The Ethiopian Church Journal Blog

Painting by major Ethiopian artist uncovered by Scottish art historian – in Oklahoma Tuesday 11 June 2024 One of the last artworks by a major Ethiopian artist has been uncovered by an art historian from the University of St Andrews in Scotland during a research trip to Oklahoma. Dr Kate Cowcher made the surprise discovery of the painting by Gebre Kristos Desta at the council offices in Lawton, Oklahoma, alongside Professor Emily Burns from the University of Oklahoma. Gebre Kristos, as he was known, was a revered artist who was at the heart of the rich cultural scene known as the ‘Addis Spring’. He had escaped Ethiopia in 1979, after a revolution had turned violent, arriving in Oklahoma as a refugee in spring 1980, hosted by a Catholic church in Lawton. Dr Cowcher, a lecturer in the School of Art History in St Andrews, had travelled to Lawton as part of h...

  golden-breasted starling, Ethiopia

What Punjab’s last Maharaja and an Ethiopian Prince had in common Maharaja Duleep Singh and Prince Alemayehu did not have an easy time in England despite their royal lineage and “imperial” benefactor. And their remaining there was also a consequence of geopolitics—protecting British commercial and political interests The connection between India and Ethiopia—once called Abyssinia—goes back a long way. Thanks to more recent dissemination of information (particularly via social media, not textbooks) many Indians now know not only about Razia Sultan’s Abyssinian lover Jamaluddin Yaqut but about the Ethiopian mercenaries who came to India to fight battles for many kingdoms in the Deccan including Malik Ambar and Ikhlas Khan. But there’s a more recent link.      This week there’s news that Britain has turned down yet another request from Ethiopia to return the remains of their young Prince Alemayehu, who lies buried among many British monarchs, aristocrats and clergy inside St...

  Violet-backed Starling, Ethiopia @BDR Photography

Cattle Egret, Ethiopia

Red-cheeked Cordon-bleau, Ethiopia