EVENT: Addis Foto Fest 2018: The 5th Edition
THEME: Uniting Africa and the World through Photography
DATE: December 6 – 10, 2018
VENUE: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
ADDIS ABABA– Addis Foto Fest is a biennial international photography festival held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It has previously featured exhibitions, portfolio reviews, conferences, projections and film screenings in many different renowned venues. It is also the first and only international photography festival in East Africa.The Addis Foto Fest has been recognized as one of the leading photography festivals in Africa and in the world. The 2018 Addis Foto Fest is organized by the Embassy of Switzerland in Ethiopia and Desta for Africa Creative Consulting (DFA).
“As we celebrate this monumental fifth edition of the Addis Foto Fest (AFF) and gaze back into the journey thus far, I am humbled by the experience the process of conceptualizing and organizing such an event. It has been a personal photographic journey with an important mission of developing a visual language as it relates to representation. When I came back to Ethiopia 11 years ago, I realized that developing our own visual aesthetics and changing the way the world sees us, required something more robust and sustainable than the occasional lessons at a workshops. …” Aida Muluneh, Director of Addis Foto Fest.
Desta for Africa Creative Consulting (DFA) is a social enterprise providing services in the area of photography, curatorial services, event planning, public relations, media communication, graphic design, educational workshops and consulting in the creative industries. Located in Sidist Kilo in the International Leadership Institute Building in Addis Aaba, DFA is managed by award winning photographer and cultural entrepreneur Aida Muluneh. DFA is a creative production company which, utilizing various talents in Ethiopia, develops unique services for clients and partners who seek innovative and creative approaches to promoting their brand(s) in the African and international markets. DFA is also a capacity building organization, geared towards elevating cultural discourse, the media profession and image production in general throughout Africa. One of DFA’s main goals is to utilize culture and visual communication tools to create self-sustainable opportunities to promote development in Africa, and in particular, Ethiopia. Hence, it is for this reason that the word DESTA, meaning happiness in the Ethiopian language of Amharic, also stands for Developing and Educating Society Through Art!