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Biography
Tegene Kunbi - Dale Grant Photography, © Dale Grant"COLOUR IS A VOCABULARY I USE TO GIVE VOICE TO ASPECTS OF MY CULTURAL HERITAGE. EACH HUE IS A CONVERSATION WITH THE NEXT, PRODUCING A SENSE OF HARMONY AND TENSION."
- Tegene Kunbi
Ethiopian artist Tegene Kunbi, born in 1980 in Addis Ababa, completed his studies in 2004 with a degree in Painting and Art Education from the Fine Arts School at Addis Ababa University. Following his graduation, he served as a lecturer at Kotebe College of Teacher Education.In 2008, he was awarded the prestigious DAAD scholarship, which enabled him to leave Ethiopia and continue his studies in Germany at the Universität der Künste Berlin. There he pursued a Master of Fine Arts, which he obtained in 2011.Since then, Kunbi has been living and working between Addis Ababa and Berlin. The Artist gained international recognition after receiving the Grand Prix Léopold Sédar Senghor, the main prize of the Dak’Art Biennale 2022 – one of the most significant platforms for contemporary African art. The award was presented to him by Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal, during the opening ceremony of the 14th Biennial of Contemporary African Art in Dakar.Tegene Kunbi has participated in numerous international solo and group exhibitions, presenting his signature abstract works in a variety of contexts, including collaborative international projects and workshops. His work has been exhibited in cities such as Milan, Paris, New York, Berlin, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Nagoya, Accra, Dakar and many others.Tegene Kunbi’s works are vibrant eruptions of colour and matter, striking in their immediacy and intensity. His luminous tones and full-bodied brushstrokes evoke a kind of primitivism – a reverence for vision, for the elemental hues of the earth, and above all, for Ethiopia. The oil paint seems to breathe: bright greens recall grass and foliage, fiery reds and oranges echo the clay-rich soils of African landscapes, and intense blues evoke the immensity of sky and sea. The palette Kunbi employs belongs to his land – ancient, fertile, resilient, yet long subjected to hardship. This is a land neither distant nor barren, but vital, tangible, and full of life.Kunbi’s textured brushwork is never merely descriptive. He does not paint landscapes; he channels the organic vitality of soil, the formidable force of the sea, and the dynamic rhythm of foliage. His work is an affirmation of existence: a reclamation of the earth that has nurtured a rich cultural heritage.His practice spans intimate canvases to monumental surfaces, demonstrating mastery of scale and material. There is no hesitation in his process; his painting is instinctual, immediate, vital – as essential as breathing. Recurring grids do not constrain but direct the energy of his compositions, creating a tension between structure and spontaneity. His bold chromatic choices recall the lyricism of Abstract Expressionism and the tonal intensity of Rothko, while the underlying modulation and rhythmic patterning evoke Mondrian’s checkerboards. Kunbi distinguishes himself through the integration of fabric, which imbues his works with ritualistic and sacred resonance. Drawn from religious traditions, the textiles are harmonized with the painted surface, enriching both tone and spirit. They are carriers of memory, ritual, and identity, transforming the works into layered celebrations of culture and history. At first, his compositions may suggest struggle or confrontation, yet closer engagement reveals balance, closure, and reverence. The painterly energy affirms life, communal heritage, and shared memory. Colours become hymns to ancient stories, songs, and prayers, while textiles animate the canvas like a ceremonial dance, resonant with tradition.For Kunbi, painting is ritual: a choreography of brush and pigment capturing lived experience. Ritual is both personal and collective – remembrance, homage, and participation in a cultural continuum. His works emerge as poetic syntheses of colour, texture, and memory: a visual language enacting cohesion, dialogue, and the enduring vitality of identity. -
La Biennale di Venezia 2026
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TEGENE KUNBI
SHAPES OF SILENCE
ETHIOPIAN PAVILION
at the
61ST INTERNATIONAL ART EXHIBITION
La Biennale di Venezia
May 9th – November 22nd, 2026
at
Palazzo Bollani
(Castello 3647)
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Primo Marella Gallery is proud to share an important milestone in the career of Ethiopian artist Tegene Kunbi, who has been selected to represent the Ethiopian Pavilion for the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia at Palazzo Bollani.
This year’s edition, In Minor Keys, curated by Koyo Kouoh, explores quieter, more nuanced artistic registers and emphasizes artists’ roles as interpreters of social and emotional realities, challenging dominant narratives through subtle and poetic approaches.
Kunbi will represent Ethiopia in a presentation curated by Professor Abebaw Ayalew – with Yohannes Mulat Mekonnen serving as Curatorial Assistant – titled Shapes of Silence.
The chosen venue, Palazzo Bollani (Castello 3647) located in the picturesque Castello district, is a Renaissance building standing as a symbol of Venice’s understated beauty – a place where history, art, and culture converge in a truly captivating setting.
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ዝምታ ወርቅ ነው
Silence is gold
በሽታውን ያልተናገረ መድሀኒት የለውም
He who does not name his illness finds no cure
ካለመናገር ደጅ አዝማችነት ይቀራ
By not speaking, one risks exclusion from opportunity
Silence as a social practice in Ethiopia often draws its justification from the country’s rich folkloric traditions. Within these traditions, silence holds an ambivalent and paradoxical status, praised as a virtue while simultaneously regarded as a potential misdeed.
Silence thus emerges not as a mere absence, but as a space of restraint, tension, and ethical negotiation.
These questions of silence as a hierarchical and political condition extend to exhibition practice itself. In exhibition spaces, artworks are routinely framed by explanatory texts, labels, captions, and curatorial narratives that claim interpretive authority. Language speaks for the artwork, while the visual and multimodal are rendered silent, reinforcing a hierarchy in which written language becomes the primary site of meaning-making.
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Installation view. Tegene Kunbi, Dissolving Boundaries, 2025, Oil and textile on canvas, 250 × 200 cm
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Exhibitions
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Dripping time, fading memory
Tegene Kunbi 20 Feb - 20 Mar 2025TEGENE KUNBI Dripping time, fading memory PRIMO MARELLA GALLERY MILANO Born in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, Tegene Kunbi’s art draws from his African heritage while engaging with global artistic movements, fusing...Read more -
Patchwork Freedoms
Tegene Kunbi 30 Mar - 18 May 2023Read more -
Warp and Weft
Tegene Kunbi 19 Nov 2022 - 13 Jan 2023Read more -
Tegene Kunbi - 2022 Dakar Biennial
Artist Biennial presentation 19 May - 21 Jun 2022In the Fourteenth edition of the Dakar Biennale: 59 artists and artist collectives to forge a new common destiny Create, imagine and invent. It is around this triptych that the...Read more
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Video
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Works
Tegene Kunbi Ethiopian , b. 1980
Untitled, 2025Oil and textile on canvas204 × 194 cmSigned and dated 2025 versoProvenance
Artist studio1of 3Bibliography
Recent Solo and Group exhibitions include:
2026
Shapes of Silence – Ethiopian Pavilion, 61st International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
2025
Fragments of a World After Its Own Image, APALAZZOGALLERY, Brescia, IT
Dripping time, fading memory, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, IT;
2024
Bending Back, Standing Pine, Nagoya JP;
Resonant Harmonies, Standing Pine, Tokyo, JP;
2023
Tegene Kunbi - Patchwork Freedoms, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, IT;
Tegene Kunbi - Meeting Points and Holding On, Gallery 1957, Accra, Ghana Tessellations Through Time, Galerie Dutko, Paris, France
2022
Dak’Art Biennale, Daakar, Senegal;
Tegene Kunbi, Solo Show, Primo Marella Galellery;
Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin
University of Antananarivo, Madagaskar;
2021
Heilandskirche Moabit, Berlin, Germany
From Modern to Contemporary, CF HILL, Addis Fine Art Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
Here History Began, SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin, Germany
Materials and Things, Exit Frame Collective, Roubaix, France;
2020
Abstract//Figures, ArtGallé Amy Sow, Nouakchott, Mauritania (with Saleh Lo)
Studio Berlin, Berghain (with Boros foundation), Berlin, Germany
Summer Selections, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, USA
Planet B, BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt, Berlin, Germany;
2019
Re:public, Circle Art Gallery, Nairobi, Kenia (with Robel Te- smegen)
PlanetArt, Kühlhaus, Berlin, Germany
Material Color, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, USA ;
2018
Dak’Art Biennale (subsection, curator Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung), Senegal;
Light Years, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, USA
Contemporary Young Artists, Berlin, Germany;
2017
Tegene Kunbi and Werner Pokorny, Galerie Gerken, Berlin, Germany;
2015
Tegene Kunbi and Alexander Bobkin, Alicia Winters Galería, Arnhem, Netherlands;
Danjerus Cable, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, USA;
2014
Melting Pot, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, USA;
Tegene Kunbi, Galerie Gerken, Berlin, Germany.
News-
Venice Biennale 2026: Tegene Kunbi to represent Ethiopia
"Shapes of Silence" – Ethiopian Pavilion by Tegene Kunbi, curated by Abebaw Ayalew on view at Palazzo Bollani May 9th – November 22nd, 2026Primo Marella Gallery is proud to share an important milestone in the career of Ethiopian artist Tegene Kunbi , who has been selected to represent...Read more -
Tegene Kunbi, «The fabrics I work with are a memory of my own experience»
Il Manifesto February 21, 2025Tegene Kunbi' s interview conducted by Laura Burocco on the occasion of the opening of his latest solo exhibition at Primo Marella Gallery Milan was...Read more -
Primo marella interviewed on african art market
article by il sole 24 ore September 16, 2024Primo Marella was interviewed by Gabriella Grasso of 'Il Sole 24 Ore' about the African art market. The article also included Abdoulaye Konaté's work 'Bleu,...Read more -
Artsy: A Guide to Milan for Art Collectors
Primo Marella Gallery featured in Artsy Article April 4, 2024For lovers of art and design, it’s perhaps never been a more opportune time to visit Milan. As the trifecta of Design Week, Miart, and...Read more -
PMG ArtGeneve booth featured in Le Quotidien de L'art
primo marella gallery booth featured as the cover of the journal February 1, 2023The article states: Contemporary African art was on show at a number of stands, including that of Milanese gallery Primo Marella, which presented five artists...Read more -
Tegene Kunbi nominated winner of the dakar biennial
dak'art 2022 May 20, 2022The Léopold Sédar Senghor Grand Prize from the President of the Republic for the 2022 Dakar Biennale went this year to the Ethiopian artist, Tegene...Read more
Art Fairs-
Arte Fiera 2026
BOOTH - B050, HALL 25 6 - 8 Feb 2026ARTE FIERA FEBRUARY 6 – 8, 2026 Collector's preview – upon invitation only February 5, 2026 PRIMO MARELLA GALLERY BOOTH - B050, HALL 25 Primo...Read more -
ROMA ARTE IN NUVOLA 2025
BOOTH – B08 20 - 23 Nov 2025PRIMO MARELLA GALLERY BOOTH - B08, LA NUVOLA 21 - 23 NOVEMBER, 2025 Primo Marella Gallery is delighted to announce its participation in the fifth...Read more -
Artissima 2025
BOOTH LIGHT BLUE 1 / GRAY 2 31 Oct - 2 Nov 2025PRIMO MARELLA GALLERY Artissima BOOTH - LIGHT BLUE 1 / GRAY 2 OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 2 2025 Primo Marella Gallery is delighted to announce...Read more -
AKAA | also known as africa
art fair 2025 24 - 26 Oct 2025Primo Marella Gallery is delighted to present its upcoming project at AKAA – Also Known As Africa , featuring a dynamic selection of works by...Read more
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MIART 2025
3 - 6 Apr 2025Primo Marella Gallery is pleased to participate to Miart 2025, presenting a selection of works by: Joël Andrianomearisoa, Tegene Kunbi, Samuel Nnorom, Amani Bodo, Kelechi...Read more -
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair
Marrakech 30 Jan - 2 Feb 2025PRIMO MARELLA GALLERY BOOTH - LM18 30 January - 2 february 2025 Primo Marella Gallery is excited to announce its participation in the 1-54 Contemporary...Read more -
Artissima 2024
art fair 2024 1 - 3 Nov 2024PRIMO MARELLA GALLERY BOOTH - Light Blue 1 /Gray 2 1 - 3 November 2024 Primo Marella Gallery is pleased to participate in Artissima Torino...Read more -
AKAA | also known as africa
art fair 2024 17 - 20 Oct 2024Primo Marella Gallery is delighted to announce its participation in AKAA Also Known As Africa | Art fair , presenting a booth with a stellar...Read more
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Miart 2024
11 - 14 Apr 2024Location: Allianz MiCo, Pavilion 3 Viale Scarampo, Milan Opening times: 11 April - VIP preview (by invitation only): from 11.00 to 21.00 12 and 13...Read more -
AKAA Also Known As Africa - Art fair
19 - 22 Oct 2023AKAA Also Known As Africa - Art fair Primo Marella Gallery is delighted to announce its participation in 'AKAA Also Known As Africa - Art...Read more -
1-54 Contemporary african art fair London
12 - 15 Oct 20231-54 Contemporary African art fair London Primo Marella Gallery is thrilled to be participating in the 11th edition of 1-54 London, which will take place...Read more -
Miart 2023
14 - 16 Apr 2023Miart 2023 BOOTH A13 Preview | 13 Aprile Allianz MiCo, Padiglione 3 viale Scarampo, Milano Orari di apertura: 11.30 - 20.00 Venerdì 14 Aprile 11.30...Read more
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Art Genève 2023
26 - 29 Jan 2023ArtGenève 2023 BOOTH B40 Preview | 25 January Palexpo SA, Route françois-peyrot 30 1218 le grand-saconnex, Switzerland Opening times: 12 pm - 7 pm Thursday...Read more -
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair - London 2022
13 - 16 Oct 20221:54 Contemporary African Art Fair - London Booth W13 Preview | 13 October Somerset House, South Wing Strand London, UK Opening times: 10:00 – 19:00...Read more
Publications-
TEGENE KUNBI
Dripping time, fading memory Primo Marella Gallery, 2025Hardbook, 169 pagesRead more
Publisher: Primo Marella Gallery
Dimensions: 25,5x20,5 cm -
Tegene Kunbi
patchwork freedoms | Warps and Wefts Primo Marella Gallery, 2023softbook, 77 pagesRead more
Publisher: Primo Marella Gallery
Dimensions: 25,5 x 20 x 1,5
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