America’s inaugural extensive exhibition of Ethiopian art spanning epochs will conclude its year-long journey at the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) with a grand finale featuring non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
In June, TMA disclosed that Yatreda, the blockchain-based Ethiopian art collective, would serve as their second digital artist in residence, following the residency of Nigerian NFT luminary Osinachi in 2023. This year, Yatreda will present a unique installation within TMA’s iteration of “Ethiopia at the Crossroads,” a collaboration among TMA, the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem.
Yatreda’s offering, entitled “House Of Yatreda,” will showcase loans of their most renowned NFTs and introduce a new series, effectively linking historical relics in “Ethiopia at the Crossroads” with contemporary Ethiopian art. Yatreda has already integrated into TMA, immersing themselves in Toledo, planning “House of Yatreda” with TMA’s curators, and mentoring local artist Jordan Buschur. This autumn, the residency will culminate with a Christie’s auction featuring Yatreda’s works and Buschur’s debut.
The announcement of Yatreda’s residency came shortly after TMA unveiled TMA Labs, a new department dedicated to exploring emerging technologies like AI, AR, and Web3 to enhance operational efficiencies and data support.
Yatreda, as a collective, transforms Ethiopia’s often overlooked history and national pride into evocative, monochrome, animated depictions of historical narratives minted on Ethereum. Ethiopia stands as one of two African nations never colonized, celebrated annually on Adwa Victory Day for repelling potential colonizers.
However, Yatreda’s founder Kiya Tadele observed that despite Ethiopian pride, few efforts exist to document the nation’s history using the resources available to other countries. Yatreda’s name, a portmanteau of “fence” and “debt” in Amharic, reflects Tadele’s childhood nickname and her modeling and photo editing career in Addis Ababa.
Collaborating with her sisters Roman and Suzy, along with her fiancé and friends, Tadele directs Yatreda in staging and capturing scenes that merge Ethiopia’s past with its contemporary and future aspirations. These videos are minted on platforms like Foundation or sold through Christie’s.
Yatreda notably offered one of the top lots in Christie’s NFT sale during Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2023. Roman, a historian, ensures the accuracy of Yatreda’s historical portrayals, while Suzy designs costumes for each shoot, which present-day Ethiopians wear in royal attire, embodying the spirit of “tizita,” an aesthetic invoking nostalgia.
In Tadele’s words to Cointelegraph, “Our modern canvas is video and blockchain instead of ink and leather,” illustrating how Yatreda pushes Ethiopian art into the future.
For TMA, Yatreda’s selection for this year’s residency aligns with “Ethiopia at the Crossroads.” The exhibition spans 2,000 years of Ethiopian history across 200 artworks, including treasures from the Kingdom of Aksum to contemporary pieces by Ethiopian-American artist Julie Mehretu.
The exhibition debuted at the Walters Art Museum in December 2023 and is currently at the Peabody Essex Museum. Its final stop will be at TMA from August 17 to November 10, where “House of Yatreda” will feature prominently, showcasing loans of the collective’s greatest works like “Queen of Sheba” (2021), depicting Tadele as the revered figure known as Makeda.
Yatreda’s Abyssinian Queen series, featuring four portraits, will also debut at TMA.
Yatreda has spent weeks in Toledo, engaging with the community, exploring museum resources, and envisioning “House of Yatreda,” which will include authentic coffee ceremonies, a deeply cherished tradition in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee culture.
Simultaneously, TMA has collaborated throughout the year with developers to create a platform enabling visitors to collect NFTs by Yatreda and Buschur via the Proof of Attendance Protocol, alongside other artworks.
Blockchain has paved the way for artists to sell transient works outside traditional channels, but Tadele sees its true value in fostering a sense of belonging: “A ‘place’ should be more than a social media platform… A true home for art should have continuity, future, preserving and owning.”
Whether Toledo will emerge as America’s next Web3 hub remains to be seen.