Surafel Wondimu Abebe

Raised by a single mother who is a generous human being, indefatigable worker, and art lover nurtured by oral performances, Surafel was educated and supported by his ‘yaltemarech’ (‘uneducated’) parent. It was after he had committed himself to socially conscious artistic, journalistic, and intellectual services at notable independent and public theatres and media houses that he later joined Addis Ababa University (AAU). He then formally studied literature, politics, cultural studies, and performance historiography. Surafel brings in his multi-genre methods and invites also non-academic intellectuals to the classes he teaches. Currently, he is the Inaugural Okwui Enwezor postdoctoral fellow at The Africa Institute of Sharjah, UAE where he is working on his book project, which enquires into the coloniality of historiography and considers how Ethiopian female performers maneuver spaces to change their position in the society they live in.