African, European Artists Collaborate for Grand Street Murals in Addis

ADDIS ABABA – Four street art murals have been inaugurated on Sunday, as part of the Europe Day celebrations in Addis Ababa, seat of the African Union.

The murals are a collaborative work of artists from Africa and Europe who were actively present, together with representatives from the diplomatic and artistic community, at the celebration.

The street artists are Mohammed Awudu from Ghana, Edoardo Trionfera from Italy, Maria Peña Coto from Spain and Wesley Van Eeden from South Africa, who were selected through an open call.

Eight Ethiopian artists supported them in creating the beautiful additions to Ethiopia’s capital city’s scenery, and getting skill and training in the process.

The artists used the three walls under Pushkin Roundabout, Roosevelt St and on the office building of the Delegation of EU to the AU’s office as their canvas to paint the street over the past 10 days.

The street art murals have been inaugurated by the Delegation, which launched the project in March, on Sunday – Europe Day.

The event highlighted the powerful tool of art to bring the two continents closer while the murals represent shared values of the two continents; unity, peace and mutual respect, said the delegation.

The public art pieces are the contribution of the EU Delegation to the African Union, to deepen the relationship between the two continents, visualizing also the year of ‘Arts, Culture & Heritage’ as declared by the African Union, its officials said.

“Our aim is to go beyond the usual perceptions we have of each other,” said Birgitte Markussen, Ambassador of the EU to the AU.

“It’s about promoting what we have in common and what we share,” she said. “There is nothing more powerful than bringing people together to achieve this, and I want to congratulate the artists coming from different countries for their excellent work and cooperation”.