As part of the celebrations of the 125 years of diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and France, the French Embassy prepares to name the winners of the creative mural paintings drawn on the wall of the embassy and surroundings under France’s national motto ‘Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité’.

Marie-Céline Maréchaux, coordinator of the project, while speaking about the wall painting, described that the project was conceived a year ago to celebrate the 125th anniversary of France-Ethiopia Diplomatic relations.

“The project was taken on by 31 artists and stretched across the Ferensay Legasion,” explained Marie-Céline, as she showcased some of the art.

As the French Ambassador to Ethiopia, Rémi Maréchaux, indicates, the competition will mark the closing of the well celebrated 125 year anniversary ceremony in recent months.

“The two countries’ relationship is unique in the African continent since it has stood firm throughout the test of time and has remained untarnished,” the ambassador exemplified.

“The French administration is committed to ensuring that this relationship will continue to blossom even to greater heights,” Ambassador Maréchaux affirmed.

This project is said to be the largest mural project in Addis Ababa with over 160 meters of wall space already painted. Each artist worked on a wall space of 10 square meters,

with each creative taking about a month to capture their imaginations on the wall.

The embassy is said to announce the top five winners on Tuesday February 21, 2023. According to the embassy, winners will get different prizes based on their result including; A group exhibition organized by the Alliance Ethio-Française for the 5th, 4th and 3rd place holders as 3rd Prize; with an individual exhibition being organized by the Alliance for the second place holder for the 2nd Prize. The first prize of the competition is said to get an all-expense paid trip to France, to take part in a week long art training program.

The French Embassy kicked off in March 2022 a yearlong celebration of 125 years of Ethio-Française’s long-standing diplomatic relations.

For more than a century the two countries have shared bilateral ties that were formally cemented 125 years ago when Leonce Lagard, then French governor of Somaliland and later Duke of Entoto, signed a treaty with Emperor Menelik II recognizing diplomatic relations between the two countries.