Elias Sime
Congratulations to Elias Sime and Meskerem Assegued on the grand opening of Zoma Museum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The museum has been under construction for the past four years and will officially open to the public on Sunday, March 24 at 2 pm. The opening will feature an exhibition of work by Zoma co-founder Elias Sime, a contemporary dance performance by Destino Dance Company Ethiopia and a musical performance by Girum Gizaw's jazz quartet, as well as art workshops for adults and children. The opening is free and open to the public.
Zoma Museum is a dream 25 years in the making, inspired by the timeless and structurally sound vernacular architecture of Ethiopia. It is named for Zoma Shiferraw, a young Ethiopian artist who died of cancer in 1979.
Zoma Museum is an environmentally conscious art institution in Addis Ababa. Zoma's mission is centered around education and the teaching of building methods that have demonstrated their abilities to withstand the ravages of time while maintaining their grace and beauty. The museum’s aim is to showcase innovative and cutting-edge art and architecture in a vernacular museum where the old and the new merge. In this context, Zoma is built using traditional construction techniques. The building materials include mud, straw, stone, wood, and cement.
Zoma Museum's facilities include a gallery, library, children's center, edible garden, elementary school, art and vernacular school, amphitheatre and museum shop.