Sacred :: የተቀደሰ :: Yetekedse

The communing of Tsedaye Makonnen’s light sculptures is a large-scale installation, each sculpture representing an obelisk, a totemic shrine, a sanctuary. The Ethiopian designs and crosses (mäsqäl) on these towers are based on processional and hand crosses in the Walters collection, most on view.

Each lightbox memorializes, uplifts, and honors the lives of Baltimoreans and beyond: Danika “Danny” Henson, Bailey Reeves, Korryn Gaines, Freddie Gray, Sonya Massey, the Latino/a/e individuals who died from the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, Jacqueline Copeland, Mary Elizabeth Lange, Elizabeth Talford Scott, Etalem (እታለም - Sister of the World), Nikki Giovanni, Lorraine O’Grady, Faith Ringgold, children around the world who are being targeted by state sanctioned violence, and so many more.

Artist’s Statement:

My research threads together spiritualities across borders and peoples, with a focus on East to West Africa and across the Black Atlantic. Having parents who migrated to the U.S. and birthed me here, my own Black identity has been shaped—and profoundly blessed—by the cultural practices, resistance legacies, and interpersonal generosity of Black Americans. As such, my work centers Black femmes and Trans and gender-nonbinary individuals, with a steady focus on Black people migrating across the Mexico-US border, the Darien Gap, the Middle East and North Africa, and the Black Mediterranean—this installation is no different.

My hope is that this installation provides Baltimore residents a space to reflect on the sacredness of all living beings, including themselves. May this space provide comfort, rest, refuge, and inspiration. May you find a sense of limitlessness, a moment of safety, and a gateway to Spirit (whatever and whoever that may be for you). May you walk away cleansed and carry a lifetime’s worth of protection and healing.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Tsedaye Makonnen, Baltimore, 2024-25, by creation; commissioned/purchased by Walters Art Museum, 2025.