“Homage to Golgotha”

By Selome Kifle

Gebre Kristos, the famous Ethiopian artist, and 28 young contemporary artists displayed their works under the title of  “Homage to Golgotha” at the Top View restaurant on Friday, April 9.

The exhibition marks a pact between artists of different background and experiences to portray their feelings under one title Golgotha. The outcome was varied, as one paints crucifixion and the other a different message. 

The organizer, Ato Alemayehu Negash told Capital that the exhibition was organized to commemorate the last weeks of Christ (Golgotha) and to represent it with art since Christians mark the week colorfully all over the country.

He also noted that the artwork of Gebre Kristos Desta exhibited in the show is not an original piece but a copy. However all the exhibited paintings revealed the events of the Golgotha. The organizer also added that the exhibition was aimed at depicting the ways in which young artists show their different ideas with the same message.

One of the painters, Robel Berhane said that he used techniques of half realistic painting with dominant, sub-dominate and subordinate parts in the portrait. According to the painter the dominant is the part that catches viewers at first glance, the sub-dominant and subordinate are the motifs like circle, lines and dotes. Presenting three works of hot colors (Red and orange) with cold colors (blue), Robel said even though the paintings have got different presentation they convey one message. 

Asked how two different color compositions go together he replied to Capital that he dilutes the hot colors and uses them with cold colors.

Robel Berhane graduated from the Addis Ababa fine art & Design in 2002 from the department of graphics. Since then he has been a freelance studio artist, whose commitment to art has never been contested. The painter has participated in several group exhibitions including at the Exhibition Center last year, Image African Gallery and Kirar studio this year. 

Line Compositions

He first weaves his fancies on a paper with ink. Then he outlines his imagination with a crisp and long curved lines on a canvas and gives life to each of his paintings. He paints the canvas with colors and always leaves the middle bright, and then he moves on painting different layers of paint until he gets the right forms and structures essential for his works. Finally, the forms or the structure might be a dancer, women with long dresses, a combatant, or a moving figure. Tesfaye has a marked preference for bright and vibrant colors most of the time.
Tesfaye Nigussie was born and raised in Wonji. His love for art led him to join the Addis Ababa Fine Art & Design School in 1995, from which he graduated in 1998 in graphics. He is currently working as a graphic designer at Bole Printing Enterprise and has his own studio near his office where he can put his inspirations on canvas right away.
Upon entering his studio, one gets the impression that Tesfaye is dedicated to art. The display of different paintings here and there (both finished and unfinished) makes the atmosphere replete with colors pleasing to the eye. His techniques can be categorized as non-figurative method of painting; horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines are seen on the paintings. What is interesting is the meaning attached to each of these. The diagonal lines represent movement, while vertical lines depict strength. Similarly, horizontal is associated with silence.
One of his paintings entitled ‘Adwa’ depicts a combatant grabbing the back of a horse and riding at high speed. The feeling you get is that the combatant will come out of the painting any moment. Tesfaye noted that he chose the title ‘Adwa’ to recall that Ethiopia was the first African country to prove that the black nations of Africa can defeat their enemies.
Once the painter got the chance to admire closely the work of Gebre Kristos Desta, the style of the latter seems to have impressed Tesfaye. In fact Tesfaye began adopting his own style since he was a second year student at the Art School.
Tesfaye Negussie has taken part in four solo exhibitions including at Wonji Cinema Hall, Russian Cultural Center, Pan African Gallery and the Ethiopian National Museum. The Debrezeit Traditional Hall, Hilton Hotel, Alliance Gallery, Makush Gallery, Greek Club and Sheraton Addis are some of his group exhibitions.

 Easter Sunday dating

Easter Sunday is the Sunday following the Paschal Full Moon (PFM) date for the year. (Paschal is pronounced “PAS-KUL”).
In June 325 A.D. astronomers approximated astronomical full moon dates for the Christian church, calling them Ecclesiastical Full Moon (EFM) dates. From 326 A.D. the PFM date has always been the EFM date after March 20 (which was the equinox date in 325 A.D.)
From 1583, each PFM date differs from an Astronomical Full Moon (AFM) date usually by no more than 1 date, and never by more than 3 dates. (Each AFM is a two-dates event due to world time zones. Each PFM is a one-date event worldwide).
Easter Sunday is the date of the annual celebration of Christ’s resurrection. The aim of the Easter Dating Method is to maintain, for each Easter Sunday, the same season of the year and the same relationship to the preceding astronomical full moon that occurred at the time of his resurrection in 30 A.D.
This was achieved in 1583 A.D. using skill and common sense by Pope Gregory the 13th, and his astronomers and mathematicians, by introducing their new larger (revised) PFM Gregorian dates table. This replaced the (original) 326 A.D. “19 PFM dates” table in the Julian calendar.
Easter Sunday, from 326 A.D., is always one of the 35 dates March 22 to April 25.
From 326 A.D. to 1582 A.D. Easter Sunday date was based on the Julian calendar in use at that time. It became defined as the Sunday following the Paschal Full Moon date for the year, using a simple “19 PFM dates” table.
The Gregorian calendar replaced the Julian calendar in October 1582 to re-align March 20 (and therefore Easter) with the seasons by removing 10 dates October 5 to 14, 1582. This replacement did not occur until later in many countries e.g. in September 1752 in England ENGLISH Easter Sunday dates for 1583 to 1752 can be calculated using information near the end of this Easter Dating Method document.
The Gregorian calendar very closely maintains the alignment of seasons and calendar dates by having leap years in only 1 of every 4-century year, namely, those divisible exactly by 400. One additional February 29 date will need to be removed in about 4140 A.D., therefore Easter calculations will need to use the changed Days of Week of PFM dates when the exact year for this removal is decided.
From 326 A.D., the Easter Sunday Date for any given year is NOT determined by the March Equinox date for that year. March 20 (not March 21) is the most common Gregorian Equinox date from 1583 to 4099 A.D.
Historically, references to March 21 have caused mistakes in calculating Easter Sunday dates. March 20 has become the important date in recent Easter dating methods. Despite frequent references to March 21, this date has no special significance to any recent Easter dating methods. The present method describing the Easter Dating Procedure can be found in Christian Prayer Books. This procedure has been dramatically simplified by Ronald W. Mallen, Adelaide, South Australia.

ORTHODOX CHURCHES
Orthodox churches became fully autonomous in 1054 A.D., and celebrate their Easter always on the basis of the Julian calendar and the “19 PFM dates” table. The Julian calendar date Thursday October 4, 1582 was followed by the Gregorian calendar date Friday October 15, 1582. The 10 dates October 5 to 14 were removed.
Consequently, their Easter Sunday dates are identical up to 1582, then from 1583 onwards often differ from those of Western churches.
In some years the Orthodox Easter Sunday occurs on the same day as the Western Easter Sunday. For example, this occurred in 1990 because the Western Easter Sunday date of (Gregorian calendar) April 15, 1990 is the same as the Orthodox Easter Sunday date of (Julian calendar) April 2, 1990. In most years, Orthodox Easter follows Western Easter by one or more weeks.
To determine the Orthodox Easter Sunday date, it is first necessary to find the Julian Easter Sunday date, then to add the number of days which have been “skipped” in the Gregorian calendar