ENLIGHTENMENT ART ACADEMY - Addis Ababa

Enlightenment Art Academy was founded by Artist Eshetu Tiruneh, Artist Asnake Kifle, Artist Eskender Seyum and Artist Anteneh Seyum with the support of Hirut Yirgu, at the dawn of the Ethiopian millennium on September 18th 2006. These artists being advocates of art education, they aimed to fill the gap created by the scarcity of art schools in Ethiopia.

When the school opened in 2006, it was amongst the first three to provide an art education in the country, following the Fine Art School of Addis Ababa (now called Ale Felege Selam School of Fine Arts and Design) under the Addis Ababa University and the private Abyssinia Fine Art School. The Academy started its long journey with only seven students being enrolled, and the pathway hasn’t been without challenges. Art education in  

Show more

Ethiopia not being well established, these challenges are not only internal but also come from external policies that clash with the schools’ educational guidelines. It has nevertheless managed to successfully educate a good number of students in its 13 years of existence. Enlightenment Art Academy sets out to satisfy the interests of individuals who seek to acquire knowledge and skills in the art. By providing an affordable education, it sets out to develop art as an individual profession, but also to show the contribution that art can have in the development of spiritual and material life of the society and the country.