AMREF’S ARTBALL AND AUCTION HONORS JULIE MEHRETU
On February 25 Amref Health Africa (Amref) hosted the annual Artball event and adjoining Contemporary African, Pan-african, and Black Art auction to celebrate creative talent from Africa for a good cause. The auction feature 38 pieces of contemporary African, Pan African, and Black art from emerging and established artists such as Tariku Shiferaw, Helina Metaferia, Adjei Tawiah and Damien Davis to benefit a youth-empowerment program run by Amref Health Africa in Ethiopia called Kefeta. At the ceremony Tariku Shiferaw presented worldrenowned painter Julie Meheretu with the Rees Visionary Award.
ON CALULATING THE HOTTEST ARTIST ON CALULATING THE HOTTEST TRACKS
Artball features a Contemporary African, Panafrican, and Black art auction, entertainment, food and beverages from award-winning Blackowned vendors, an installation, and an award ceremony, and has grown from just over 300 attendees to nearly 800, with an emphasis on the African diaspora. Notable hosts and guests have included Solange, Swizz Beatz, Alicia Keys, Chris Rock, Antwaun Sargent, Kimberly Drew, Hank Willis Thomas, Isolde Brielmaier, Shantell Martin, Nina Chanel Abney, Jack Shainman, Young Paris, and many more.
Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, contemporary visual artist Julie Mehertu is known worldwide for her multi layered paintings of abstracted landscapes on a large scale. Informed by politics, literature, and music, Mehretu’s works engage us in a dynamic visual articulation of contemporary experience, a depiction of social behavior and the psychogeography of space. In an exciting and unprecedented partnership with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Amref has been running the Kefeta program (meaning “to elevate” in Amharic) over the last year. Through Kefeta, Amref is working together with two million of Ethiopia’s young adults (ages 17-29) across 18 cities to amplify their voices and their role in community development to address the growing unemployment gap across the country that they face.