Elisabeth Biasio MAGIC SCROLLS IN MODERN ETHIOPIAN ...

AFRICANA BULLETIN
Warszawa 2004 Nr 52
Elisabeth Biasio
MAGIC SCROLLS IN MODERN ETHIOPIAN PAINTING
Introduction
Magic scrolls, a traditional medicine and a protection against demons, did
not find their way into modern Ethiopian painting until the late 1960s. From the
1920s, when modern art began, to the 1960s, Ethiopian artists had to execute
numerous works commissioned by the state. In addition to wall murals for
churches and public buildings, they were required to produce portraits of the
emperor and designs for street signs, bank notes and stamps, or they were
employed as art teachers. Their private works dealt primarily with scenes of traditional
everyday life, portraits, and landscapes. Their style was influenced by
the academic traditions of the 19th century.
During the 1960s a fundamental social and cultural change took place that
fostered an acceptance of modern art. An academic elite began to develop in the
capital Addis Ababa and became the audience for, as well as the potential buyers
of art. Now, there were numerous possibilities for artists to present their
works at exhibitions. With his first exhibition in 1963, Gebre Kristos Desta,
influenced by German Expressionism, became the groundbreaker for modernism.
Also, other artists adopted European styles of the twentieth century such
as Cubism (e.g. Besrat Bekele), or Surrealism (e.g. Daniel Touafe). There was
practically no interest in dealing with contemporary African art until Alexander
Boghossian, who called himself Skunder, had his first exhibition in Addis
Ababa in 1966. Under his influence, magic scrolls has began to play an important
role in modern Ethiopian painting. 1
1 Biasio 1989:65-70; Biasio 1999:98-102.
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This paper aims to introduce some of the most important painters who take
their inspiration from traditional Ethiopian art, especially magic scrolls. To
these painters belong the expatriate artists Skunder Boghossian, Wosene Worke
Kosrof and Achamyeleh Debela, living in the USA, as well as Zerihun
Yetmgeta, Ayele Assefa and Engdaget Legesse in Addis Ababa.
Skunder Boghossian: The Beginning
In the late 1960s, Skunder Boghossian (1937-2003) returned from Paris,
where he had studied from 1957-1966. He taught at the School of Fine Arts
(today Addis Ababa University School of Fine Arts and Design) from 1966-
1969 where he has left a lasting impact on a generation of Ethiopian artists. His
leaving Ethiopia was a great loss although many of Skunder’s students followed
him to Washington DC where he lectured at the Howard University (1969-
2000).
In Paris, he was influenced by African artists, black Americans, by the philosophy
and art of Négritude and by Surrealism. He was especially interested in
symbolism and religion and he got his inspirations from old churches, manuscripts
and magic scrolls. By the 1970s the influence of magic scrolls has started
to be pre-eminent. Instead of paintings that depicted long scrolls, his works
included three dimensional assemblages of scrolls. Jean Kennedy (1992:129f.)
describes a large piece entitled “Suspension of Belief” from 1986 which illustrates
this further evolution of his iconography. In the Makush Gallery in Addis
Ababa in November 2002 three paintings were exhibited, showing magic
scrolls. All three were untitled. One painting shows six irregularly composed
strips divided by thin lines, partly overlapping each other on a red background.
The other two contain vertical bands covering almost the whole canvas. In all
of these paintings we look in vain for magical motifs. Skunder filled his stripes
with a lot of different ornaments like circles, diamonds, triangles, quadrangles,
rectangles, half oval shapes etc. and with abstract human or animal-like forms. 2
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Elisabeth Biasio
2 Benjamin 1972:22-25; Biasio 1989:74-78; Chojnacki 1966:184-185;
Chojnacki 1973:88-89; Fosu 1986:88-96; Hassan and Achamyeleh D ebela
1995:132-134; K asfir 1999:191-193; Kennedy 1992:128-130; Solomon
Deressa 1966:174-184.

Magic Scrolls in Modern Ethiopian Painting
Wosene Worke Kosrof: The Magic of the Words
One of the painters who followed Skunder to Washington DC was Wosene
Worke Kosrof. Although he has been influenced by Skunder’s style and pan-
African philosophy, he has found his personal means of expression.
Born in Addis Ababa in 1950, he obtained a diploma from the School of
Fine Arts in Addis Ababa in 1972, where he was later hired as an instructor in
drawing, painting and design. He completed a Master of Fine Arts at Howard
University in Washington DC which he attended from 1978-1980.
In Wosene’s paintings we find different sources of inspiration: African textile
designs, African masks, American Jazz and above all the Amharic alphabet
and magic scrolls. He already started, after his graduation at the School of Fine
Arts, to incorporate elements of magic scrolls, i.e. images and writing, in his
paintings. As a graduate student at Howard University, Wosene experimented
above all with the calligraphy of Amharic as a source of visual expression, and
he became the first Ethiopian artist to use Amharic calligraphy as a major element
of aesthetic design. For Wosene, writing always has magical power like
for the däbtäras who produce magic scrolls. Especially in his earlier paintings
of the 1970s and 1980s, he was captivated by magical words. But he does not
get stuck in the traditional meaning of the scrolls; he transforms them and gives
them a new broader sense: “By picking up this old tradition, I turned it into contemporary
universal statements on human rights and human dignity, on
women’s rights, against racism and protection of nature and the environment”
(Personal communication: July 2002).
Wosene’s work since 1985 can be divided in three series: “Graffiti Magic“
1985-1990, “Africa: The New Alphabet“ 1990-1996, and the “Colour of
Words“ since 1996. “Graffiti Magic“ is influenced by the street graffiti, by their
bold and brief statements. A very typical painting of this series is “Martin
Luther King” which originates from 1987. There is a face of an angel or
guardian from a magic scroll which, according to the artist, symbolises Martin
Luther King and all the people who work for human rights and human dignity.
The writing below the face is a statement against racism and evil. Wosene produced
this painting for himself, to protect himself. Living in the USA, he
learned a great deal about Martin Luther King and he thinks that he is the
guardian of many people of all colours.
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In the series “Africa: The New Alphabet” the painter also gives social commentaries,
but he is more interested in social structures and their effects on
humanity. He especially shows the African way of life, using abundant textile
designs and architectural forms. A painting from this series is the “Abyssinian
Palm Reader”, painted in 1991. According to the artist, the major vertical direction
emulates magic scrolls and the minor horizontal direction resembles traditional
manuscripts. In the first two lines at the top there is writing about
Ethiopia. Below, there is half a face which is the medicine man, the palm reader,
reading the wishes of Ethiopia. In the upper right half, the painter has included
basic symbols of Ethiopia like granaries, fishes, earthenware pots, tukuls and
windows from Aksum and Lalibela. On the right and left in the middle, there
are magical words and symbols, used by the palm reader, such as aganent 3 ,
mätet 4 , weqabÿ 5 , adbar 6 , zar 7 , doro 8 , eremito 9 , buda 10 . At the bottom of the
painting we see masked faces, representing the varied peoples living within
Ethiopia (Personal Communication: December 1991).
The third and newest series is the“ Colour of Words”, which Wosene started
in 1996. One of its typical paintings is “Lucy’s Scroll”, painted in mixed
media on goat skin. The three strips show a lot of ornaments, probably textile
patterns and on the strip in the middle there are distorted Amharic letters. In
these painting, like in others of this series, the concept of magic scrolls is pre-
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Elisabeth Biasio
3 “(Pl. of ganÿn) spirits, demons” (Kane 1990:1329).
4 Kane does not give a translation. According to Wosene: “Invoking the spirits in
order to put a curse on someone” (Personal communication: February 2003).
5 “Protective or guardian spirit, personal charm” (Kane 1990:1533).
6 “Trees (or other objects like rocks) which are consecrated to local spirits where
once or twice a year sheep are slaughtered in their honour; protective spirit” (Kane
1990:1307).
7 “Spirit which inhabits lakes, wilderness areas or trees and which possess people”
(Kane 1990:1624).
8 “Chicken” (Kane 1990:1734). Chickens are also used as sacrifices and protective
figures.
9 Kane does not give a translation. According to Wosene, eremito is a small round
flat cookie-like object, baked directly in the charcoal. When it is cool, it will be rubbed
all over the body of a sick person to take away the bad spirits and pains. The eremito will
then be placed outside. If a person walks over it or an animal eats it, they will take the
negative spirit or the pain into themselves.
10 “Spirit who causes harm by means of the evil eye; person who has the power to
cause people to get sick. Popular traditions in rural areas held that traditional workers in
iron possessed this capability” (Kane 1990:934).

Magic Scrolls in Modern Ethiopian Painting
dominant. Wosene is convinced that his paintings, like the scrolls, have healing
effects on the viewer. Moreover, in an interview with Patricia Casillo (1993:24)
he emphasises the role magic plays for him: “Magic is a part of my daily life. I
see it as a force for good. It’s a force which gives strength and hope and courage
to people. With all our rationality, we have forgotten the necessity of magic.” In
the Internet, there is a lithograph called “Masks of the Healer II”, executed in
1996, when a good friend of Wosene was diagnosed with a life threatening disease.
This painting became a magic scroll; a talisman for his friend.
But there is still an important difference between a traditional magic scroll
and Wosene’s paintings. To this point Wosene states: “One of my recent works
‘The Forbidden Scroll’ points to the fact that, in the traditional model, the scroll
is made for a particular person and is usually hidden. By bringing the scroll into
contemporary art, I take this classical art form out of the private realm and into
the public realm. That is, it’s no longer in the monastery or around someone’s
neck; it’s in public places. So, that is an important shift from the traditional to
the contemporary – and for me, as an artist, that’s what I’ve been working on
all these years: to find new expressions for the old forms.” (Personal
Communication: July 2002). 11
Achamyeleh Debela: A Synthesis between Tradition and Modernity
Another artist using magic scrolls in his paintings is Achamyeleh Debela.
He was born in Addis Ababa in 1949 and received a diploma with honours from
the School of Fine Arts in 1967. He moved to the USA in 1972 and after having
got different degrees, he studied digital art at the Advanced Computing
Center for the Arts at the Ohio State University and in 1990 he obtained his doctorate.
Now, Achamyeleh lives in Durham, North Carolina.
Acha is very fascinated by digital art and he states that he looks for a synthesis
between the modernity and the tradition. Like Skunder he draws as well
on the African and especially Ethiopian traditional heritage. To this point
Kennedy (1992:133) comments as follows: “In a recent development Acha is
11 Casillo 1993:23-26; Hassan and Achamyeleh Debela 1995:134-135;
Kasfir 1999:193-195; K ennedy 1987:64-66; Kennedy 1992:135-136; Mullen
Kreamer 1988:73-75; I got many information from personal communications with
Wosene Kosrof in December 1991, March 1993, July 2002 and February 2003 and I
very appreciate his cooperation.
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finding a new synthesis between his ancient heritage of Coptic symbols and calligraphy
and his former more figurative work. Drawing on the myriad forms of
the talsam scrolls, illuminated manuscripts, and architecture, he has turned them
into dazzling areas of crisp shapes and combined them with softly rounded
human forms.”
Concerning the magic scrolls, Achamyeleh wrote to me in September 2002:
“As for my own works, you would find that I am fascinated with the ideation of
images in the magic scrolls, I am particularly intrigued as to how the figures,
both angels and devils or spirits unknown, are configured and concocted to go
along with an equally intriguing incantation that is composed and integrated
into each scroll. So, you see, I do use the concept of magic and surface decoration
as sources some times digitally photographed or painted and incorporated
into my composition and manipulated to yet become a magic of their own in a
twenty first century media. I do believe paintings, whether they are deliberately
designed as healing agents or as self expression, have a level of healing qualities
anyway. However, I do not purposely and/or deliberately concoct spiritual
or medicinal values with my digital paintings, but it is my believe that they have
the capability to affect the viewer on one level or another. (…) I use aspects of
surface qualities as well as being intrigued by philosophical and spiritual
nuances that play a part of my digital paintings some consciously and in part at
the subconscious level.” With this statement Achamyeleh makes clear that his
use of magic scrolls in his paintings is not because of their aesthetic values only,
but also because of their philosophical and spiritual meaning. Concerning the
effect on the public, he doesn’t go so far as Wosene Kosrof, giving some of his
paintings deliberately healing values, but he assumes that there are some healing
influences on the beholder.
A digital painting, created in 2002, which Acha sent me in September 2002
is called “A Magic Scroll”. The painting shows scroll-like structures filled with
ornaments and with figures. One is softly rounded, the others are flat and reminiscent
of African sculptures. This painting shows a synthesis between
Ethiopian and black African elements. Like Skunder, Wosene Kosrof and other
expatriate artists, Achamyeleh retains a strong Ethiopian and African identity in
his works. 12
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Elisabeth Biasio
12 Achamyeleh Debela is further mentioned in: Hassan and Achamyeleh Debela
1995:138; Kasfir 1999:200. I would like to thank the artist for his cooperation.

Magic Scrolls in Modern Ethiopian Painting
Zerihun Yetmgeta: The Historian
Also in the work of Zerihun Yetmgeta, African and Ethiopian tradition,
especially magic scrolls, are of great importance. He never ventured abroad for
further studies, but stayed all his life in Ethiopia, because going abroad would
have prevented him from being fully Ethiopian and African, as he stated in an
interview with Sebhat G. Egziabher (1983:29). Zerihun was born in Addis
Ababa in 1941 and studied at the School of Fine Arts from 1963-1968, when he
was awarded his diploma. Since the early 1970s he has been teaching graphic
arts at the School of Fine Arts.
Zerihun has been mostly impressed by Skunder. However, he claims that the
interaction with him was more a mutual exchange of ideas than a one-sided
influence. 13 Zerihun started, as one of the first artists, already in 1968 using
magic scrolls as a source of inspiration, and he began paint strip-compositions
on canvas. But afterwards he turned to other subjects and left the magic scroll
theme to one side for about ten years. Then, in 1979, Jacques Mercier’s book
Ethiopian Magic Scrolls was published in French, English and German, and
according to Zerihun, became an important source of inspiration on his work. 14
Zerihun started to take these pictures as models for his own creations, transforming
them according to his needs. Another crucial event was, when he discovered
combs for looms made from wood and bamboo in his father’s store. He
had the idea of putting several combs side by side, gluing strips of parchment
on top, and then painting on its surface. So his series of bamboo-strip paintings,
formally modelled on the magic scrolls, has begun.
The painting “Research from the Art of Magic” was created in 1988. The
strips show motifs taken from magic scrolls: on the first and second strips there
is a talisman consisting of three parts which has been copied from Mercier’s
book (1979:fig. 28). On the third strip we see a guardian angel and eyes
arranged in the shape of a cross. Between all these symbols stand the däbtäras,
13 Biasio 1993:93-94.
14 This book gives an introduction concerning the history, the production, the function
and the use of magic scrolls and it explains their motives, symbols and texts. On
forty colour plates it shows pictures of scrolls from the 18th and 19th century and
explains their meanings. The references in the text are from the German version of the
book. But in the bibliography you find also the English one.
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the producers of the scrolls. In the third strip one can see leather cases, in which
the scrolls are kept, arranged on a string, and in the fourth strip, a child can be
seen wearing such an amulet cord. The sun is placed in the middle over the
entire representation and embodies the power of the scrolls.
This bamboo-strip series is so appreciated and successful that Zerihun has
produced it up to the present day. However, he does not only work in one
medium; he has always been experimenting with new techniques and new
idioms of expression. “Fishing the Evil Eye” from 1989 is painted in pen and
ink and mixed media on skin. The central figure, Solomon on the throne, is
copied from Mercier (1979:fig. 11). In the magical art, Solomon is a symbol
for Jesus Christ and the letters “qä” and “tä” are part of the word qätänawi,
the name of God. Directly behind Solomon, respectively Jesus Christ, there is
a colour television set. This TV set should illustrate how important television
is for the young generation. Yet the message of Zerihun’s painting is that the
importance of TV is outshone by the power of Jesus Christ. In this painting all
eyes are thought to be directed against the evil eye, also the eyes arranged in
the shape of a cross (in the middle below) looking to all four cardinal points,
as the painter emphasises. 15 The name of another painting inspired by magic
scrolls is “The Window (A)”, and it is reproduced in Silverman (1997:55).
The caption says that “Zerihun produced this work after attending a lecture in
which the speaker warned of the plight of Ethiopia’s historical monuments.
Here he portrays a window like those found in the famous stone churches of
Lalibela, presented in a rather dilapidated state, in need of care and restoration.
(…) The images of ‘magic scrolls’ that flank the window represent ‘spiritual
medicine that has taken care of us for a long time’, once again alluding
to the importance of remembering one’s history and the need for sustaining
tradition.”
Although Zerihun paints a large number of magical motifs, he stresses that
his paintings have nothing to do with magic. He doesn’t regard himself as a
priest or a däbtära, but more as a historian who brings back what disappears.
Also the aesthetic value of magic scrolls fascinates him: “Magic scroll is modern
art; Ethiopian modern art. That is how I see it. It brings me close to
Ethiopia.” (Personal statement from an interview in November 2002). As for the
meaning of the paintings, the artist goes always beyond the traditional sense of
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Elisabeth Biasio
15 All these paintings are reproduced and described in Biasio (1989:95-96; 116-
120).

Magic Scrolls in Modern Ethiopian Painting
the magical elements, mostly making allusions to our modern time and commenting
on actual problems of the country. 16
Ayele Assefa: Magic Scrolls as Inspiration
As a teacher at the School of Fine Arts, Zerihun Yetmgeta has influenced
many of his students: “Most of my students are using magic scrolls before they
go to their own style” he said (Personal statement from an interview in
November 2002). One of these is Ayele Assefa, who creates paintings with
magic scroll motifs among others.
Ayele was born in Addis Ababa in 1960 and graduated in 1981 at the School
of Fine Arts in Addis Ababa. With a scholarship he got the opportunity to go to
the Art Academy in Kiev, Ukraine. After having studied for seven years, he
achieved his M.A. in Mural Art in 1989. 1991 he joined the School of Fine Arts
as a teacher of painting, drawing and mural art.
Ayele started to take up the magic scrolls as a source of inspiration after he
came back from Kiev and he admits frankly that Zerihun Yetmgeta has influenced
him; but he stresses that he has found his own style. When I invited Ayele
for an interview in November 2002, he brought with him three photos from earlier
paintings which he had sold. Looking at them, one can see immediately that
he also uses Mercier’s book in order to copy the magic figures. As for the texts,
he takes them from the bible or from magic scrolls. An untitled painting from
1998 shows three scrolls and three demons in the lower centre and the face of
an angel in the upper part. The demon in the centre is copied from Mercier
(1979:fig. 14), Ayele also produces paintings modelled on Zerihun’s bamboo
strip series, but also landscapes and portraits, executed in a more academically
realistic style.
Ayele’s paintings impress by their highly decorative value and by the striking
stare of the magical eyes. Ayele makes no pretence to be a däbtära or a
magician but says that he is especially interested in the motifs and symbols
because they inspire him. He perceives however, that many Ethiopians don’t
16 Further literature on Zerihun Yetmgeta: Biasio 1999:88-111; Chojnacki
1973:89; Esseye Gebre Medhin 1991:184-185; Hassan and Achamyeleh Debela
1995:134; Kasfir 1999:201-204; Kennedy 1992:131-132; Kifle Beseat
1970:29-30; Murray 1970:46; Sylla 1996:83-86.
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like these paintings, as they are afraid of magic; foreigners appreciate them
more, since they look upon them as genuine African art.
Engdaget Legesse: Back to the Roots
Another painter who was influenced by Zerihun Yetmgeta and who used
Mercier’s book as a source of inspiration is Engdaget Legesse. He was born in
Addis Ababa in 1971 and received a diploma at the School of fine Arts in 1993.
He featured and emphasised the magic scroll motifs in the 1990s.
Afterwards he changed to other themes like magic pillars or portraits (Personal
Communication of Manfred Metz, Berlin from 12.4.2003). For Engdaget,
magic scrolls are the art of his forefathers, they are manifestations of pure
Ethiopian and African culture, they are his roots (Personal communication of
the artist, 25.4.03). In an interview with the Sun newspaper (June 5, 1997:7) he
stresses the point that he doesn’t want to communicate any religious messages
like the däbtäras. What really fascinates him are the high quality and originality
of the magical works. One of his paintings “Magic Scrolls 2” was created in
1995. It shows as a central motif, Solomon (Mercier 1979:fig 11) surrounded by
magic scrolls.
Summary and Conclusion
From the point of view of the art consumers, the precondition of modern
African styles and motives in Ethiopian art was the development of an academic
elite in the capital of Addis Ababa. On the side of the art producers it was the
influence of the philosophy and art of Négritude, Surrealism and of other
African and Afro-American artists. It was Skunder Boghossian who brought
these ideas from Paris and who influenced a whole generation of Ethiopian
artists. The interest in African art led to the introduction of motives of Ethiopian
manuscripts, of magic scrolls, of the stelae of Aksum, of the windows of
Lalibela, African textile patterns, African masks and the Amharic writing into
Ethiopian modern art.
The three expatriate artists Skunder Boghossian, Wosene Worke Kosrof and
Achamyeleh Debela, who need to keep their identities as Ethiopian artists in an
alien society, are still deeply rooted in their African and Ethiopian tradition,
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Elisabeth Biasio

Magic Scrolls in Modern Ethiopian Painting
although they lean also towards abstract forms of expression, transforming the
magic scroll motives into ornamental designs whilst retaining the spiritual and
magical meaning of the motives. From the three painters living in Addis Ababa
only Zerihun Yetmgeta is so strongly attached to the African world that he
draws most of his inspiration from African, especially Ethiopian motives, principally
magic scrolls. Ayele Assefa and Engdaget Legesse who belong to a
younger generation of artists are still searching for their own means of expression
by experimenting with different styles. For them the magic scroll motives
belong to a short phase in their artistic career. However, unlike the expatriate
artists, the artists in Addis Ababa express the forms realistically, using Jacques
Mercier’s book of Magic Scrolls as a source of inspiration, stressing an interest
in the artistic aspects of the scrolls and professing no interest in their magical
properties.Another reason for painting magic scroll motives is to preserve a
national heritage which is vanishing.
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Elisabeth Biasio