Yatreda ያጥሬዳ
Yatreda ያጥሬዳ is a family-based collective of artists from Ethiopia, led by creative director Kiya Tadele, who create digital artwork in the style of tizita—a profound sense of nostalgia and longing for the past. Combining childhood musings, oral history, and folk tales with the rich history and legends cherished by modern Ethiopians, Yatreda’s work invites viewers to contemplate the cyclical nature of history. In a fusion of tradition and innovation, Yatreda mints their artwork on the blockchain, employing a 21st-century approach to preserving history. This peer-to-peer, shared online record of transactions enables them to immortalize African legends, folk dances, and endangered cultural styles for eternity, reflecting their mission to rediscover Africa’s original self once again. Their art bridges the ancient and the contemporary, ensuring that Ethiopia’s cultural legacy is both celebrated today and safeguarded into the future.
Kibir
For their Paris Photo 2025 solo presentation exhibited by Nguyen Wahed, Yatreda unveils a series of black and white motion portraits unified under the theme Kibir - those who are honored and those who bestow glory.
Following their residency at the Toledo Museum of Art, where their House of Yatreda transformed the institutional space into something approaching a shrine to Ethiopian cultural heritage, this new presentation examines the lores of respect that bind generations. The journeys of the past unfold in parallel with the lives of the people to whom they belong. Though Yatreda’s media are manifold, they skillfully navigate the delicate terrain of remembrance, sometimes drawing from unsettled sources that animate Ethiopia’s long-forgotten stories of queens, glorified ones, and ancient realms. Beneath it all, a core of digital preservation and shared recollection remains, poised as a future palimpsest.
The slow, deliberate movements of their subjects, barely perceptible until one stands before them for several moments, bring to life something fundamentally temporal: a once-fractured narrative, accumulated through endurance and stitched into the fabric of a multi-generational story.
In the 2024 Taschen publication On NFTs, artist Sam Spratt reflects on Yatreda’s place within the evolving landscape of digital fine art:
"Vitalik Buterin’s Time Magazine interview quote criticizing million-dollar monkey cartoons being minted on the blockchain he co-founded is often used to disparage NFTs. Lesser known is Vitalik’s next quote, in which he cites his respect directly for Yatreda, an Ethiopian art collective, as a viable use of NFT artwork minted on blockchain technology.
In this nascent NFT world crowded with empty art and outright scams, Yatreda stands out like a beacon of hope for those early, bright-eyed Ethereum developers who sought to change the world. Yatreda, which began in their humble front yard in Addis Ababa, has become one of the most powerful and pure expressions of digital fine art in our space.
Ethiopia, the only African nation to militarily resist and defeat European colonial penetration, has always stood out with its regality and pride. It is notable that Yatreda echoes this sovereign and proud vision, relying on no crutches of victimhood. Working in the Ethiopian style of tizita, African legends, folk dances, and endangered cultural styles are preserved for eternity on the blockchain.
Solomon, a historic figure whose values and philosophies are still heralded and woven into the world’s elite institutions, was once so enamored by the gifts and wisdom of a beautiful Ethiopic queen that for a transient moment in time, he married her and fathered a son: Menelik. In Yatreda’s “Profile of Queen of Sheba,” Kiya Tadele adorns the legend of Solomon’s lesser-known wife and takes a haunting single breath a printed page cannot show. This exhale is spent energy to hold what may be a blip to a rewritten history, but with a mastery of light and the greatest values of this new technology, Yatreda breathes life into the legends waiting for this moment to be preserved."
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The True Cross
Volume 7 of The Los Angeles County Museum of Art's (LACMA) *Remembrance of Things Future* initiative, in which contemporary artists experimenting with blockchain technology are invited to respond to works in the museum’s permanent collection, The True Cross is Yatreda’s homage to a historic thirteenth century bronze cross from the Zagwe Dynasty, within LACMA’s encyclopedic collection.
Made in support of LACMA's Art and Technology Lab (https://www.lacma.org/lab) in collaboration with Cactoid Labs (https://lacma.cactoidlabs.io), The True Cross is an intimate exploration into the origins behind a mystical vision at the root.
Adam and Hewan
Every culture in the world holds their own creation story. Where we came from, where we are going, and what defines good and evil. In Ethiopia, instead of Adam and Eve, it's Adam and Hewan. We reimagined the Genesis narrative, envisioning Africa as the birthplace of humanity.
Yatreda's latest project, "Adam and Hewan", encompasses 13 video loop artworks. This project draws inspiration from the age-old tale of Adam and Hewan, reimagined through the modern and innovative perspective of the collective. This collection seamlessly follows the collective's previous successful series such as "Strong Hair", "Movement of the Ancestors", and "Kingdoms of Ethiopia".
Adam and Hewan - Fellowship (https://yatreda.fellowship.xyz/)
Abyssinian Queen
Yatreda’s Abyssinian Queen series portrays the journey and entourage of an Ethiopian queen traversing kingdoms, navigating the mystical forests in between. The series marks a new direction in Yatreda’s artistic practice—a move away from known Ethiopian history and firmly-rooted folklore. Instead, Abyssinian Queen visualizes a fictional narrative imagined by two sisters, Kiya and Roman Tadele, during their childhood in the Ethiopian countryside.
Strong Hair
STRONG HAIR is a collection of 100 looping portraits which merges the diversity and power of African hair with the blockchain. In Ethiopia, hairstyles are sculptures full of meaning. Sometimes just by looking at someone, you can identify their nation or tribe. Hair can be a social signal and a status symbol. Many of our local hairstyles are disappearing. When we lose a hairstyle, we lose a visual language that may never be repeated again. Thousands of years of culture has created these looks.
Andromeda of Aethiopia
The legend of Andromeda, deeply rooted in Greek mythology, has been revived and reimagined by African artists led by the Yatreda family in collaboration with Kevo Abbra and Sylvia Owalla. This modern retelling blends ancient myth with African artistry, capturing the essence of Andromeda’s tale through meticulously handcrafted costumes and sets, all shot on location in Lamu, Kenya. Each scene in this series represents a chapter in Andromeda’s journey, showcasing the iconic characters that define this timeless legend. Africa’s rich cultural heritage has always been intertwined with the world’s greatest myths, and this series offers a fresh perspective, where tradition meets contemporary vision.
Motherhood: Tizita ትዝታ
Motherhood is a rite of passage, one which can only be truly understood by those who bravely embrace it.
On her journey, Bekelu wears a leather baby carrier, a traditional accessory embraced by Ethiopians throughout history and modern times. It serves a dual purpose; it cradles the child securely, while also liberating the mother's hands, enabling her to fulfill her daily responsibilities. The accompanying umbrella shields both mother and child from the intense sun, a loyal companion whether they are on their way to a community gathering, church, water source, or any other destinations their paths may lead them.
Motion portrait from Yatreda's Tizita ትዝታ collection.
Mother of Menelik
Queen of Sheba: Mother of Menelik
The Queen of Sheba, a figure revered in Ethiopian lore, was a monarch of unrivaled wealth and wisdom, renowned for her ingenious governance.
Originating from her kingdom in what is now Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Yemen, she embarked on a journey to Jerusalem to meet the biblical King Solomon.
The meeting between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba symbolizes a union of two distinguished minds and embodies the merging of Ancient African and Israelite intellect. Enamored by the wisdom and beauty of this exquisite queen, Solomon is believed to have united with her, conceiving a son, Menelik. The Queen of Sheba returned to her vast kingdom and gave birth to Menelik.
Raised in the realms of Ethiopia, Menelik journeyed to Jerusalem to reconnect with his father upon reaching maturity. It is believed that Menelik transported the Ark of the Covenant back to Ethiopia, where it resides to this day.