Ethiopian artist Tegene Kunbi, born in 1980, garnered acclaim by winning the main prize, Grand Prix Léopold, at the 2022 Dak’Art Biennale. Kunbi completed his studies with a degree in Painting and Art Education from the Fine Arts School at the University of Addis Ababa in 2004 and subsequently served as a lecturer at Kotebe University of Education. In 2008, he was awarded the esteemed DAAD scholarship, enabling him to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree at the Universität der Künste Berlin, which he attained in 2011.
Since then, Tegene has been living and working in Berlin, Germany. His signature abstract works have been showcased globally in numerous solo exhibitions, including "Bending Back" at Standing Pine in Tokyo, Japan (2024), "Tessellations Through Time" at Galerie Dutko in Paris, France (2023), "Meeting Points and Holding On" at Gallery 1957 in Accra, Ghana (2023), "Patchwork Freedoms" at PRIMO MARELLA GALLERY in Milan, Italy (2023), "Don't Talk" at Bode in Berlin, Germany (2023), "Tegene Kunbi" at Barbara Thumm Gallery in Berlin (2022), "Warp and Weft" at Primo Marella Gallery in Milan, Italy (2022), and "Re: public" at Circle Art Gallery in Nairobi, Kenya (2019), among others.