Kirubel Melke Alemu

Kirubel Melke is a visual artist, born in 1983 in Addis Ababa. He lives and works in Ethiopia. He holds a degree in Marketing from the National College and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Addis Ababa University. Inspired by his mother's work in a textile factory, Kirubel Melke imagines figurative (politically engaged) and abstract compositions from fragments of fabric.

Using fabric as a symbol of everyday life, Kirubel explores themes related to education, social injustice and the relationship between tradition and modernity, presenting pressing issues relating to contemporary Ethiopian culture. Clothes washed and hung on a wire are a recurring theme in his series of works.

Melke has exhibited at the National Museum of Ethiopia, the Hawke Center at the University of South Australia and the Yarrow Gallery in the UK.