The Zoma Museum, formerly known as the Zoma Contemporary Art Center (ZCAC), is an environmentally conscious

artist in residency Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

project with locations in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

and

Harla The Harla, also known as Harala, or Arla, are an extinct ethnic group that once inhabited Djibouti, Ethiopia and northern Somalia. They spoke the now-extinct Harla language, which belonged to either the Cushitic or Semitic branches of the Afroas ...

, a historical village near

Dire Dawa Dire Dawa ( am, ድሬዳዋ, om, Dirree Dhawaa, 3=Place of Remedy; so, Diridhaba, meaning "where Dir hit his spear into the ground" or "The true Dir", ar, ديري داوا,) is a city in eastern Ethiopia near the Oromia and Somali Re ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. Due to its links and considerable work with European and American galleries, ZCAC has been influential in the contemporary Ethiopian visual art sector and as a conduit for Ethiopian artists to be featured internationally. It is currently headed by curator Meskerem Assegued.

History

The concept was first introduced to the public in 2002 during Giziawi #1, its first art happening. Named after Zoma Shifferaw, a young Ethiopian artist who died of cancer in 1979, ZCAC is located in two major cities in Ethiopia. ZCAC Addis is in a house built by Elias Sime in Addis Ababa, and ZCAC Harla is in Harla, a small historic village east of Dire Dawa. ZCAC is run like a family where the surrounding community is an extension of the center.

Location

ZCAC Addis Ababa

The construction of ZCAC begun in 2002 by Elias Sime, which took him about seven years to build the unique building of mud and straw. Due to Elias' solo exhibition "Eye of the Needle, Eye of the Heart" (2009) at the

Santa Monica Museum of Art The Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICA LA), formerly known as the Santa Monica Museum of Art (SMMoA), is a contemporary art museum in Los Angeles, CA. As an independent and non-collecting art museum (or kunsthalle), it exhibits the ...

, the house attracted the attention of the world media. The New York Times Magazine called it "a voluptuous dream, a swirl of ancient technique and ecstatic imagination". The house is the home of ZCAC Addis and features a showroom and a studio for visiting artists. In 2014, the New York Times selected ZCAC's photo for their article about 52 places to go in 2014.

ZCAC Harla DireDawa

Harla is a small village located in hills roughly 15 kilometers from Dire Dawa encompassing several archaeological sites. In 2007, ZCAC received a piece of land in Harla from the Dire Dawa city administration. Following ZCAC's goals, sustainable buildings are being constructed there.

Zoma School

Zoma School is an edible schoolyard where students learn to create and sustain an organic garden in a landscape that is wholly integrated into the schools' curriculum, culture and food program. Inspired by Alice Waters

Edible Schoolyard The Edible Schoolyard (ESY) is a garden and kitchen program at the Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, a public middle school in Berkeley, California. The Edible Schoolyard was established in 1995 by chef and author Alice Waters and is supporte ...

project, Zoma School aims to provide an education system where children are thought mathematics, science, language and art by integrated garden and kitchen classes.

References

{{Authority control 2002 establishments in Ethiopia Arts organisations based in Ethiopia