Photo credit: Mario Epanya
Ep.264 features Aïda Muluneh. Born in Addis Ababa in 1974, she graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C., with a degree in Communications, majoring in Film. Her photography has been widely published and is included in the permanent collections of prestigious institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, the Hood Museum, the RISD Museum of Art, and the Museum of Biblical Art in the United States. Muluneh received the European Union Prize at the Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie in Bamako, Mali, in 2007, the CRAF International Award of Photography in Spilimbergo, Italy, in 2010, and was a CatchLight Fellow in San Francisco, USA, in 2018. In 2020, she was honored with the Royal Photographic Society Award in Curatorship.
In 2019, Muluneh became the first black woman to co-curate the Nobel Peace Prize exhibition and returned the following year as a commissioned artist for the prize. Her commissioned projects use creativity to educate and advocate on topics related to the environment and health. Her work has been exhibited globally and published in key publications worldwide. As a leader in her field, she has been recognized as a change-maker in Africa, shifting perceptions of the continent.
As a prominent Canon brand ambassador, Muluneh is deeply committed to advocating for the development of photography in Africa through her educational programs across the continent. She is the founder of Addis Foto Fest (AFF), the first international photography festival in East Africa, held since 2010 in Addis Ababa, and the Africa Foto Fair, established in 2022 in Côte d’Ivoire. The Africa Foto Fair is both an exhibition and a virtual publication that brings emerging and established talents to the global photography community. Additionally, she established the Africa Print House, which offers fine art photography printing through her studio in Abidjan—a creative space that provides end-to-end solutions for photographers in Africa. As an educator and cultural entrepreneur, she continues to develop projects with local and international institutions in Ethiopia and Côte d’Ivoire.
Artist https://aidamuluneh.com/
Efie Gallery https://efiegallery.com/
ffoto Gallery https://www.ffotogallery.org/whats-on-listings/aida-muluneh-nationhood-memory-and-hope
Art in the Middle Magazine https://www.artinthemiddle.com/exhibition/aida-muluneh-efie-gallery-exhibition-spotlight-2026
Impressions Gallery https://www.impressions-gallery.com/resource/meet-the-artist-aida-muluneh/
Canon France https://www.canon.fr/pro/ambassadors/aida-muluneh/
MoMA https://www.moma.org/artists/68306-aida-muluneh
Photography Ethics Center https://www.photoethics.org/podcast/aida-muluneh
Africa Art News https://www.africaartnews.com/posts/aida-muluneh-exhibition-this-bloom-i-borrow
C& https://www.contemporaryand.com/fr/events/aida-muluneh-the-homeless-wanderer
Aesthetica Magazine https://aestheticamagazine.com/aida-muluneh-an-unparalleled-voice/
1-54 https://www.1-54.com/nowness-trailer-water-life-by-ethiopian-photographer-aida-muluneh/
Jakopic Gallery https://mgml.si/en/jakopic-gallery/exhibitions/692/aida-muluneh/
Textile Museum https://textilemuseum.ca/event/aida-muluneh-water-life/
David Krut Projects https://davidkrutprojects.com/artists/35609/aida-muluneh
Bradford Culture Company https://bradford2025.co.uk/event/nationhood-memory-and-hope/
Francis Hodgson https://francishodgson.com/2025/02/22/if-you-dont-know-you-wont-go-aida-muluneh-in-bradford/
When the Silence Wears the Sky, 2025
digital photographic print, silkscreen
100 x 148cm
Courtesy the artist and Efie Gallery, Dubai
The Hidden Learns to See, 2026
Digital photographic print
Acrylic on canvas
77 cm x 98 cm
Courtesy of the Artist and Efie Gallery
The Wind Against the Shadow
Courtesy the artist and Efie Gallery, Dubai
Hi Phyllis, thank you so much for this insightful conversation with Aïda! Her work on “The Hidden Learns to See” is breathtaking, especially how she bridges traditional photography with such a sharp digital narrative. As someone working in digital education, I’m curious about her thoughts on how emerging platforms in other regions, like South America, are navigating similar shifts in digital engagement and verification. For instance, I recently came across this independent review of a platform in Colombia: https://guiade1wincolumbia.com/ — do you think these types of localized digital infrastructures are becoming the new standard for how we’ll interact with global creative content and digital assets in the future?