The Museum

The Museum of the IES operates with the main objectives of "preserving cultural and historical objects for the present and future generations, and providing continuous assistance to researchers."
The Museum consists of five sections:

1. Ethnological or Material Culture
2. Art Gallery
3. Ethno-Musicological
4. Philatelic, and
5. Coins and Bank Notes collections.

Each of these sections has a wide-range of items and objects in its holdings. Collection of ethnographic objects at the IES was started in the early I950s at the former University College of Addis Ababa (UCAA). At about the same time, an ethnological society was established, consisting of mainly university students, to raise funds and to collect items from their origins carried out essentially by students returning home during vacations. In addition, the ethnographic objects and zoological specimens, collected by Italians (1936-41), were transferred from Ministry of Agriculture compound then situated in Akaki (an industrial suburb of Addis Ababa) to Arat Kilo Campus that housed UCAA. After the founding of the IES in 1963, the ethnographic collection was moved from the Arat Kilo Campus to the new seat of the IES, in the former, Imperial Palace, the Geunete-Leul, and now the main campus of Addis Ababa University.

Historically the IES museum was meant to be an ethnographic collection. However, because of the threat to an increasing number of old Ethiopian paintings, crosses and other valuable church appurtenances from illicit and commercial drives, the Museum decided to collect and preserve them in about 1965 in order to save them and start an art gallery. By 1975 the Museum had become the seat of the largest and most representative collection of Ethiopia's sacred art in public hands. Currently, the IES Museum houses in one building the Ethnographic and the Traditional Art Collections, besides the Ethno-Musicological, the Philatelic, and the Coins and Bank Notes Collections. The major collections are the Ethnographic Collection and the Traditional Art Collection that are conveniently displayed on the two floors of the Museum. Although the collections have had to be separated for convenience, they are, nevertheless, complementary and offer a fairly representative view of the material, cultural and spiritual life of Ethiopians.

The late 70s saw the implementation of an important renovation work of a staircase leading to the top floor accommodating the art gallery. This work, which took over three years, was important because it doubled the size of the exhibition and made possible the establishment of the current art gallery which covers over 500 square meters. The cataloguing of museum objects and publication of a museum manual and the improvement of layout and display of the museum has been significantly enhanced the organization of the Museum.

Objectives of the Museum:

• To preserve and study samples of the traditional arts and artifacts of Ethiopia before they eventually disappear as a result of the impact of industrial civilization;
• to prevent, through an increased awareness of the significance of our national heritage, the drain of our cultural property for the profit of foreign museums and collectors, as well as the commercial interests of the Addis Ababa antique market;
• to develop and operate an Ethnographic Museum, which covers the whole range of material culture, such as household artifacts, textiles and clothing, basketry, pottery, woodwork, leather work, musical instruments, folk paintings, and religious art, including icons and crosses;
• to carry out, promote, coordinate and support research in Ethiopian material culture studies;
• to preserve Ethiopia's cultural heritage by collecting, cataloguing and displaying objects of Ethiopian material culture and objects of historical value;
• to restrict sales outside the country of precious objects of traditional art and objects of special historical and cultural value;
• to provide for the needs of University students, teachers and the University at large;
• to provide continuous assistance to research workers, both within the country and abroad.

This section has a representative sampling of objects of almost all cultures in Ethiopia, which include agricultural implements, fishing and hunting tools, household objects, traditional clothing, ornaments, jewelry, etc.

In this section are displayed icons, crosses, some dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries, church wall paintings, Islamic calligraphy, and folk paintings. The section also houses photographs of imaginative stele structures, fascinating rock-hewn churches, towering castles and lofty mosques.

The second part explores sacred paintings, mainly on wood, and some manuscripts. This part displays some of the finest collection of icon paintings in the country. These icons are artistic expressions depicting the indigenous painting tradition of Ethiopia. It also contains some samples of Geez manuscripts and techniques of parchment preparation.

The third part deals with the Islamic contribution to Ethiopian art. It holds the recent development of calligraphic art reflected in some dome mosques and in private collections.

The last part accommodates both the sacred and secular art of Ethiopia. The Institute is fortunate in having preserved some medieval church wall paintings. These wall paintings are authentic evidence of the level of beauty attained by indigenous art. The section also contains old and beautiful objects, which cannot, in the nature of things, be replaced. The collection includes Lalibela crosses, dating from the 12th century and Emperor Zara Ya'eqob's cross from the 15th century, as well as a painting of the Madonna, also from the 15th century. Items in this section include icons, triptychs, religious and folk paintings, processional crosses, hand crosses, neck crosses and various kinds of church objects.

The idea of having an independent section for the musical instruments had been entertained for more than two decades until it finally came true and a new permanent exhibition of musical instruments at the IES Museum was inaugurated in October 1998. The establishment of this center represents the culmination of an important ongoing acquisition program carried out for over more than thirty years by the Institute and its support association, the Society of Friends of IES. Besides, part of the collection of musical instruments is a donation by individuals from various countries. The Ethno-Musicological Collection is located in a distinct section on the second floor of the IES building. Its main objective is to collect, record and preserve all kinds of Ethiopian musical instruments, which include the Begenna, Kerar, Massenko, Washint, Embilta, Malaket, Kabaro, to mention only a few. This newly opened Ethno-Musicological section displays more than two hundred musical instruments and contains different recordings of traditional songs from various parts of the country.

This section is a repository of all Ethiopian postage stamps beginning from back in 1894 and up to 1974. A fine collection of Ethiopian postage stamps dating from 1894 to 1969 was generously donated by Ivan Adler from Sweden. The Ethiopian Ministry of Posts has kindly donated more recent issues.

The Coins and Bank Notes collection contains "primitive money", such as bars of salt and iron, coins from ancient Aksum and from old Harar, and bullets used as "primitive money," and twentieth century modern coins, bank notes introduced since the time of Emperor Menelik II. Plan to expand this numismatic section for display is being worked on.

Restoration and conservation of different valuable cultural materials and paintings is a requisite and is carried out by the restoration and conservation sub-unit of the Museum. Likewise, an audio-visual center for recording purposes, such as photographing objects to assist cataloguing; supporting researchers going on field trips; producing poster and post cards for the museum; recording oral traditions, music, dances, performances, traditional practices of the various culture groups is another sub-unit of the Institute.

The Institute has recently opened a new center with the intention of establishing a multi-media network for African arts and culture on continental scale. This center is part of the Culture Africa Network Project (CAN), a non-profit, continental African project, initiated by the Contemporary African Music & Arts Archive (CAMA) at the University of Cape Town with seed funding from the Ford Foundation. The CAN project aims to facilitate awareness and pride in African heritage, and the promotion of cultural creativity, African artists and musicians. Through multi-media documentation and culture sharing, there is now a collaborative work among key cultural and academic institutions in the following seven African countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Sudan, Kenya, South Africa, and Mozambique.

The Ethiopian CAN center

This Ethiopian CAN Center was inaugurated and launched recently by the Culture African Network (CAN). The purpose of the center is to record and document painters, musicians and artists in the country and exchange with other CAN countries and serve as a center for research in the area and learning place for the students of music and art. To date two CDs of two painters have been produced and plans are to continue such activities in the future. The opening of the center has a very great advantage for the Arts School and the Yared Music School students and staff, two schools that have joined the Addis Ababa University as constituting institutes. The center expects to expand its recording and production activities.

For more Information on The Museum contact Ato Ahmed Zekaria