Nefsé Nets’a Mawt’at Däbtäras | ነፍስን:ነፃ:ማውጣት::ደብተራ:: | The Soul Is Set Free Magic Scroll II

Artist Tsedaye Makonnen (Ethiopian-American, born 1984)

Date2023

MediumCotton, water-based screenprinting ink, and mirror acrylic

DimensionsOverall: 77 × 24 3/4 inches (195.58 × 62.87 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust through the George H. and Elizabeth O. Davis Fund

Object number2026.11.2

On View

Not on view

Terms

DescriptionThis cotton-based textile features written prayer and protective words in colorful ink across its body. These messages are written in English using Latin script as well as in Ethiopian using Geʽez script. They are arranged in patterns composed of geometric, predominantly circular, shape. Triangular shards of mirror acrylic are placed on the textile in a similar manner.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Africa and Byzantium, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, November 19, 2023-March 3, 2024.

Provenance

Purchased from the artist by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2026.

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