Dawit Abebe

AKKA Project, proudly announces Dawit Abebe as its thirtheenth artist-in-residence, bringing his compelling artistic exploration to Venice.
The residency will take place from April until June, at AKKA Project Venezia.

 

During his residency in Venice, Abebe will develop a new body of work under the title ጥቁር ሣጥን (BLACKBOX). Conceived as an ongoing research framework, the project approaches the body as a “black box”: an opaque system that records and transmits experience without fully revealing its internal logic. As the artist notes, “The body is like a black box: it is not meant to be opened, but read through traces and fragments.” Through this lens, Abebe explores how memory and identity are accumulated, transformed, and carried across time, inviting viewers to engage as active interpreters of layered and partially inaccessible histories.

The residency is situated within a broader reflection on historical connections between Ethiopia and Venice, drawing on the journeys of Ethiopian monks and pilgrims who contributed to the circulation of knowledge across continents. Venice—long a site of cultural and commercial exchange—becomes a context for dialogue, process, and transmission within the artist’s practice.

 

The residency will culminate in a solo show: BlackBox by Dawit Abebe: The Residency Outcome, on view from 7 May to 30 June 2026.

 

1 April 2026