anonymous amhara artist

This painting on parchment by an anonymous artist is a wonderful depiction of Gena, a traditional game popular in the Ethiopian highlands. Gena is similar to field hockey and is played in the space between villages without defined boundaries. Two teams throw a wooden ball in the air and hit it with sticks, the goal being to prevent the opposing team to bring the ball to their village. The game is closely associated with Gena, the celebration of Christmas, from which it gets its name. Because Ethiopia follows the Julian calendar, Gena falls on 7 January.

According to an Ethiopian legend, Gena was first played by shepherds to celebrate the birth of Jesus. An inscription in ge’ez on the upper left section of the painting reads “Seebeaa Segel”, “The Three wise men”. On the right side is written close to the raised staff in ge’ez, “Birthday”referring to Christ’s Birthday, or Christmas!

Painting on parchment of the nativity and the ethiopian traditional game gena

Ethopia

Mid 20 century

Parchment 83 cm x 40 cm

Frame: 99 cm x 57cm

Provenance:

Owen Hargreaves, London

Price on request aRtWORk PReSented By:

Duende Art Projects

T.:+32 485 98 20 36

E.: bruno@duendeartprojects.com

W.: www.duendeartprojects.com