Eshetu, Theo
Theo Eshetu è un video artista nato a Londra nel 1958 da madre olandese e padre etiope. Trascorre la sua infanzia tra Etiopia, Senegal, la Ex-Jugoslavia e altri luoghi. Parla molte lingue e il suo background transnazionale e multiculturale dialoga con la complessità identitaria in un mondo sempre più globalizzato.
Eshetu si laurea in Communication Design presso il North East London Poytechnic nel 1981. Da allora ha lavorato con una vasta gamma di new media, dal documentario al film sperimentale, alla videoinstallazione e fotografia.
Il suo lavoro è stato mostrato in Italia, così come in Inghilterra, Gemrania, Svezia, Sud Africa, Canada, USA, Brasile, Giappone e Cina ed è stato presentato in importanti esposizioni tra cui: la Biennale di Venezia (2011), allo Smithsonian Institute (2010), “DieTropen” (2008), “Snap Judgments” (2006) e “Digital Africa” (2003).
Ha insegnato film e videoarte presso diverse accademie d’arte e università italiane. Attualmente lavora tra Roma e Berlino.
Theo Eshetu is a video artist who was born in London in 1958 to a Dutch mother and Ethiopian father. His childhood was spent between Ethiopia, Senegal and Yugoslavia, among other nations. He speaks several languages and his multi-national, multi-cultural background speaks to the complexity of identity in an increasingly globalized world. For over twenty years, he has been based in Rome. Eshetu received his degree in Communication Design from the North East London Polytechnic in 1981. Since then he has worked in a range of new media formats, from documentary and experimental films, to video art installations, and photography. His work has appeared throughout Italy, as well as in England, Germany, Sweden, South Africa, Canada, the United States, Brazil, Japan, and China, and he has been featured in such major exhibitions as the Venice Biennial (2011), The Smithsonian Institute (2010) DieTropen (2008) Snap Judgments (2006) and Digital Africa (2003). He has taught film and video art in Art academies and Universities in Italy. He currently works between Rome and Berlin.
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Interview of Theo Eshetu by Laura Leuzzi
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Exhibitions:
Solo and featured Shows
2013
Cinemafrica in Cineteca, Retrospective, Cinema Trevi, Rome
2011
Circus Maximus, Video Projection for a concert by Alvin Curran, Integra Festival,
Royal Danish Conservatory and Moderna Música festival, Centro del Carmen, Valencia.
ART AT WORK pavilion VISIONARY AFRICA Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso CARMEN IN FINE video theatrical performance by Massimo Verdastro
2010
Brave New World, Museum of African Art, The Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC
2009
The Return of The Aksum Obelisk, UNESCO Head quarters Paris and FAO head quarters Rome.
Ars & Navis, Arsenale di La Spezia. Italy
2008
Retrospective IN VIDEO festival Milano
I Racconti del Mandala, Teatro Colosseo Rome
Teatro Civico di Carrara
Five For Monk Video & Dance St Stevens, Theatre w. Roberta Garrison
2007
Buio in Sala, Sala Principe dei Piemonti, Viareggio
Made In Italy, Retrospective Theo Eshetu Filmstudio Rome Featured Artist
South of the Other, The Robert Flaherty Film Seminar Poughkeepsie, USA
2006
Meditation on African Light, Baltimore Museum of Art, USA
2005
Africanized, retrospective The videos of Theo Eshetu, Padova, Verona and Bari.
2004
Films of Theo Eshetu Presented at BAM Cinemateque, New York
Monografia Elettronica, Zo cultural Centre, Catania.
Special Event presentation of Body and Soul, Venice Film Festival
2003
Blood, Museo Laboratorio dell’Università La Sapienza, Rome
Digital Africa at Electronic Arts Intermix/ Dia Foundation/African Film Festival, New York, USA
2002
Africanized, presented at the 58th Venice Film Festival
1999
Brave New World, MACRO (Galleria Comunale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea), Roma.
1998
La nascita di Dioniso, (installation) Museo de arte italiano, Lima (Perù)
1996
University of Addis Abeba, Dept. Of Social Anthropology
1995
Retrospective at Arcipelago 3, Osservatorio sul cinema Italiano, Cinema Savoy,Rome
Il gatto e la volpe, Galleria Pio Monti, Rome
1994
Museum of modern and contemporary art, Nice, France
Chef Bien Resistes, Museum of Contemp. Art, Arezzo
Mass Memory, 50° Venice Film Festival, Venezia
Arte & Jeans, Minimi Rilievi, Passage de Retz, Paris
Mill Valley Film Festival, San Francisco, USA.
La Nascita di Dionisio, Galleria Cesare Manzo, Pescara
1993
Museo del Cinema, Torino
Zapping, Galleria Nova, Rome
1992
ICA, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK
Videodistorsioni, Sulmonacinema, Italia
Artel, Galleria Comunale, Cagliari. TER Int. Exhibition of Cont. Art, Termoli.
1990
Il Luogo della complessità, Museo Laboratorio dell’Università La Sapienza, Rome.
1989
Studio D’ars, Milan
1987
Monitors, Galleria MR/Goethe Institute, Rome. Video Art Italiana, Galleria Civica, Monza
1985
Video Wall installation at Saint Louis, Music City, Rome
1983
The Portrait part One, New International Gallery, RomeGroup Shows, Video and Film Festivals
2013
IkonoTV On Air Festival, International Videoart Festival broadcast on livestream 2013 Probebühne 1, Humboldt Lab, Ethnographic Museum Dahlem
2012
Agency of Unrealized Projects, Daad galerie, Berlin
CORPO ELECTRONICO, Complesso monumentale del San Giovanni, Catanzaro.
AFRICA RISING Cloitre des Billettes, Paris
Singolarità mobili che abitano uno spazio nomade, Casa dei teatri Villa Doria Pamphilj, Rome
2011
VENICE BIENNALE, L’Arte Non è Cosa Nostra, Arsenale di Venezia, Padiglione Italia, Venezia.
Cinema e Diversità Culturale, Palladium Rome
Eyes al Asiatica Film Mediale MACRO Testaccio, Rome
Roma al festival di video art Roma
2010
Roma Film Festival, Casa del Cinema Rome
MACRO Video Drink, curated by M.M. Gazzano, MACRO, Rome
CAOS II Curato da Rafaelle Gavarro Isola di San Servolo Venezia.
EVENTS OF THE SELF, portraiture and Social Identity, curated by Okwui Enwesor
The Walther Collection, Neu Ulm Germany.
GEO-Graphics, a map of art practices in Africa past and present
Curated by Koyo Kouoh, David Adjaye BOZAR Pallais Des Beaux Arte, Brussels.
The Tropics, curated by Alfons Hug The Jim Thompson Art Center Bangkok.
African Film Festival at the New Museum, New York.
Look At Festival, Fondazione Ragghianti, Lucca.
Festival Archipelago, Rome.
2009
The Tropics IZIKO National Gallery of South Africa Cape Town
Message in a Bottle, theater performance Arsenale di La Spezia
AFRICA REFLECTED, The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Non Angli Sed Angeli: a Pilgrimage a Mission Venerable English College Rome
Fish Eye Cinema L’Aquila Rome
2008
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, USA
The Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Die Tropen Views from the middle of the globe, Martin Gropius-Bau. Berlin.
2007
Equatorial Rhythms, Stenersen Museum, Oslo.
Snap Judgments, Miami Art Central, USA.
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa/Canada
Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico
OS TROPICOS Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Brasília
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil – Rio de Janeiro
2006
SNAP JUDGMENTS, ICP International Centre For Photography, New York
On Air Videos from Italy, Milano
Electro Shock-30 Years of Italian Video art Guangdong Museum of Art
Central Academy of Fine Arts, Peking.
c/o Careof Milan
Codes of Culture Video art from 5 Continents, Argentina.
Video in onda dall ‘Italia In Loop, Brancolini Grimaldi Gallery, Florence
2005
AFRICA REMIX Contemporary Art from The African Continent The Hayward Gallery, London
MACRO, Videoteca, presentation of Body and Soul, Rome
2004
Living For the City, installation, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
The Creation Trilogy presented at Sulmona Film Festival
On Air, Galleria Comunale di Arte Contemporanea, Montefalcone
2003
Europalia FNAC, Bruxelles
Museo Laboratorio di Arte contemporanea, La Sapienza, Roma
Video Zone Center for Contemporary Art Tel Aviv Cinemateque
Museum of Modern Art. Video Zone Selection Shijiazhuang Museum China Art Is Easy in Tour with Fluxus Show, Hommage to Charlotte Moorman, USA
2002
Net Image Live video VJ contest, Milano
PRIX ITALIA, Teatro Massimo, Palermo
2001
Museum of African Art, New York
Ways To A Void, Palazzo Degli Esposizioni, Roma
Electro Shock 30 years of Italian Video Art, Acquario Romano and MACRO, Roma
2000
Trans Africana(video installation) Chiesa Di San Giorgio, Bologna Cinema Ferrovia, Udine
INPUT 2000, Halifax, Canada
The New York African Film Festival, Lincoln Centre, New York, USA
Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, USA
1999
Festival del Cinema Africano, Milano
Visibilità Zero, Goethe Institute, Rome
Golem Video festival, Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Torino
Sithengi, Cape Town, South Africa
Lavori In Corso, Macro, Roma
1998
In-video Milano
Festival di Cinema Africano, Milano
Dublin Film Festival
Fespaco/Input Ouagadadougou, Burkina Faso
Vues D’afrique, Quebec, Canada
WWVF, Amsterdam Holland
Incontri sul Video, La Spezia
Balafon ’98 Film Festival,Bari
Istituto Giapponese di Cultura, Roma
1997
University of Addis Abeba, University of Berkeley California, USA
Pesaro Film festival, Pesaro
Autheur film Festival Belgrade
Mill valley Film Festival, Mill Valley, Ca, USA
NFT London Film Festival, Video Art Plastique, France
1996
Riciclart, Art and Recycling at the Slaughterhouse, Rome
Kind of blue, jazz film festival, Milan
1995
Preserviamoci, Rome. Art & Film Festival, Bratislava
La Città Ideale Fiumara d’arte, Sicily
Artisti per Opening, American Academy, Rome
AFRICANA , Sala Uno, Roma
Pandaemonium London Festival of Moving Images, ICA, London
Un anno Italiano in video, Superstudio, Milano
Arcipelago, Cinema Augustus Rome
Inverso sud, AversaFilmFestival 1996, Aversa
Recycle Mattatoio, Roma
Art For All, Pallazzo Braschi, Rome
Workshop “Arte elettronica e Linguaggi televisivi”, RAI, Rome
1994
Opera Stabile, Roma
Mondi Virtuali Sala Umberto, Rome
Dov’é il Video Museo Lab. di arte contemp. La Sapienza, Rome
Video les Beaux Jours Stasbourg, France
Goteborg Int. Film Festival, Sweden
Deutscher Videokunstpreis 1994, ZKM, Karlsruhe
1993
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin
I.ME.RE.C. Marseille
INPUT 93 Bristol, UK
In-Video, Aiace, Milano (also in 1994 ‘98 ’01)
Da Sodoma a Hollywood, Torino Gay Film Festival, Torino
Video les Beux Jour, Strasbourg, France
Museo dell Cinema, Torino
TTVV , Festival of video and Theater, Riccione
Anteprima, Concorso Gabbiano D’oro, Independent film fest
Bellaria Edinburgh Film Festival, Scotland
Xenografia, The Venice International Biennale of art, Venezia
2emme video week, Geneva
Ondavideo, Pisa
Prix Italia, “Il teatro in televisione”, Rome
Filmladen Kassel, Peter Greenaway & Theo Eshetu, Kassel, Germany INPUT, Bristol, UK
1992
Berlin Video Fest 92, Berlin (also 1993)
Promo Image Festival, Pala Expo, Rome
7th Australian int. film Festival, Sydney
ARTEL Electronic Media In Visual Arts In Italy, Galleria Comunale D’Arte, Cagliari
Festival dei Due Mondi, Spoleto,
Melkweg, Amsterdam
London Film Festival, Museum of Moving Images, London
ICA, Institute of contemporary Arts, London
Cinema Indipendente Italiano, Berlin
Video Teatro ’90, Expo 92, Seville, Spain
Sulmona Cinema, Videodistorsioni, Italia
Goethe Institutes in Latin America
European video art in the 90ies, Festival of poetry and image, Dense, Denmark
1991
Video Arte Italiana, Eventi, Italian Cultural Institute, Madrid
Theo Eshetu/Alexander Hahn, Swiss Cultural Institute, Rome
1990
Italian Cultural Institute, Rio de Janerio, Brazil
1989
Televisions Melbourne Lygon Arts Festival, Melbourne, Australia, (also 1990) Video Bienal, Lubijana
Festival de Video Musical, Victoria Gasteiz
Video Art Plastique, Herouville Saint-Clair (also in 1990, ’93)
Studio D’Ars, Milane
1988
MIPCOM, Cannes (also in 1990, ’92)
Art for Africa, Goteborg Konstmuseum, Goteborg
Fukui International Video Biennale, Fukui, Japan (also in 1989)
Manif. Int. Video & TV, Montbeliard, France
European Media Arts Festival, Experimentalfilm Workshop, Osnabrùck, RFT
AVE, Arnhem, Holland (aslo in 1989)
1987
Fest Rio, Rio de Janeiro (also in 1988)
Video CD 87, Lubijana
Kunst for Africa, Sonja Henies-Onstads, Oslo
Filmer a tout prix, Bruxelles; Ars Elettronica, Linz (also in 1989)
International Art Show for the End of World Hunger, Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, Minnisota, USA
World Wide Video Festival, The Hague, (also in 1987, ’88, ’89, ’92,’99)
Input, Granada, Spain
Point ’87, Beaubourg, Paris
Videonale, Bonn
Europe Copyright, Beaubourg, Paris
Festival Video Arte, Messina (also in 1989, ‘1991)
Electrovisions, Tokyo, Japan
1986
Festival di Camerino, Camerino
Prato-Expo, Fortezza da Basso, Florence
Tre volte video, Rome. Montecatini Film & Video Festival
1985
Festival du Noveau Cinema, Montreal, (also in 1989, 1992)
Film-Maker, Milano (also in 1988 and 1990)
EU-Video, l’Immagine Elettronica, Bologna
Espace lyonaise d’Art Contemporaine, Lyon, France, (also in 1987)
Teleconfronto, Chianciano Terme, Italia
1984
Video Art, Locarno, (also in 1985, ‘86 ’87, ’89, ’90 ’92, ’95, ’96 ’99)
U-Tape, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Center of Video Arte, Ferrara (also in 1987, ’89, ’90)
1982
Festival Cinema Giovanni di Torino, Italy (also in 1987, 1989 and 2000)
Salso Film & TV Festival, Salsomaggiore ( also from 1983, al 1989)
Video Roma 1982/1983, Rome. -
Videography:
2013
Kiss the Moment, video installation, (DAAD)
The Yule Tree, video, 6 mins
Double Feature Picture Show, video, 16 mins (Visionary Africa/BOZAR)
2012
View from Bar Olympia, video installation (The Lamu Series)
The Festival of Sacrifice, video installation, Corpo Elettronico Catanzaro (The Lamu Series)
2011
Veiled Woman on a Beachfront, video installation, Venice Biennale (The Lamu Series)
Eyes, 4 mins.
2010
Circus Maximus, Live video projections for musical concert (w Alvin Curran)
Lightning Strikes, video 6 min.
ROMA video/film w Alvin Curran
ROMA AMOR LABYRINTHOS video projectin project w Peter Maxwell Davis
2009
The Return of Axum Obelisk video installation, UNESCO
Living Room Music video/music w Alvin Curran (and others)
From This World to That which is to Come, Video projection, The Venerable English College
Ars Navi, video installation, Arsenale di La Spezia, Italy
2008
Message in a Bottle, Video theatre performance, with XLab Factory
Five for Monk, Video projection for choreography by Roberta Garrison
2007
K LIVE with the Soul Circus, Enzimi MACRO Roma
K Alma videotape/installation 23 mins. ( Castello Odescalchi, Braciano)
K Kino, videotape/installation 34 mins.(Comune di Viareggio)
I Racconti del Mandala video-musical-theatrical performance, with XLab Factory
Cruelly Coy video-musical performance with Sabina Meyer (Berio, Cage, Scelsi)
2006
Meditation Light, video installation (Baltimore Museum of Art)
Brave New World II (Second version)
An Extraordinary Event, documentary on the Popes Funerals. 52 mins.
Terra e Musica, Interactive DVD, with Peter Maxwell Davies. (CEMAT)
Un Parto Particolare, videotape (w Time Berne) 8 mins.
2005
The Creation Trilogy, videotape and installation, 60 min.
Trip to Mt. Zugualla, video installation. (Snap Jugments, International Centre for Photography)
Roma Caput Mundi, videotape 10 mins. (Jack Shanman Gallery)
2004
Body and Soul V.3, Videotape, 40 mins.
Un Capodanno di Musica, documentary on a music festival 48 mins. (CEMAT)
2003
BLOOD, multimedia installation Museo Laboratorio Roma
Africa of the Four Rivers, Documentary natural reserve parks, 45 mins.
2002
Ways to a Void, Videotape/film, Trip to the Himalayas 54 mins
Africanized, Video/film 35 mins.
The Art Show, Documentary on George Segal, 30 mins.
2001
Senritsumirai, Documentary on Contemporary Japanese art, 30 mins.
The Tiger and the Lotus flower, Documentary on Tibetan Carpets, 30 mins.
2000
Ways to a Void (first version) Videotape/film, 60min.
Dialogue with Yves Klein, Documentario on Yves Klein, 30 min.
1999
Brave New World (Anima Mundi), Video installation *
Appunti per un ritratto su Borromini, Portrait of Borromini, 30min.
Una Parabola a Venezia, Documentary on The Venice Biennal, 30 mins.
1998
Kebra Negast, Documentary on The Legend of the Queen of Sheba, 30 mins.
1997
Blood is not Fresh Water, Videotape,57 mins.****
1996
Art is Easy, videotape, (on Fluxus), 26 mins.
La Nascità Di Dioniso, Video installation
1995
Sogno Della Città Ideale, (Dream of the Ideal City) Video/documentary, 45 mins.
1994
Mass Memory, Video/Film (on Federico Fellini’s Funeral), 8 mins.
Uno a Me, Uno a Te, Uno a Raffaello, collaboration with Jon Jost
Horses, Videotape, 6 mins.
1992
Travelling Light Videotape (A Portrait of Lindsay Kemp), 58 mins.
1990
La Madonna Delle Rose video installation
La Madonna Di Theo Eshetu Videotape, 18 mins.
1989
Nativity, Videotape, 15 mins.
1987
L’Altro Mondo (The Other World) Videotape, 13 mins.
Seshoku, Videotape,18 mins.
Till Death Us Do Part, Video installazione
1986
That’s Life (Questa E’ Vita) videotape, 12 mins.
1985
Back To Zero, videotape, 11 min.
My Better Half, videotape, 18 mins. and video Installation,
1984
Live Death (La Morte in Diretta), video performance
Antother Time Another Place, Videotape 8 mins.
1983
Video Domestici, Ambient Videos 6 x 60 mins.
Rites of Passage, videotape, 10 mins.
1982
Thunder and Lightning, videotape, 20 mins.1979-1981 (Student Films)
Commercial Break
Lord them Places Must be Sharp, w Steve Mears, based on the Lonely Londoners by Samuel Selvon
So This is Now, collaboration w John Maybury
The Fashion Show, collaboration with Terry Flaxton and triple Vision
The Bowler Hat -
Artist works:
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Artist assets:
