Wendimagegn Belete’s work delves into the intricate intersections of memory, identity, history, and epigenetic inheritance—the idea that experiences, traumas, and memories can be passed down through generations in ways that challenge conventional understanding. Through a multidisciplinary practice spanning installation, video, painting, photography, textiles, and found objects, it creates layered narratives that blur the boundaries between the personal and collective, the past and present.
Often immersive, his installations combine elements such as archival materials, and handmade artifacts to examine the layered histories embedded within materials. By doing so, the artist aims to illuminate how objects and materials carry traces of both personal and collective memory, serving as conduits for storytelling across generations. This approach reflects an ongoing engagement with themes of cultural heritage, resilience, displacement, and the enduring nature of identity.
The artistic practice serves as an ongoing investigation of how memory and materiality intersect to form the foundations of identity and heritage. By juxtaposing the historical with the contemporary, the digital with the handmade, Belete creates work that resonates across cultures and generations, offering new ways of seeing and understanding the world around us.
Wendimagegn Belete (b. 1986, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) lives and works between Addis Ababa and Oslo. He completed his bachelor’s degree in fine arts at the AAU Alle School of Fine Arts and Design, Ethiopia, in 2012. In 2017, he earned an MA in Contemporary Art from the Tromsø Academy of Contemporary Art and Creative Writing in Norway. His work has been exhibited internationally.