The exhibition offers a unique dialogue between the revolutionary work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, a leading neo-expressionist figure, and Ethiopian contemporary art, a unique and rapidly expanding field on the African continent. As a tribute to Basquiat’s rich and complex cultural heritage, the exhibition seeks to explore to multiple dimensions of his work, while highlighting the creations of Ethiopian artists whose works resonate deeply with the universal themes addressed by Basquiat.

The exhibition aims to create a cultural bridge between Basiquiat’s visual rebellion and contemporary Ethiopian voices, which are also striving to be heard on the global stage. By revisiting the African, Caribbean, and African-American influences that shaped Basquiat’s work, the exhibition questions how these influences still resonate today through the works of Ethiopian artists. The viewer will discover how these art forms continue to thrive and evolve, particularly in the context of modern Ethiopian.

Basquiat’s Haitian heritage, mixed with his African roots, has given his work an animist and spiritual dimension where mythological figures and symbols of cultural reappropriation are omnipresent. These elements create an intimate connection between Basquiat’s quest for identity and that of African and Afro-descendant artists who seek to redefine their place in a world marked by social and historical tensions. His paintings, often saturated with symbols, writing and bright colors, reflect a permanent quest for reconciliation between heritage and modernity.

This political and mystical dimension finds a deep echo in Ethiopian contemporary art, which is in full evolution. Ethiopian artists, while drawing inspiration from their ancestral roots, are developing new visual approaches that question their cultural heritage while exploring their place in a globalized world. Their search for identity and their desire to engage in dialogue with other cultures outside of their own are at the heart of Ethiopian creative dynamics. The works exhibited, combining tradition and innovation, offer a profound reflection on collective memory, the diaspora and the postcolonial issues of the African continent, without denying the spiritual and historical richness of their own country.

Impression of Africa: Jean-Michel Basquiat thus aims to create a visual conversation between Basquiat’s aesthetic and that of contemporary Ethiopian artists, highlighting the importance of his thees in the African context. The works exhibited will reflect this rich intercultural exchange, where art becomes a means of rebuilding bridges between past and present, between resistance and spirituality, between claim and aesthetic exploration.