The Yatreda ያጥሬዳ collective, composed of a family of six creatives, wants to put a spotlight on Ethiopia, championing the stories of fallen empires, mythology, warriors who conquered, of forgetting and new cultures, religion and languages. And it does so through monochromatic motion portraits and NFTs.
Yatreda’s origin began with a dream. The creative director Kiya Tadele had always wanted to make a movie about the Adwa victory, the 1896 events that saw Ethiopians’ victory over Italian colonial forces. Over four years, the collective has created multiple projects including ‘Kingdom of Ethiopia’, one that captures and celebrates Ethiopian kings, warriors and kingdom; and ‘Strong hair’, which celebrates the beauty of Ethiopian hairstyles in 100 motion portraits. The collective's most recent project, ‘Abyssinian Queen’, opened at the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio, USA, and is an appreciation of Ethiopian oral history, based on the story of a queen who is carried by her own people. The project was made during a residency at the Toledo Museum and features a 1,700-year history of artworks from Ethiopia.
