This workshop will be centred around the collage processes and techniques that Kebreab Demeke uses when working with water based acrylic paint, layering and the drying of material.

The workshop is free and open to all, and will take place in the gallery space in Kunstnerforbundet. No pre-registration needed.

This event is part of the June Exhibition 2026: Shifting Coordinates, a month-long institutional takeover transforming Kunstnerforbundet into a discursive platform centering Black Nordic artistic production across visual art, writing, film, and workshops. Shifting Coordinates is curated by the collective Peer Review, a collective platform for cultural analysis across Black visual culture for and by Africans and its diaspora in Oslo, established in 2024. Read more about the exhibition here.

Kebreab Demeke (b. 1987, Ethiopia) takes part in the Shifting Coordinates exhibition with new large-format works that combine layered surfaces of painting, collage, and what the artist calls an ‘investigation of archival material’ – fragments, interrupted images, repeating traces, and materials from earlier works. The series also explores memory as unstable and constantly shifting, and represents some of Demeke’s artistic reflections on shifting narratives and how these are shaped, inherited, erased, and in motion across generations. 

Demeke’s practice includes mixed media painting, printmaking, performance, and installation. Demeke often explores shifts in cultural life and political identity in Ethiopia as well as the influence of international experiences across the country’s history. His works seek to unveil and transcribe existing and forgotten knowledge across generations, as Demeke’s visuals reflect complex historical realities of 20th- and 21st-century Ethiopia, in relation to contemporary political and cultural contestation. He holds an MFA in Art and Public Space from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KhiO, 2017) and a BFA with a specialization in painting from ASFAD, Addis Ababa University (2010).

Shifting Coordinates has received support from the Norwegian Visual Artists Fund (BKV), The City of Oslo, Balansekunst – Balansepotten, The Finnish-Norwegian Cultural Institute (FINNO), The Savings Bank Foundation DNB, Talent Norway, and the Fritt Ord Foundation.

Image: Kebreab Demeke, Marxist-Modern (detail)

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Materialworkshop med kunstner Kebreab Demeke

Denne workshopen er sentrert rundt collageprosessene og teknikkene som brukes av Demeke ved arbeid med vannbasert akrylmaling, arbeid med stabling av lag og tørkeprosess av materiale.

Workshopen er gratis og åpen for alle, og finner sted i Kunstnerforbundets galleri. Det er ikke nødvendig med påmelding.

Kebreab Demeke (f. 1987, Etiopia) sin praksis utforsker forskyvninger i kulturelt liv og politisk identitet i Etiopia, samt påvirkningen av internasjonale erfaringer gjennom landets historie. Verkene hans søker å avdekke og transkribere eksisterende og glemt kunnskap på tvers av generasjoner. Demekes visuelle uttrykk reflekterer komplekse historiske hendelser i Etiopia på 1900- og 2000-tallet, sett opp i en kontekst preget av samtidige politiske og kulturelle spenninger. Demekes praksis omfatter maleri i blandet teknikk, trykk, performance og installasjon. Han har en mastergrad i Kunst og offentlige rom fra Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo (KHiO, 2017) og en bachelorgrad med spesialisering i maleri fra ASFAD, Addis Ababa University (2010). 

Bilde: Kebreab Demeke, Marxist-Modern (detail)