Abdurahman
M. Sherif, a man of decision, an accountant, an instructor, and an artist known
for his silk screen printing, never gave up in search of something new until he
realized his heart’s desire. He was born on September 5, 1931, at Mercato’s
Adere Sefer in Addis Ababa.
He
started his artistic path by performing some illustration and design work while
he was an accounting student at the Addis Abeba School of Commerce. Ever since
he was a young child, the collection of paintings he saw at Mercato in Haji
Yosef’s house has stuck in his memory.
When
he entered the second year of his course and started to question his inner
feelings, he realized that the accounting and secretary courses he was studying
did not satisfy his true needs. So he understood that he could not continue in
this situation. At that time, he was sent to Khartoum with three other young
Ethiopians in a scholarship program to study as a chartered accountant under
the first cultural agreement between the governments of Ethiopia and Sudan. He
chose his own path and received a free education in an art school in the same
city rather than attending the education for which he was sent to Khartoum. He
enrolled there and began studying under the renowned Sudanese painter and
African modernist Ibrahim El-Salahi.
He
had to make his own decisions about the future once he got back from Khartoum.
Although making this choice was difficult, he was adamant about it and fully
confident that he would find a way to support his family whether he won or
lost. He purchased a bicycle and set out for the countryside to explore the
nearby forest while earning money to write and type a relative’s communication
at home. He started doing drawings and numerous watercolor paintings while
there.
When
his father used to see Abdurahman sketching pictures in the street, he would
tell him to stop, saying: “If your neighbors witnessed you acting in this
manner on the streets, they would think you are insane. Please put an end to
the street art.” Abduraman’s paintings were eventually accepted, and some
galleries began purchasing them. He was motivated to meet Ale Felege, the
founder and head of the Addis Ababa School of Fine Arts, by these watercolor
paintings.
He
began studying and teaching at the Addis Ababa School of Fine Arts in 1967.
Emperor Haile Selassie I was due to pay a visit at the time, thus Mr. Alefelege
assigned Abdurahman M. Sherif to paint the king’s portrait swiftly.
Abdurahman then received further fortune when the king admired his charcoal
method artwork. He received funding to study at the Kassel and Berlin art
academies in Federal Germany from 1968 to 1970, where he received instruction
in modern painting and graphic art.
Upon
his arrival home, Ms. Mary Tadese, the then-Assistant Minister of the previous Ministry
of Education and Fine Arts, asked him to work at the former Haile Selassie I
Craft School. In this sense, he claimed that having the opportunity to acquire
art teaching techniques at Kassel Art Academy had aided in his ability to
instruct art at a similar institution. He later worked as the Addis Ababa
School of Fine Arts’ director for over two decades and taught painting and
graphic arts there from 1975 to 1991. He also served as the graphics
department’s head and teacher for a number of years at the same institution.
Abdurahman
M. Sherif has taken part in numerous individual and group exhibitions both
domestically and internationally since 1971. He worked alongside six other
Ethiopian painters, all of whom were instructors at the Addis Ababa School of
Fine Arts, including himself, during the historic art exhibition held in 1971
at the former Emperor Haile Selassie I Theatre, now the National Theatre of
Ethiopia. His highly developed visual creative skills have earned him several
accolades both domestically and internationally. He is therefore considered as
one of Ethiopia’s most renowned and esteemed modern and contemporary artists.
