Emebet Belete grew up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She studied at the Addis Ababa School of Fine Arts in 1985 as one of only four female artists. After graduation, she worked as an artist and edited and published the first catalogue of women’s artwork in Ethiopia (FOWA: the Friendship of Women Artists – which is also an organization that still exists today to promote art education in Addis Ababa schools and supports new artists). She immigrated to Canada in 1998, where she earned Fine Arts and Education degrees at Queen’s University and continued to work as a studio artist. Travel has always been a significant part of her life, and she’s spent time in Tianjin, China, where she lived with her family and taught art to elementary students.
Emebet sees her artmaking practice as a constant reflection and loves finding the perfect colour to express a mood or balance a painting. She intends to seek mysterious and lasting effects through her art by using colour, mood, and balance. One of the ways Emebet views her art is by looking back through the work she has created as a journey that relates to her life experience and background. Through art, she can put things together and go deeper into learning who she is. As an educator, she aims to help children discover new tools to describe a world full of possibilities.
Image Source: Emebet Belete’s member profile page on the quinteartscouncil.com website and emebet.ca
