ELIAS SIME
b. 1968, EthiopiaElias Sime is a multi-disciplinary artist, best known for his large-scale reliefs made from recycled consumer electronics. Sime’s process is motivated by a will to re-claim and re-examine our relationship to our environment. He uses braiding and layering techniques to create vast mosaics composed of keyboards, circuits, wires, and all manner of e-waste imported into his home country, Ethiopia. These materials are sourced from the largest open-air market in Africa located in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
Elias Sime is deeply involved in developing the Ethiopian art community and has established a research practice studying the ancient rituals of rural communities in the country. Together with his long-time collaborator, curator and anthropologist Meskerem Assegued, Sime founded the Zoma Museum which opened in Addis Ababa in 2019.
In 2019, Sime was awarded the African Art Award by the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, and he was a 2020 Hugo Boss Prize Nominee. Recent selected exhibitions include Elias Sime: Dichotomy ፊት አና ጀርባ, Spazio Tana, Castello, Venice (IT), 2024; Elias Sime: Eregata እርጋታ, Hastings Contemporary (UK), 2024 and Arnolfini, Bristol (UK), 2023; and Il latte dei sogni at the 59th Biennale di Venezia (2022), curated by Cecilia Alemani, in Venice (IT).
Courtesy GRIMM, Amsterdam/London/New York.
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