Date of Award
Spring 5-2-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Art & Art History
First Advisor
Howard Singerman
Second Advisor
Hendrik Dey
Academic Program Adviser
Lynda Klich
Abstract
This thesis maps the concept of Ethiopia within the development of Black American peoplehood and Pan-Africanist thought, while shedding light on the deep influence of an American-inspired Pan-Africanist ethos on the works of two Ethiopian-American bridge artists, Julie Mehretu and Aïda Muluneh specifically, and on art production more generally as expressed within contemporary Ethiopia. They are “bridge” artists because they straddle an international space between Black American and Ethiopian identities. It explores the following questions: How did an American Ethiopianism morph into or become synonymous with Afrocentrism? What crosscurrents can one see in contemporary art production in Ethiopia, and its diaspora, that show direct links to historical Black American Pan-Africanist perspectives? Is there a place for common reflection on a past that informs the future?
Recommended Citation
Brunberg, David, "Black America, Ethiopianism and Ethiopians: Tizita (ትዝታ), and the Longing that Binds" (2025). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/1415
