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Jul 18 , 2026 . By Blen Hailu

The City That Learns to Run All Year

In the mornings and late afternoons, the parks of Addis Abeba fill with people who have come to move. As parks and recreational grounds have multiplied across the city, jogging, running, and open-air exercise have turned from a rarity into an ordinary sight. Some walk briskly along newly laid pat...

Jul 11 , 2026 . By Blen Hailu

A Show that Begins with a Scream, Ends in Stillness

Tucked within the quiet and tree-lined compound of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura on Belay Zeleke St., in the Semen Hotel area, Yared Olivelli's latest Exhibition, "Way Out / Way In," invites visitors into a meditation on the human interior. Running until September 2, 2026, the show explores what enters the soul, what stays within it, and what eventually leaves. However, the experience begins before the gallery itself. On entering the main gate of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura (the Italian Cultural Institute), a visitor meets a long mural-covered wall where the colours of the Italia...


Jul 4 , 2026 . By Blen Hailu

ONE TRAFFIC LIGHT, TWO ADDIS ABEBAS

There is a street in Addis Abeba where two worlds meet for the length of a red light. A mother stood at the edge of the road, one child strapped to her back, another gripping the hem of her skirt. As the cars stopped, she moved from window to window, holding out her hand. Among the waiting vehicles lined a new Tesla, its finish mirroring the apartment towers, the upscale butcher shops with their carefully arranged display windows, and the malls still gleaming from recent construction. When the light turned green, the cars pulled away, the Tesla among them, and the mother was left where s...


Jun 27 , 2026 . By Blen Hailu

Banks Cannot Digitise Their Way to Trust. Humans Do.

Earlier this week, I visited a private bank's branch on Fikremariam Aba Techan St., near Megenagna, to activate mobile banking. Hoping to cut down on future trips and handle transactions from my phone, dropped by the branch, which is under renovation. I was told the system was unavailable. Still needing to move money, I opted to transfer funds instead. I filled out the forms, completed the digital signature, submitted my Fayda ID and signed every required document. Then I waited. My representative went on break, a colleague took over, and the power went out. Assuming a routine outage, I...

View From Arada

Jun 20 , 2026

Streaming Made Cinema Solitary. Video Bet Makes It Social Again

The narrow hallway outside Video Bet's screening room had begun to fill by 6:00pm. A few early arrivals sat near the ticket office, drinking coffee or soft drinks and checking their phones. Soon, stud...

Jun 13 , 2026

Global Market Absorbs Addis Abeba's Youth Culture for Sameness

A walk into the Ambassador Mall in Arat Kilo, on Niger St., then up to the third floor, opens into a large food court where versions of Addis Abeba's urban life sit side by side. The smell of differen...

Jun 6 , 2026

Addis Abeba's Garage Sales Turn Castoffs in-to a Circular Economy

Over the weekend on May 30, I joined a garage sale as a vendor inside Polish Garage in Hayahulet, in front of Arsho Medical Laboratories, bringing along a mix of old and new clothes I wanted to clear...

May 30 , 2026

In Addis Abeba, Comedy Finds Its Voice in What Others Fear to Say

I went to the show prepared to distrust it. I had never really been to a stand-up comedy show, at least not in the way people mean when they speak of a room, a microphone, and a crowd waiting to be wo...

May 23 , 2026

Writers Step Into the Frame, Out of the Shadows

There is a particular intimacy in seeing the face of someone whose words have already lived in us. A voice first heard through pages, a grief or joke carried by language, suddenly has eyes, hands, and...

May 16 , 2026

A Generation Too Busy to Belong

Growing up, I waited for weekends with unusual excitement. A visit to my grandmother's house was not a mere visit. It was an entry into another world, loud and familiar, where laughter rose before one...

May 9 , 2026

The Wedding Before the Wedding Erodes "Shimgilina" Tradition

At a close friend's "Shimgilina", a traditional betrothal intercession, I saw how the old rules remain visibly present. They had merely moved into a modern setting, softened by decoration, food, frien...

May 2 , 2026

Art Restores Migrants Who Become Numbers

Ashenafi Mestika is an artist whose training, observations, and lived experience shape work that is technically assured and emotionally restrained. Presenting his fifth solo exhibition consisting o...

Apr 25 , 2026

Addis Abeba's Conscience Should Lay Beyond the Skylines

Addis Abeba has been drawing fresh attention as it changes. Visitors now arrive from across the world, from streamers and athletes to cultural travellers, curious about what the city has become. The r...

Apr 18 , 2026

The Slow Truth Hidden Beneath the Visible

A collaborative photography exhibition titled “Hidden Beneath Existence” opened at Atmosphere, bringing together the work of Rebeka Negatu and Helen Mulugetta. The show set up a conversation betwe...

Apr 10 , 2026

Artistic Creativity Connects the Self with the Past

An exhibition called Beneath the Roof by Eyob Kitaba, curated by Jermay Michael, unfolds as a reflective and carefully constructed exploration of urban transformation and the layered nature of materia...

Apr 4 , 2026

Music Bridges Cultures

Around Lem Hotel, near Sidra Hotel, there is a villa house tucked quietly under the name Mesob Habesha Music Center. The gate stands wide open, almost as if it has been waiting all day for guests to a...

Mar 28 , 2026

Local Talents Meet Global Styles

On March 21, the British Embassy hosted the third Creative DNA Ethiopia (CDNA) gathering in collaboration with Creative Hub and Ice Addis, bringing together designers, creatives, and fashion enthusias...

Mar 21 , 2026

Why Do Other Cultures Travel So Easily While Ethiopia Stays at Home?

I was met by an explosion of colour and sound on March 8, 2026, where I attended Holi, the festival of colours, at the Indian Embassy, off Dejazmatch Woldegabriel St., in the Aware neighbourhood. T...

Mar 14 , 2026

It Isn't Only Online. The Webs Misogyny Comes Home

I recently attended a research presentation hosted by Addis Powerhouse, where the room was filled with feminist groups, activists, and organisers, all trying in their own ways to contribute to a safer...

Mar 7 , 2026

Artists Deserve Applause, Not Eulogy

From the moment I approached the gate of Addis House of Culture, on Yohannes St., inside the National Palace, for the grand opening of a monthly film membership club, it felt different. The air felt c...


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At a market stall, reform arrives without a communique. It comes as a higher transport far...

Editorial | Jul 11 , 2026

A Sweet Name Returns, on Machinery from the Past

For generations of Ethiopian children, the crackle of a colourful wrapper and the sweet ta...

Featured | Jul 12 , 2026 . By GEBRU KAHSAY and WORKINEH DIRIBSA

Production Soars While the Feed Sellers Go Under

At his stall around Ferensay Legasion, Mastewal Tekuye has decided to leave a business he...

Agenda | Jul 12 , 2026 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER

Decades In, CCD Keeps the Keys, Sends the Invoices

When a WhatsApp notice told about 60 households at a gated community on the outskirts of A...

Fortune News | Jul 12 , 2026 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER