A
deep spiritualism that defines his profound humanism emanates from the temple
of art, which is both magical and classical. We learn that artistic creation is
an intellectual activity from our unconventional conversation with him, which
is nuanced with varying exquisite tonalities. For the great Marxist
aesthetician, art is an extraordinary world of knowledge that is very close to
philosophy in the discovery and deepening of the conception of our vast world.
The
land where he was born in 1941 E.C., the wisdom embedded in the Harar people’s
souls and minds, the magic of traditions and customs, which he still vividly
recalls and recounts, much like an ethnographer or anthropologist, his
relatives, the Addis Ababa Fine Arts School where he studied and taught
painting, prophetic artists and teachers like the great Gebre Kristos, whom he
greatly admires and claims to have a transcendental in him, all contribute to
the artistic identity of the modern painter Tibebe Terffa.
In
his distinctive artistic universe, a magical world is found that is constructed
in his philosophical thought and that explores his own surroundings as well as
those of the Far East and the Caribbean—a world where magical realism is built
and numerous human identities intersect. The philosophical painter Tibebe uses
his works of art to appeal to the enigmatic nature of humanity. He is an artist
who is concerned about the state of art in his country today and in the future.
He feels overwhelmed by a form of art that is divorced from market and uses art
as a tool for establishing and fostering dialogue among the humanities.
Tibebe
Terffa, who was named Tibebe Selassie by his family, is an Ethiopian modern
visual artist rich with wisdom and personal philosophy. For him, art combines
art and philosophy, and he enters his own world, surrounded by the wide
horizons of an imaginary ocean, with the freedom of his mind, which is given to
him by the high and low pitch of the voice that originates from the musical
beat. In this way, he experienced the lines and shapes of the ideas associated
with his spirit and soul, and while playing with the colors with his brush, he
narrated the feelings that were compressed in him on the canvas. Harar’s
influence, which he absorbed in his childhood, can be seen in his paintings of
unity and diversity. Each is a full-fledged painting that can be appreciated
for the cultural value and artistic beauty of the visual narratives on its own.
It is a cycle based on the progression of
human life from conception to death. Round objects provide shape to our ideas
since they are a manifestation of life, and all forms of design are found on
them. The wisdom that it reveals is how crucial it is to follow the peace of
the soul in order to use imagination to bring the invisible world into the
light. This is because the actions taken when the mind is free to think are
blessed. He feels that the artist has no other means of expressing his true
inner feelings except via art since the artist’s soul is disclosed at that
instant and because that moment will never be replicated. Wisdom endures.
He
worked in a number of government offices following his graduation from the
Addis Ababa School of Art. He also worked as an art instructor at the renowned
Harar Medanialem School and as a freelance illustrator for Kuraz Publishing,
where he created the illustrations for the book covers of different writers.
Tibebe
has had a lengthy career as an artist and has taken part in numerous
solo and group exhibitions both domestically and internationally since
1974. He has won numerous special accolades and prizes on a national and
worldwide level during his long career as a visual artist. As a result, he
is considered one of our nation’s most revered modern and contemporary
painters.
