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Ethiopian Passages: Contemporary Art From the Diaspora by Elizabeth Harney Philip Wilson Publishers (London)/ Smithsonian National Museum of African Art May 2003, $29.95, ISBN 0-856-67562-8
How ironic to review Elizabeth Harney' s book Ethiopian Passages: Contemporary Art From the Diaspora at the same time that scientists examining human fossils say they have proved that Ethiopia is the birthplace of modern humans.
The book, which accompanies an exhibit of the same name at the National Museum of African Art, in Washington, D.C., (on view through December 2003), features the work of ten artists: Elisabeth Atnafu, Alexander "Skunder" Boghossian, Achamyeleh Debela, Wosene Kosrof, julie Mehretu, Aida Muluneh, Etiye Dimma Poulsen, Mickael Bethe-Selassie, Kebedech Tekleab and Elizabeth Habte Wold. all are Ethiopia born but left to live, study and work throughout the world-in California, France and New York, including six who studied at Howard University and have lived in WashingIon, D.C., where the largest population of Ethiopians reside outside the capital Addis Ababa. The artists range in age from 30 to 60, and they work in mostly modern...