Dawit Muluneh, 50, found his calling for painting and sculpture at an early age. Born and raised in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, he abandoned the playground and became obsessed with watching his uncle paint. In time, Muluneh developed a remarkable skill of painting figures. In fifth grade, he recalled how his ability to paint was so good that he taught painting classes to other art students, including those who were his seniors.  

Graduating in 1995 from the Addis Ababa University’s Allé School of Fine Arts and Design, formerly School of Fine Arts, Muluneh claims to have found the meaning of life through the art of painting. He is also among the first few Ethiopians to become a studio artist, which helped to pave the way for emerging artists. Besides painting, Muluneh is also best known as a graphics digital artist. He adds power to his paintings by using a variety of soil and stone materials gathered from across Ethiopia and has to date participated in more than 27 group and solo exhibitions in Africa, the US, Europe, Russia and Japan. 

Dedicating more than 25 years of his life to art, Muluneh recently found new inspiration from an ancient book on Chinese wisdom and symbols called the I Ching, commonly translated as the Book of Changes, written more than 5,000 years ago.  

Art from ancient symbols   

The idea to translate the I Ching into either painting or sculpture was initiated by Gossa Oda, founder of Medemer Africa Art and Sculpture Space, located at the heart of Addis Ababa. A painter himself, Oda is an art enthusiast, who dedicates his own resources to promote the works of local artists. “Oda introduced us to a copy of the I Ching and explained its historic and cultural significance to humanity, and I made up my mind to convert it into paintings,” Muluneh told ChinAfrica.  

Serving as a philosophical source for thousands of years, the I Ching is a guide to righteous life, said Muluneh, adding that the book reduces everything into eight trigrams, namely; heaven (qian), water (kan), mountain (gen), thunder (zhen), wind (xun), fire (li), earth (kun) and lake (dui). Under these eight trigrams, the book illustrates 64 Chinese classical characters or gua (image) that are divided into upper canal and lower canal equally, representing “Heaven and Earth” – a scenario that makes his paintings flow between “Heaven” and “Earth.”  

After carefully studying the I Ching, Muluneh dedicated himself to giving artistic meaning to each of the 64 characters in sequence. “Each painting reflects the duality (yin and yang) that drives the universe, and they are entwined with one another, defining human life and livelihood,” he said.  

He took one year to complete the paintings that depict human life and livelihood, and said he was eager to wake up at dawn each day and get into the studio to start painting. 

It was important for Muluneh to maintain the shape and structure of each character to abide by the creativity of the Chinese authors. “I gave the characters my own colour and background in a way it gives meaning to each context,” he said. Although the characters are painted on a flat surface, he has given each one depth, beauty, and unique colouring so that people can understand each and find meaning in them.

Duality through culture  

For Muluneh, the I Ching characters clearly show the attachment between “the greatness of heaven, the greatness of Earth and the greatness of human being,” which also hold true for Ethiopian societies. Despite his first exposure to the book only going back two years, he said he was able to know more about the strong Chinese moral standards that are relatable to Ethiopia, which added to his inspiration.  

Among a number of similarities between the two, he said like the I Ching characters, Ethiopia also has talisman characters, which offer a sophisticated illustration of ancient wisdom like astronomy, medicine and spirituality among others. “These are monumental symbols or a visual dictionary shared by the two ancient countries,” he said.  

According to him, beyond the unique shapes and structures of their writing characters with the rest of the world, the two countries share an ancient civilisation, painting styles like the use of black ink, a bond with nature, tea and coffee ceremonies and their role in the community, traditional medicine and depiction of religion and faith through monasteries and their location, monks and meditation.

Ages and wisdom 

People who visited Muluneh’s paintings at Medemer Africa Art and Sculpture Space showed much interest, especially those who are aware of the I Ching and its place in Chinese tradition. Their reaction recalls Confucius, who reviewed the I Ching, and is attributed for saying at the age of 70 that, “If some years were added to my life, I could dedicate fifty years to study of the I Ching, and then I might come to be without great faults.” 

Fekadu Abebe, who has been keenly following the paintings of Muluneh, said he is impressed by the unique art and what it symbolises. “Through the paintings, I have witnessed certain wisdom shared between ancient Ethiopia and China,” he told ChinAfrica. 

Fascinated by the way the artist captured the I Ching, art lover Fannie Gong believes the paintings need to be promoted on bigger platforms. Gong, who also called for a commercialisation of the paintings, said, “Muluneh is a smart artist, who deserves acclamation that compensates his effort.”  

Muluneh’s next project is to work on paintings that illustrate the daily socio-cultural aspects shared between Ethiopian and Chinese societies. “As the current generation is overwhelmed by digital art, we also need to show the value of hand-painted art,” he said.

African Times published this article in partnership with ChinAfrica Magazine