Opening its autumn season for 2023, Arnolfini has announced the first major solo European museum exhibition from Elias Sime, one of Ethiopia’s leading contemporary artists, known for his exceptional craftsmanship.
Its title, Eregata እርጋታ derives from the artist’s language, Amharic – translated by Sime as being close to the English word ‘serene’, although recognising that pure calm and stillness is difficult to achieve in the modern age.
“We struggle to stop or sleep because our brains are constantly stimulated by technology,” he muses. “We are constantly moving faster not slower.”
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Elias Sime at Zoma Museum July 2023 – photo: Alice Hendy Photography for Arnolfini
TIGHTROPE ECHO!, 2021. DETAIL. Courtesy the artist and James Cohan Gallery – photo: Christopher Burke Studios
In contrast, his own artistic practice embraces a slowness, often taking years to transform obsolete technological ephemera – electrical wires, broken phones, old keyboards and circuit boards – into their resepective ‘threads’.
They are then re-woven and assembled into new and abstract shapes and structures, new topographies imbued with memory, and suggestive of the environmental impact of technology.
Tightrope Evolution (1), 2017. Courtesy the artist and James Cohan Gallery – photo: Adam Reich
Tightrope Evolution (1), 2017. DETAIL. Courtesy the artist and James Cohan Gallery – photo: Adam Reich
The collection is focused on Sime’s work from the last six years, from Veiled Whispers (2022), his acclaimed Venice Biennale commission, to a number of works from the landmark Tightrope series (2009 – present), and Bareness (2014) – a large-scale installation of ceramics.
Also explored within the exhibition is the artist’s profound relationship to his own environment, not least to his home city of Addis Ababa, where along with long-time collaborator and anthropologist Meskerem Assegued, he co-founded Zoma Museum, so-named after the late artist Zoma Shifferraw.
Built using traditional Ethiopian techniques and then sculpted into patterns and textures by Sime, Zoma is an international arts centre with a broad remit, spanning a school, library, exhibition and project spaces, a farm, edible garden, and an artist in residence scheme.
Tightrope Concave Triangle #2, 2020. Courtesy the Artist, GRIMM, James Cohan Gallery – photo: Jonathan de Waart
Tightrope Concave Triangle #2, 2020 DETAIL. Courtesy the artist, GRIMM, James Cohan Gallery – photo: Jonathan de Waart
As well as a new publication of essays about Sime’s work, the forthcoming exhibition at Arnolfini will be accompanied by a programme of live performance, talks and screenings, alongside family and community-focused activities and workshops.
“Bringing his work to a wider audience, Eregata እርጋታ presents Sime as an artist firmly ‘situated between the local and global’ who weaves together materials, memories and human lives,” organisers say, “reminding us of the vital and inherent interconnectedness of our communities.”
TIGHTROPE Behind the Processor #6, 2022. Courtesy the artist, GRIMM, James Cohan Gallery – photo: Jonathan de Waart
TIGHTROPE Behind the Processor #6, 2022 DETAIL. Courtesy the artist, GRIMM, James Cohan Gallery – photo: Jonathan de Waart
Elias Sime: Eregata እርጋታ is at Arnolfini from October 21 to February 18 2024 (Tuesday-Sunday, 11am-6pm). The exhibition is free and will be bookable in advance. More information is available at www.arnolfini.org.uk.
Main photo: Phoebe d’Heurle (Elias Sime, Tightrope It is Green 8. Courtesy the artist and James Cohan Gallery)
Read more: Arnolfini announces summer textiles exhibition – Threads: ‘Breathing stories into materials’
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