| Jembere Hailu
In 1927 my uncle, Aleqa Alemu, was asked by Empress Zawditu to paint [the church of] Tedbaba Mariam in [the province of] Wello and he asked me to help him. This is where I began to learn to paint. When we finished, my uncle was ordered by [the governor of Begemder] Ras Gugsa Wale to paint Enatitu Mariam, a church in Debre Tabor. We worked with three other painters. Wondwossen Kassa, Ras Gugsa's successor, called me to paint his palace. When I completed the assignment, I was offered a new job as a clerk. In 1933, I got married to my first wife and in 1935 we had our first son, Tobian Jembere. In 1936, my father, who was a professional soldier, and I were sent to Maychew to fight the Italians. I joined the Ethiopian patriots for five years in their struggle against the Italians-during this time, I did not paint anything, I did not even think about painting. I started painting again in 1943 and five years later moved to Addis. The Emperor gave me land and a home. I painted all the time and sold a lot of my paintings. I have painted some of the churches here in Addis Ababa, like Entoto Mariam and Qeranno Medhane Alem. But when the Emperor was overthrown and the Derg came to power I stopped painting.[2] Foreigners stopped coming to Ethiopia. You asked me to paint my interpretation of the Derg-I cannot do it; it hurts too much to think about what they did to Ethiopia. Now that the Derg is gone, I have begun to paint again but it is difficult-my eyesight is not very good. If foreigners are encouraged to visit the country this will give incentive for painters. The local market is not enough. Only God knows if I will remain healthy enough to paint in the future. |
I was born in Debre Tabor (near Gonder) about 80 years ago. As a youth I received a church education studying Dawit, Tsome Degwa, Qene, Zemare, and Aqwaqwam.[