Identity, desire
and responsibility.
Birhanu Daniel examines the relationship between identity, desire and responsibility. Painting is central to his practice, which also extends into drawing, printmaking, mixed media, photography, new media and performance. Across these forms, he considers how our sense of self is shaped by society—and how personal desire affects the people and environments around us.
Born in 1997 and raised in Shola Sefer, Addis Ababa, Birhanu developed an interest in drawing during his earliest school years. His childhood interests included music, caring for animals and plants, and spending time in nature. His account of those years places artistic curiosity alongside an attentiveness to the living world.
That early interest grew into sustained study. He trained in painting at the Abyssinia Fine Arts and Vocational Training Center, completing a certificate in 2013, followed by a diploma at Entoto TVET College of Fine Arts in 2016. In 2022, he graduated from the painting department at Addis Ababa University’s Alle School of Fine Arts and Design. Today, he works as a full-time studio artist in Addis Ababa; his studio is called Dochye Art Studio.
His work returns to the question of self-interest: an impulse he understands as both personal and shaped by family, religion, culture and social experience. He is concerned with what happens when desire grows without regard for others, placing pressure on relationships, communities and nature.
Birhanu has received several awards and has presented his work in solo and group exhibitions in Addis Ababa. Solo presentations at Fendika Gallery and the Italian Cultural Institute sit alongside group exhibitions across galleries, cultural institutions and other venues in the city.