photo credit: King- David Olajuwon
Emebet Belete grew up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In 1985 she was accepted into the Addis Ababa School of Fine Arts – she was one of only a handful of students selected from over 500 applicants.
After graduating, she worked as a studio artist. She was written up in Revue Noire (Paris) as an up and coming Ethiopian artist. Among her other achievements was editing and publishing the first catalogue of women artists’ work in Ethiopia (FOWA: the Friendship of Woman Artists), an organization that she lead in its first few years.
In Canada she completed fine arts and education degrees at Queen’s University, and continues to work as a studio artist. Her most recent exhibition, Turned Back: Filaments of Renewal, at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre (2024) featured her acrylic and installation works.
Travel has always been part of her life. In 2008, she moved to TEDA, Tianjin, China with her family, where she taught art to an enthusiastic group of elementary students at Teda International School, as well as continued creating her own artwork, often inspired by the images around her.
She returned to Canada in 2013, where she can be found in Belleville, creating art in her studio, and running educational workshops. Emebet has been an Ontario Arts Council Artists in Community and School Projects grant winner in years between 2015 – present.
