The Collection

Engdaye Lemma is a printmaker and educator whose experimental practice synthesizes screen printing, painting, and collage. Living and working in Addis Ababa, Lemma draws primary inspiration from urban life, examining the layered interactions between public and private space, individuality and collectivity, and movement and residue within the city. His densely composed works reflect the rhythms, textures, and contradictions of contemporary urban existence, offering meditations on society, humanity, and lived experience.

Lemma received his BFA in Printmaking from the Alle School of Fine Art and Design in Addis Ababa in 2007, where he was part of the institution’s first printmaking cohort. He currently serves as an assistant lecturer at the school, contributing to the development of printmaking education while collaborating with former teachers and influential figures such as Zerihun Yetmgeta, Getachew Yoseph, Agegehu Adane, and Berhanu Ashagre. His practice is informed by ethnographic thinking and by a belief in art’s capacity to bridge intellectual inquiry and everyday life, combining multiple techniques to express flexible, timeless concepts.

Lemma has participated in numerous exhibitions and printmaking-focused workshops in Ethiopia and internationally, with exhibitions in cities including Addis Ababa, London, New York, and Nairobi. Recent presentations with Addis Fine Art Gallery include the group exhibitions Alle Legends (Addis Ababa, January–April) and Eastern Voices: Contemporary Artists from East Africa (London, June–July). His recent solo exhibition, Floating Souls, was presented at Addis Fine Art Gallery in London, on view through February 24, 2024.

Through a practice grounded in experimentation and observation, Lemma positions himself—both literally and conceptually—within his work, navigating questions of meaning, existence, and the social fabric of urban life.