Photo by Maheder Haileselassie
Join us for a presentation of works in progress by 2025 Counter Histories fellow Maheder Haileselassie, whose project Endinastawis Anirsa centers on the brutal occupation of Ethiopia by fascist Italy from 1936–41. Maheder will be in conversation with novelist, essayist, and photographer Maaza Mengiste. There will be time for audience questions and feedback.
“Endinastawis Anirsa centers on the brutal occupation period of Ethiopia by fascist Italy between 1936 -1941. By reclaiming Ethiopian and colonial archives as well as fascist buildings standing in Rome today, I return to these sites and archives not only as a researcher but as someone shaped by the weight of history they embody. The gestures of looking, touching, and intervening are attempts to rewrite the processes through which these histories were once constructed, and to interrupt the conditions in which they become visible.” —Maheder Haileselassie
Thursday, October 1, 2026 | 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM ET
59 East 4th St, 7W | New York, NY 10003
Photos by Maheder Haileselassie
About the presenters
Maheder Haileselassie is a contemporary visual artist born and based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Her practice is deeply rooted in history, memory, community and cities drawing connections between past archives and present day metamorphosis in an open-ended, experimental approach.
She has won The Seydou Keita Grand Prize at Rencontres de Bamako and also CAP Prize, Contemporary African Photography Prize 2023 for her project Between Yesterday and Tomorrow, a series that examines personal and collective memories. In 2024, she was also selected to be one of #BBC100women globally for her creative work regarding child marriage and climate change in Somali region of Ethiopia.
Maheder was also part of Magnum Foundation 2025 Fellowship program for her ongoing project that examines Fascist Italian colonial archive and the five year occupation period in Ethiopia.
Her work, Between Yesterday and Tomorrow, has been shown in numerous exhibitions and festivals internationally including 1-54 Morocco and Photo London. It has also been shortlisted for awards such as the Grand Prix Images Vevey and the Foam Paul Huf Award.
In addition to her artistic practice, Maheder is also dedicated to fostering Ethiopia’s photography community. She is the founder of the Center for Photography in Ethiopia (CPE), an independent learning platform that supports emerging Ethiopian photographers both in local and global stages. She’s currently mentoring female Ethiopian photographers based in Addis Ababa.
Photo by Annette Hornischer
Maaza Mengiste is a novelist, essayist, and photographer. She is the author of the novel, The Shadow King, which was shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, and was a 2020 LA Times Book Prize Fiction finalist. It was named best book of the year by the New York Times, NPR, Elle, Time, and more. The Shadow King is available in Spanish, Swedish, Dutch, French, Korean, German, Norwegian, Italian, Japanese, Romanian, Turkish, Portuguese, Finnish, and other translations.
Her debut novel, Beneath the Lion’s Gaze, was selected by the Guardian as one of the 10 best contemporary African books and named one of the best books of 2010 by Christian Science Monitor, Boston Globe, and other publications. Her story, “Dust, Ash, Flight,” which appeared in Addis Ababa Noir, edited by Maaza, was awarded a 2021 Edgar Award for Best Short Story.
She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature, a DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Fellowship, an American Academy in Berlin Prize, a Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers Fellowship, the Premio von Rezzori, the Premio il ponte, a Fulbright Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Award, and a Creative Capital Award. Her work can be found in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, Granta, the Guardian, the New York Times, Esquire, Rolling Stone, and BBC, among other places.
Magnum Foundation is in an elevator building and has a restroom that is wheelchair accessible and gender-neutral. For access requests or questions, please contact events@magnumfoundation.org.
Magnum Foundation events are made possible by the Henry Nias Foundation and our Circle of Friends.
