Aïda Muluneh: This is where I am - Public Art Fund

Mar 1, 2023 - May 21, 2023

JCDecaux bus shelters: New York City, Chicago, Boston, United States, and Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Born in Ethiopia and currently based in Côte d’Ivoire, Aïda Muluneh creates vibrant photographs that highlight her national, political, and cultural identity. Through the use of metaphor, she creates vignettes that poetically portray facets of her experiences as an Ethiopian woman and immigrant. Muluneh left Ethiopia at a young age and grew up between Yemen and England, later spending time in Cyprus and Canada before attending college in the United States. Her work reflects her investment in sharing complex, distinctly African perspectives, as well as her own journeys across the globe. This is where I am is an exhibition of 12 new artworks by Muluneh (b. 1974, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) presented over 330 JCDecaux bus shelters across New York, Boston, and Chicago in the United States, and Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire.

For this new series, Muluneh drew inspiration from Ethiopian poet Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin’s “This is where I am.” Written in 1974–the year that marked both Muluneh’s birth and the start of the Ethiopian Revolution–the poem and the resulting body of photographs are markedly personal. Set against meticulously crafted hand-painted backdrops, her works allegorically illustrate stories of overcoming challenges, searching for truth, and the resilience of a nation.

The artworks reference art historical genres and cultural influences, including Surrealism, Renaissance painting, West African studio portrait photography, Ethiopian church wall painting, as well as African body ornamentation. Central to her photographs are stoic African women regally posed in compositions inspired by Christian iconographies, alongside motifs and visual cues alluding to the social structures and political formations of her home country. Rich in symbolism, Muluneh’s artwork employs motifs such as keys, chairs and stars, as well as props that serve as cultural references such as jebena, traditional Ethiopian coffee pots. Muluneh embeds the motif of the eye throughout her work to reference ways people respond to, turn away from, or bear witness to history. At once imbuing a sense of hope and inviting open discourse, This is where I am is Muluneh’s homage to Ethiopia.

Aïda Muluneh: This is where I am is curated by Public Art Fund Adjunct Curator Katerina Stathopoulou.