Salem Mekuria (born 1947) is an
Ethiopian-born independent filmmaker, video artist and educator living in the United States.
Life and work
Mekuria was born in
Addis Ababa. She was educated there and in
Axum
Axum, or Aksum (pronounced: ), is a town in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia with a population of 66,900 residents (as of 2015).
It is the site of the historic capital of the Aksumite Empire, a naval and trading power that ruled the whole region ...
, and moved to the United States in 1967 where she studied political science and journalism at
Macalester College. Mekuria earned a
MA in education technology and media production from
San Francisco State University in 1978. She later worked at the
WGBH WGBH may refer to:
* WGBH Educational Foundation, based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States
** WGBH (FM), a public radio station at Boston, Massachusetts on 89.7 MHz owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation
** WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV (channel 2), ...
TV station in
Boston, starting as a secretary but eventually becoming a producer for the ''
Nova
A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...
'' series. Mekuria is the Luella LaMer Professor of Women's Studies in the Art department at
Wellesley College
Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...
.
She writes, produces and directs films and video installations related to Ethiopia.
Her work has appeared at the 50th
Venice Biennale, the CinemAfrica Film Festival in Sweden, the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
, the
National Museum of African Art of the
Smithsonian Institution,
documenta 11
Documenta11 was the eleventh edition of documenta, a quinquennial contemporary art exhibition. It was held between 8 June and 15 September 2002 in Kassel, Germany. The artistic director was Okwui Enwezor.Documenta11_Plattform5: Ausstellung. Kata ...
in
Berlin and the New York African Film Festival in
New York City.
[
]
Works
[
]
Films
* ''Our Place In The Sun'' (1988)
* ''As I Remember It: Portrait of Dorothy West'' (1991)
* '' Sidet: Forced Exile'' (1991) – documentary
* ''Ye Wonz Maibel (Deluge)'' (1997)
Video installations
* ''Ruptures: A Many-Sided Story,'' Venice Biennale (2003)
* ''Imagining Tobia'' (2006-2007)
* ''Square stories,'' Addis Ababa (2010)
Awards
Fellowships
*Fellowship from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced StudyBunting Institute
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is a part of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, a ...
at Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...
*1993: Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest International Artist Residency Fellowship
*1995: Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...
Intercultural Media Fellowship
*2003–2004: Fulbright Scholar
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
Film awards
*1991: Juror's Citation, Black Maria Film & Video Festival.
*1993: ''Sidet: Forced Exile'' received a Silver Apple at the National Educational Film and Video Festival
*''Sidet: Forced Exile'' received first place in the National Black Programming Consortium's Prized Pieces and Outstanding Independent film at the New England Film & Video Festival
*1997: Director's Citation, Black Maria Film & Video Festival.
*''Our Place In The Sun'' was nominated for an Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
References
External links
*
1947 births
Living people
People from Addis Ababa
Macalester College alumni
San Francisco State University alumni
Wellesley College faculty
Ethiopian emigrants to the United States
Ethiopian film directors
Ethiopian film producers
Ethiopian screenwriters
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