Episode 103 features Rakeb Sile. In 2016, she co-founded Addis Fine Art with Mesai Haileleul, creating the first white-cube gallery space for modern and contemporary art in Ethiopia. Since then, the business has grown to become one of the leading galleries in Africa establishing a prominent international platform for artists from the Horn of Africa. The gallery has spaces in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and London, having recently moved into expanded premises in London, opening a two-storey gallery space in the heart of Fitzrovia.
With her background in management consulting, Sile was well placed to take charge of the gallery’s commercial operations; since 2016, they have participated in fairs in Africa and beyond, among them Frieze London and New York, the Armory Show and Art Basel. Rakeb was also recently chosen as one of Apollo Magazine’s 40 Under 40 Africa in 2020, a project dedicated to 40 of the most influential and talented people in the art world born or based in Africa.
Gallery https://addisfineart.com/
The Art Newspaper https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/04/11/a-world-of-possibility-cecilia-alemani-the-curator-of-the-2022-venice-biennale-discusses-the-show
NYTimes https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/arts/design/uffizi-contemporary-art.html
Amaka https://amaka.studio/explore/articles/rakeb-sile-profile-career-woman
Art Africa https://www.artafricamagazine.org/programme-announced-for-african-art-in-venice-forum-2022/
Art Breath https://artbreath.org/interviews/selome-muleta
Artnet https://news.artnet.com/art-world/venice-biennale-challenge-white-men-2067142
La Biennale di-Venezia https://www.labiennale.org/en/news/la-biennale-di-venezia-presents-piazza-ucraina-giardini-della-biennale-spazio-esedra
Merikokeb Berhanu, Untitled LXXIV, 2022. Artwork featured in La Biennale di Venezia 2022.
Image courtesy of Addis Fine Art
Addis Fine Art Founders Rakeb Sile and Mesai Haileleul
