absolutely Vile' or 'Powerful'? Christoph Buchel's Migrant Boat Is the Most Divisive Work at the Venice Biennale". Artnet News. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  8. ↑ Tagle, Thea Quiray (2020-08-04). "Artists Imagine New Monuments and "Otherwise Worlds"". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  9. ↑ "Dyschronics". Artspace. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  10. ↑ Rodney, Seph (2022-11-13). "Discovering How Black Women Might Forge a Path to Freedom". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  11. ↑ Makonnen, Tsedaye (2023), Aberash አበራሽ You Give Light II, retrieved 2025-03-04
  12. ↑ "Tsedaye Makonnen: Astral Sea: The Need for Collective Refuge". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  13. ↑ "Tsedaye Makonnen's ASTRAL SEA Speaks To The Need for Collective Refuge". Africa-Related. 2024-03-15. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  14. ↑ Henderson, Teri (2024-01-17). "Ethiopia at the Crossroads". Baltimore Beat. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  15. ↑ Pandey, Nandini; Cook, Nandini Pandey, Lauren (2024-02-28). "Ethiopia's Art at the Crossroads of Traditions". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2025-03-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ "ethiopian-art-walters-museum/". The Washington Post. 2024-01-10.
  17. 1 2 "National Museum of African Art Opens Exhibition by Artist Tsedaye Makonnen". Smithsonian Institution. December 5, 2024.
  18. ↑ "tsedaye-makonnen-sanctuary-african-art-museum/". The Washington Post. 2025-01-15.
  19. 1 2 "Albuquerque Museum Presents "Broken Boxes: A Decade of Art, Action, and Dialogue"". Hyperallergic. 2024-09-06. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  20. ↑ Dorsey, Olivia (2024-12-05). "Recording of CCDI's Fall 2024 Awardee Project Celebration Now Available Online | Of the People". The Library of Congress. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
  21. ↑ Rodney, Seph (2020-04-02). "What Does It Mean to Exhibit "Black Excellence"?". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  22. ↑ "Tsedaye Makonnen, Senait & Nahom. The Peacemaker & The Comforter, 2019". Addis Fine Art. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  23. ↑ "Tsedaye Makonnen, Astral Sea II, 2019". Addis Fine Art. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  24. ↑ "Tsedaye Makonnen, The Astral II, 2020". Addis Fine Art. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  25. ↑ "Migrations and Meaning(s) in Art an exhibition curated by Dr. Deborah Willis". MICA. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  26. ↑ "The Big Review: Africa & Byzantium at Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York ★★★★☆". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. 2023-11-17. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
  27. ↑ Robinson, Shantay (February 14, 2025). "These Seven Stunning Towers Memorialize Lost Black Lives With Mirrors, Light and Ethiopian Cross Designs". ICMGLT. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  28. 1 2 3 Williams, Elliot C.; Dwyer, Dee (2021-04-07). "'It's A Lot': How D.C. Creatives Are Mastering The Art Of Motherhood". DCist. Retrieved 2025-03-04.
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